No more vanity metrics: 8 metrics your brand should be tracking

As an agency that lives and breathes digital, we see brands buried under spreadsheets every day – painfully sifting through numbers that don’t actually mean anything… Without the right context, that is. 

Likes. Reach. Opens… These numbers can look impressive, but without knowing what’s going on behind the scenes – what do they really mean when it comes to business performance? 

When it comes to our reporting, we’re not here to inflate egos – we’re here to work with real brands that perform and grow. And that starts with ditching the vanity metrics, and instead focusing on what really matters.

What do we mean by ‘vanity metrics’?

Let’s start with a definition of the term ‘vanity metrics’. Put simply, vanity metrics are surface-level numbers and stats that make a campaign look successful, but without proving any actual impact. They often include:

• Followers on social media
• Likes, comments and shares (to an extent)
• Ad impressions
• Page views
• Traffic
• Downloads
• Subscribers
• CTR (Click-through rate)

Don’t get me wrong; these numbers can be highly useful for providing wider context on a marketing campaign, but they don’t tell the whole story. These kinds of metrics don’t track whether your audience is converting, engaging with the intent to convert, or whether they are ever planning on returning to your brand. They don’t help you make informed strategic decisions. And most importantly, they don’t impact your bottom line. 

So, with that being said, what should you be tracking instead?

Let’s talk about the metrics that matter

In our humble, and highly educated and experienced opinion, here are eight metrics that you should be focusing on instead. While these won’t be relevant to every kind of campaign – as performance-led will differ drastically to a brand awareness drive – they’re all highly important…

1. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

Arguably one of the clearest indicators when it comes to your marketing efficiency; CAC tells you how much it cost you to secure that new customer/client. So if you’re spending more to acquire them than they’re worth to your business, that’s when we have a problem.

Tracking your CAC forces you to take a look at the bigger picture, including everything that goes into customer acquisition –  from ad spend and sales team costs, right down to content production. If CAC is starting to creep higher, you’re either targeting the wrong audience, or your funnel needs tweaking.

2. Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV)

Many brands focus on the first transaction that gets a customer through the door, and ignore what happens next. Looking at a customer’s lifetime value (CLTV) encourages you to shift your thinking from the one-off sales mentality to long-term value; it tells you how much revenue a customer is likely to generate for you over time. 

This kind of thinking is crucial for forecasting and budget allocation. If your CLTV is low, it could mean that you have poor customer retention, weak brand affinity, or a product that doesn’t encourage repeat behaviour or purchasing. Fixing that is a smart business strategy. 

3. Conversion rate

Clicks and visits are nice – and they certainly make for aesthetic graphs. But if no one’s converting on your website, then your funnel is broken somewhere. Conversion rate measures how effective your marketing is at turning someone’s interest into action – whether that action is a sign-up, a simple lead conversion, or a sale. 

A strong conversion rate shows that your messaging, creative, and user experience along the way are not only aligned, but also working. On the other hand, a weak one tells you that something’s going wrong along the way. 

For the most powerful insights, make sure you break down your funnel by channel, audience segment, or campaign – that way you can really pinpoint where the weak link lies. 

4. Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)

Speak to anyone on the TAL Paid team about ROAS, and they’ll be chewing your ear off for hours. And in their opinion, it’s a non-negotiable. 

ROAS tells you how much revenue is being generated for every pound spent on ads, and it’s arguably the most direct measure of paid performance. If you’re not getting more out than you’re putting in, then it’s time to optimise – or stop what you’re doing altogether. 

But remember that context is everything; what makes a ‘good’ ROAS will vary by industry and which stage of growth you’re in. So be sure to benchmark wisely, and don’t be fooled by “average” numbers. 

5. Engagement quality

But wait, Claire, didn’t you just say that engagement metrics were vanity numbers? Yes, but it’s the quality of the engagement that makes it different. 

You may like to see that ‘like’ number go up, but it doesn’t mean much. Engagement with a purpose – intent-driven interactions – are different. Think: shares, saves, thoughtful comments, direct messages, or link clicks… These are the signals that someone is paying attention, and is potentially ready to act.

High-quality engagement can often predict future conversions, and it’s the kind of metric that helps you understand audience sentiment – not just how many eyeballs have seen it.

6. Organic traffic growth

Seeing growth in organic traffic means that your brand is earning attention, rather than buying it. It’s a sign that people are finding you through content, SEO, and even word of mouth. This is your brand equity in motion in real time. 

While it does take a painful amount of time to build, consistent organic growth shows that the marketing ecosystem you’ve cultivated is working: your content is proving to have real value, your brand has relevance, and you’re becoming a destination for information, not just a click and bounce.

7. Attribution clarity

While often difficult to properly categorise, attribution tells what’s driving results, which is something that most brands think they understand, but few actually do. Without proper attribution, you’re simply taking a shot in the dark; you don’t understand which channel, message, or moment in time converted your audience. And that can lead to wasted budgets.

8. Sales cycle velocity

Do you know how quickly leads move through your sales funnel? This tells you a lot more about your sales process than you think!

A speedy sales cycle means clarity, alignment, and very little friction or pain points along the way. A slow one, on the other hand, can often be a red flag – possibly indicating that there’s confusion, a lack of urgency, or poor lead quality coming through. 

Tracking this velocity allows you to spot bottlenecks quickly, and identify the points where potential customers are dropping out. If you’re a service-based or B2B brand, this can be a hugely powerful tool. 

All that being said, it’s not just about tracking the right metrics – it’s about using them to drive decisions. Every single number you monitor should have a purpose; if it doesn’t inform action, then it’s just noise. 

Need help building a reporting framework that actually works and drives a real impact? Let’s talk!

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