Metrics for measuring ads - what actually matters

First, let me point out that I’m not going to cover all sorts of bullsh#t. I write down what is actually being used by marketing agencies. Nothing else.

So let me begin with the least important.

Impressions

The number of times your ad is shown. Don’t confuse this with reach. Reach is the number of people reached. Impression is always more than reach because 1 person can see your ad multiple times.

On most platforms, you pay a set fee for a set number of impressions. Basically, you pay for impressions.

However, impression can be tricky sometimes because if people just scroll past through your ad (not even seeing it), you also pay for that.

So this, in itself is not a good indicator for anything.

CTR (Click through rate)

The number of people who clicked your ad, divided by the number of people who saw your ad.

This is a really good indicator. Let me tell you why.

The people who click your ads are interested. That’s why they clicked it.

That way, you’ll know if you wrote a good advertisement or not. Whether you failed to raise interest or not.

Conversion rate

The number of people who bought your product, divided by the number of people who saw your ad.

How to use these metrics

Now, if your CTR is high and your conversion rate compared to that is low, you can see that you are doing something wrong on your landing page. Because there are a lot of people who are interested and you failed to sell them. -> Something is wrong with the landing page.

If your CTR is low but your conversion rate compared to that is high then it is something wrong with your ad. Who clicks your ad is interested and bought because your landing page was great. But there are a low amount people who are even interested. And this is only because you failed to raise interest in their head. And that, is only due to your ad’s quality.

So these are the only metrics you should care about. Nothing else matters.

And now comes the bigger question.

How do you make a good performing ad?

That’s exactly what I cover in this single document for free.