Key Metrics To Track For Website Success

We all say we’re “data-driven.” But if the only number you track is revenue…  You’re just revenue-driven. That’s like calling yourself a chef because you know how to eat. Revenue is the scoreboard. But to actually win the game, you need to track the plays that create it. Here are a few I watch closely: 1⃣ Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) ↳ Protects margins and reveals if growth is truly scalable. ↳ Rising CAC without rising LTV = red flag. 2⃣ Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) ↳ Shows the real worth of a customer over time. ↳ Informs how much you can afford to acquire them in the first place. 3⃣ Conversion Rate by Funnel Stage ↳ Pinpoints exactly where prospects drop off. ↳ Optimizing here often costs less than buying more traffic. 4⃣ Retention Rate ↳ Growth gets easier when your base sticks around. ↳ Higher retention means compounding revenue without compounding spend. 5⃣ Attribution Quality ↳ Without reliable attribution, you’re guessing where sales come from. ↳ Bad data = wasted budget and wrong bets. Being data-driven is about having a full picture, not just the scoreboard. Revenue tells you the “what.” The rest tells you the “why” and “how.” What’s one non-revenue metric you’d never stop tracking? ♻ Share this to help more brands go beyond “revenue-driven.” Follow me, Francesco Gatti, for more on data, retention, and ecommerce growth.

Every head of marketing I talk to is fixated on the same 3 vanity metrics. • Platform ROAS • Repeat sales percentage  • Conversion rate But these aren’t the true indicators of business growth. They account for local optimization – even when they're in the green, they might not impact your business health. Here are 3 metrics you should focus on instead: 1. Instead of platform ROAS, focus on Marketing Efficiency Ratio (MER) Platform ROAS (e.g. Meta reported revenue ÷ Meta ad spend) only tells part of the story. The problem: Add up platform-reported revenue across channels, and you'll often get 2-3x your actual revenue. This is the fundamental error in attribution. All platforms claim conversions for themselves. Marketing efficiency ratio (total revenue ÷ total ad spend) shows true performance because it's objective – real money in versus real money out. 2. Instead of repeat sales %, focus on repeat purchase rate by cohort Repeat sales tells you what portion of this month's sales came from existing customers. It's backward-looking and easily distorted. I recently talked to a brand with 40% of sales coming from repeat customers. Sounds healthy, right? But their cohort retention showed only 10% of customers returned after a year. Not healthy. This brand had been in business for 10 years but wasn't adding many new customers. Their seemingly healthy 40% repeat purchase rate masked an acquisition problem. The problem is that repeat purchase rate combines all historical customers into one bucket, hiding true retention patterns. Cohort retention follows specific customer groups over time, showing exactly how loyal different segments are. 3. Instead of conversion rate, focus on pure revenue growth I constantly get asked: "Is my 0.8% conversion rate good? Is 3% good?" That percentage alone doesn’t tell you much. When traffic grows, conversion rates naturally decline. Some of Polar Analytics 🐻❄️’s most successful clients – doing hundreds of millions in revenue – have conversion rates below 1%. From the outside, that might seem terrible. But they're crushing it because their revenue is growing 2x year-over-year, and that's what matters. Platform ROAS, repeat percentage, and conversation have their place for tactical optimization but won't show your true business health. Marketing efficiency, cohort retention, and revenue growth will. If you need help setting up these metrics, DM me.

83% of leaders demand ROI above all else. Yet most track metrics that destroy growth. I met with a prospect last week who was celebrating 20,000 website visitors. Problem: Not a single one converted to a lead. Most marketing leaders are dangerously attached to metrics that look impressive but drive zero leads or revenue. They're not measuring what matters. They're measuring what's easy. The cost isn't just wasted budget. It's lost revenue growth. Each stage serves a purpose: 1. Traffic Metrics 🌊 → Shows movement, not money → Clicks and sessions → Website traffic trends → CTR and bounce rates 2. Awareness KPIs 👀 → Measures mindshare growth → Social engagement depth → Brand mention velocity → Content consumption time 3. Lead Metrics 💸 → Actually drives business → Qualified leads generated → Pipeline contribution → Customer acquisition cost The framework for success is more than just a KPI it's how it connects to the end goals: Revenue Connection 🎯 → Cost per qualified opportunity → Pipeline velocity by channel → Marketing-influenced revenue Executive Clarity 👔 → Clear metrics your CEO understands → Example: "Marketing sourced 42% of Q2 pipeline" → Impact: Secured additional budget mid-year by channel Attribution Accuracy 📊 → Captures true customer journey → Maps touchpoints to conversion → Shows what actually drives sales Leading Indicators ⚡ → Predicts future revenue → Flags opportunities early → Guides resource allocation 💥 Actionable takeaways: 1. Audit your dashboards: Sort KPIs by funnel stage 2. Stop mixing metrics: Traffic ≠ Awareness ≠ Revenue 3. Align team goals: Everyone needs to know which metrics matter when What KPIs do you measure for success? 👇 ___ ♻️ Share this with a marketing leader drowning in meaningless metrics ➕ Follow Jennelle McGrath for more frameworks that drive real results