Marketing Analytics That Actually Drive Business Decisions

Most businesses are drowning in data but starving for insights. After setting up analytics for 200+ companies, I've learned that having the right metrics is infinitely more valuable than having all the metrics.

The Vanity Metrics Trap

These metrics make you feel good but don't drive business decisions:

• Page views (traffic without context)
• Social media followers (vanity without engagement)
• Email subscribers (list size without value)
• Impressions (exposure without action)
• Brand awareness (perception without behavior)

Business-Critical Metrics That Matter

Revenue Attribution Metrics

CAC = Total Marketing Spend / Number of New Customers

Track by channel to identify most efficient sources.

CLV = Average Purchase Value × Purchase Frequency × Customer Lifespan

Must be 3x higher than CAC for sustainable growth.

Track actual revenue, not just conversions:

• Organic search revenue
• Paid advertising revenue
• Email marketing revenue
• Social media revenue
• Direct traffic revenue

Performance Efficiency Metrics

ROAS = Revenue from Ads / Ad Spend

Minimum 4:1 ROAS for most businesses to be profitable.

MQL Conversion Rate = Customers / MQLs × 100

Measures marketing's quality, not just quantity.

Real Case Study: B2B SaaS Analytics

**Challenge**: $50k/month ad spend with unclear ROI

**Solution**: Implemented full-funnel analytics tracking

Results After 3 Months:

• Discovered: Google Ads drove highest CLV customers
• Realized: Facebook drove high trial volume but low value
• Optimized: Shifted 60% budget from Facebook to Google
• Outcome: 34% increase in marketing ROI

The Analytics Mindset

Successful marketing analytics requires:

• Form hypotheses before looking at data
• Use data to validate or disprove
• Build systematic knowledge over time

• Start with business questions
• Find data to answer those questions
• Focus on actionable insights

Remember: The goal isn't to have perfect data – it's to have data that drives better business decisions. Start with the basics, ensure accuracy, then add complexity as you scale.

Ready to transform your marketing analytics from vanity metrics to business-driving insights? Let's audit your current setup and build a measurement strategy that actually matters.