42% of marketers say proving ROI is their top challenge, according to HubSpot's 2024 State of Marketing report. The root cause is that Google Ads alone reports 85+ metrics, Meta Ads Manager shows 350+ columns, and LinkedIn tracks 47+ metrics. This dictionary defines the 100+ metrics that actually matter, with formulas, benchmarks, and specific use cases so you know exactly when each one impacts your goals.
The Core Problem: Too Many Metrics, Not Enough Clarity
Google Ads reports 85+ metrics. Meta Ads Manager shows 350+ available columns. LinkedIn Campaign Manager tracks 47+ metrics. TikTok Ads has 52+.
If you're running campaigns across three platforms, you're looking at 200+ potential data points before considering custom conversions or attribution models.
Most marketers fall into two traps:
- Vanity metric obsession: Tracking impressions and reach while revenue and customer acquisition costs go unmonitored.
- Analysis paralysis: Pulling every available metric into dashboards, then making decisions based on gut feeling because the data is overwhelming.
The solution isn't more data but knowing exactly what each metric means and when it actually matters.
How This Dictionary Works
Metrics organized into 7 categories:
- Awareness - How many people see your brand (15 metrics)
- Engagement - How people interact (25 metrics)
- Conversion - Actions moving toward purchase (20 metrics)
- Revenue - Money in, money out (15 metrics)
- Customer - Retention and lifetime value (12 metrics)
- Technical - Performance and quality (18 metrics)
- Platform-Specific - Unique per channel (20+ metrics)
Each entry includes definition, formula (when applicable), benchmark, and specific use cases.
Essential Marketing Metrics Defined
Awareness Metrics (15 Total)
Impressions
The number of times your ad displayed on a screen. Includes multiple views by the same person. Facebook counts an impression when 1+ pixels appear on screen; Google Ads counts viewable impressions (50% of ad visible for 1+ seconds display, 2+ seconds video).
Reach
Number of unique users who saw your ad or content. Instagram shows "Accounts Reached" while Google Ads reports "Unique Users."
Frequency
Average times each person saw your ad. Formula: Impressions ÷ Reach. Benchmark: 1.8-3.0 for prospecting; 3.0-7.0 for retargeting.
Cost Per 1,000 Impressions (CPM)
Cost to show your ad 1,000 times. Formula: (Total Spend ÷ Impressions) × 1,000. Benchmarks: Facebook $5-$12, LinkedIn $30-$50, TikTok $8-$15.
Share of Voice
Your brand's visibility vs. competitors. Formula: (Your Impressions ÷ Total Market Impressions) × 100. Should match or exceed market share percentage.
Brand Awareness
Meta-specific metric measuring recall lift. Requires brand lift study. Average lift of 5-15% considered successful.
Video Views
Number of video views meeting platform threshold. YouTube counts 30-second views; Meta counts 3-second views; TikTok offers 2-second or 6-second options.
Viewable Impressions
Impressions meeting MRC viewability standard (50% visible for 1+ seconds). Typically 60-75% of total impressions are viewable.
Unique Reach
Deduplicated reach across placements or campaigns. Prevents counting same user multiple times across Facebook + Instagram.
Search Impression Share
Your impressions ÷ eligible impressions for your keywords. Shows missed opportunity. Critical Google Ads metric.
Top of Mind Awareness
First brand recalled when thinking of category. Measured via surveys, not platform metrics.
Aided Brand Awareness
Brand recognition when prompted with brand list. Measured via brand lift studies.
Unaided Brand Awareness
Brand recall without prompts. Measured via surveys asking "What brands do you know in [category]?"
Ad Recall Lift
Increase in people who remember seeing your ad. Facebook/Meta measurement requiring 2,000+ survey responses.
Estimated Ad Recall
Meta's prediction of people likely to remember ad after 2 days. Based on engagement patterns, not surveys.
Engagement Metrics (25 Total)
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
Percentage who clicked after seeing your ad. Formula: (Clicks ÷ Impressions) × 100. Benchmarks: Google Search 3-5%, Google Display 0.35-0.5%, Facebook/Instagram 0.9-1.2%, LinkedIn 0.4-0.6%, TikTok 1.5-2.5%.
Cost Per Click (CPC)
Average paid per click. Formula: Total Spend ÷ Clicks. Benchmarks: Google Search $2.69, Facebook $0.97, LinkedIn $5.26, TikTok $1.00 (2024 averages).
Clicks (All)
Total clicks including link clicks, reactions, comments, shares. Meta-specific metric broader than "Link Clicks."
Link Clicks
Clicks on links taking users off-platform. Meta's primary click metric for traffic campaigns.
Outbound Clicks
Clicks taking users to external websites. Similar to Link Clicks but excludes on-platform destinations.
Unique Clicks
Number of unique users who clicked. Prevents counting same user clicking multiple times.
Engagement Rate
Percentage who interacted. Formula: (Engagements ÷ Impressions) × 100 OR (Engagements ÷ Followers) × 100. Benchmarks: Instagram 0.7-1.2%, LinkedIn 2-5%, TikTok 5-9%.
Post Engagement
Total interactions with post: likes, comments, shares, clicks. Facebook/Instagram metric.
Reactions
Facebook/Instagram likes, love, haha, wow, sad, angry counts. More nuanced than simple "likes."
Comments
User comments on posts or ads. Quality indicator beyond passive likes.
Shares
Users sharing content to their own feeds. Strong signal of content value.
Saves
Instagram bookmarks. High-intent action showing content worth revisiting.
Bounce Rate
Percentage leaving after one page. Formula: (Single-Page Sessions ÷ Total Sessions) × 100. Benchmark: 26-40% normal; 55%+ problematic.
Time on Page
Average duration on specific page. Benchmark: 52 seconds average; 2+ minutes = engaged.
Pages Per Session
Average pages viewed per visit. Benchmark: 2-3 pages for content sites; 4-5 for e-commerce.
Session Duration
Total time user spent on site in one visit. Benchmark: 2-3 minutes average.
Scroll Depth
Percentage of page scrolled. 25%, 50%, 75%, 100% are common tracking points.
Dwell Time
Time between clicking search result and returning to search. Google ranking signal.
Event Count
Total tracked events (button clicks, form starts, video plays). Google Analytics 4 metric.
Engaged Sessions
Sessions lasting 10+ seconds, with conversion, or 2+ page views. GA4's replacement for bounce rate.
Video Average Watch Time
Mean seconds watched per view. YouTube key metric for algorithm.
Video Completion Rate
Percentage watching entire video. Formula: (Completes ÷ Starts) × 100. Benchmarks: <15s video 40-60%, 30s-1min 20-35%, >1min 10-20%.
3-Second Video Views
Meta standard for video view counting. Lower threshold than YouTube's 30 seconds.
10-Second Video Views
Video engagement metric. Better quality signal than 3-second views.
ThruPlays
Meta's 15-second video views or full video if <15s. Benchmark: 30-50% rate is strong.
Conversion Metrics (20 Total)
Conversion Rate (CVR)
Percentage completing desired action. Formula: (Conversions ÷ Clicks) × 100. Benchmarks: E-commerce 2.5-3%, B2B landing pages 2.6-5%, Lead gen 10-15%.
Conversions
Count of completed desired actions. Define carefully: form submit, purchase, sign-up, etc.
Conversion Value
Total revenue from conversions. Requires value assignment in tracking setup.
Cost Per Conversion
Average cost per conversion. Formula: Total Spend ÷ Conversions. Should be <30% of customer value.
Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)
Average cost to acquire paying customer. Includes all conversion costs, not just ads.
Cost Per Lead (CPL)
Cost to generate one lead. Formula: Total Spend ÷ Leads. B2B: $50-$200, SaaS: $30-$100.
Click-to-Conversion Rate
Percentage of clicks resulting in conversions. Formula: (Conversions ÷ Clicks) × 100. Benchmark: 10-15% high-intent search; 2-5% cold traffic.
View-Through Conversions
Conversions after seeing (not clicking) ad. Default: within 1 day of viewing on Meta, 30 days on Google Display.
Post-Click Conversions
Conversions after clicking ad. Standard attribution method.
Assisted Conversions
Conversions where ad played role but wasn't last click. Shows full funnel contribution.
Add to Cart Rate
Percentage adding products to cart. Formula: (Add to Cart ÷ Product Views) × 100. E-commerce benchmark: 8-12%.
Cart Abandonment Rate
Percentage abandoning carts. Formula: (Carts Abandoned ÷ Carts Created) × 100. Average: 70% (varies by industry).
Checkout Abandonment Rate
Percentage starting but not completing checkout. Lower than cart abandonment, typically 20-30%.
Form Completion Rate
Percentage completing forms. Formula: (Submits ÷ Form Starts) × 100. Benchmark: 50-70% for short forms.
Form Abandonment Rate
Percentage starting but not submitting forms. Inverse of completion rate.
Lead Quality Score
Rating of lead likelihood to convert (often 1-100). Requires CRM integration and historical data.
Sales Qualified Leads (SQL)
Leads meeting criteria for sales outreach. Subset of total leads based on qualification criteria.
Marketing Qualified Leads (MQL)
Leads meeting marketing criteria for nurturing. Earlier stage than SQL.
Download Rate
Percentage downloading offered content. Formula: (Downloads ÷ Landing Page Visitors) × 100.
Sign-Up Rate
Percentage creating accounts. Formula: (Sign-Ups ÷ Landing Page Visitors) × 100.
Revenue Metrics (15 Total)
Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)
Revenue per dollar spent. Formula: Revenue ÷ Ad Spend. Benchmark: 4:1 minimum, 10:1 excellent. Doesn't include COGS.
Return on Investment (ROI)
Profit after costs. Formula: (Revenue - Costs) ÷ Costs × 100. More accurate than ROAS for profitability.
Revenue
Total money generated from conversions. Track by campaign, channel, product.
Gross Revenue
Total revenue before refunds, returns, discounts.
Net Revenue
Revenue after refunds, returns, discounts.
Revenue Per Click
Average revenue per ad click. Formula: Total Revenue ÷ Clicks. Should exceed CPC.
Revenue Per User
Average revenue per user/customer. Formula: Total Revenue ÷ Total Users.
Average Order Value (AOV)
Average per transaction. Formula: Total Revenue ÷ Orders. E-commerce benchmark: $100-$150.
Average Revenue Per User (ARPU)
Revenue divided by active users. SaaS and subscription metric.
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
Total cost per customer (marketing + sales). Formula: Total Acquisition Costs ÷ New Customers. Should be <33% of LTV.
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV/LTV)
Total revenue from customer over relationship. Formula: AOV × Purchase Frequency × Lifespan. Should be 3-5x CAC.
Profit Per Customer
Net profit from average customer after costs.
Gross Profit
Revenue minus cost of goods sold (COGS).
Contribution Margin
Revenue minus variable costs. Shows profitability before fixed costs.
Purchase Value
Average value of single purchase event.
Customer Metrics (12 Total)
Customer Retention Rate
Percentage continuing to purchase. Formula: ([End Customers - New] ÷ Start Customers) × 100. Benchmarks: E-commerce 20-30% annual, SaaS 85-90% monthly.
Churn Rate
Percentage stopping service. Formula: (Lost Customers ÷ Start Customers) × 100. Benchmark: <5% monthly for SaaS.
Net Promoter Score (NPS)
Loyalty metric (0-10 scale). Formula: % Promoters (9-10) - % Detractors (0-6). Benchmark: 30-70 = Great.
Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)
Satisfaction rating typically 1-5 or 1-10. Survey-based metric.
Customer Effort Score (CES)
Ease of interaction rating. Lower effort = higher retention.
Active Users
Count of users engaging within timeframe (daily, weekly, monthly).
Daily Active Users (DAU)
Users engaging each day. App and platform metric.
Monthly Active Users (MAU)
Users engaging in 30-day period.
Repeat Purchase Rate
Percentage making multiple purchases. Formula: (Customers with 2+ Purchases ÷ Total Customers) × 100.
Purchase Frequency
Average purchases per customer per period. Formula: Total Orders ÷ Unique Customers.
New vs. Returning Customers
Ratio showing acquisition vs. retention balance. Healthy: 20-30% new, 70-80% returning.
Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)
Predictable monthly revenue from subscriptions. SaaS core metric.
Technical Metrics (18 Total)
Quality Score
Google's 1-10 ad quality rating. Based on CTR + relevance + landing page. Benchmark: 7+ good, 8-10 excellent.
Relevance Score
Meta's ad quality rating (now split into Quality Ranking, Engagement Rate Ranking, Conversion Rate Ranking).
Ad Rank
Google's ad position calculation. Formula: Bid × Quality Score. Determines placement and CPC.
Viewability Rate
Percentage meeting viewability standard. Formula: (Viewable ÷ Measurable) × 100. Benchmark: 60%+ acceptable, 70%+ good.
Measurable Impressions
Impressions where viewability could be measured. Not all impressions are measurable.
Non-Viewable Impressions
Impressions not meeting viewability threshold (below 50% visible or <1 second).
Page Load Speed
Time to fully load page. Benchmark: <3 seconds ideal; >5 seconds = 90% bounce.
First Contentful Paint (FCP)
Time until first content renders. Core Web Vital. Benchmark: <1.8 seconds.
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
Time until main content loads. Core Web Vital. Benchmark: <2.5 seconds.
First Input Delay (FID)
Time until page interactive. Core Web Vital. Benchmark: <100ms.
Time to First Byte (TTFB)
Server response time. Benchmark: <200ms good, <500ms acceptable.
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
Visual stability score. Core Web Vital. Benchmark: <0.1.
Delivery Rate
Percentage of ads delivered successfully. Email and ad delivery metric.
Error Rate
Percentage of failed requests or broken experiences.
Bot Traffic Percentage
Non-human traffic. Should be <5%; higher indicates fraud or scraping.
Click Fraud Rate
Invalid/fraudulent clicks. Google automatically filters most; monitor for anomalies.
Impression Share Lost (Budget)
Impressions missed due to budget. Shows opportunity to scale.
Impression Share Lost (Rank)
Impressions missed due to low ad rank. Need better Quality Score or bids.
Platform-Specific Metrics (20+ Total)
Search Top Impression Rate (Google Ads)
Percentage shown at top of page. Formula: Top Impressions ÷ Total Impressions.
Absolute Top Impression Rate (Google Ads)
Percentage shown in position 1. Formula: Position 1 Impressions ÷ Total Impressions.
Amount Spent (Meta)
Total ad spend. Differs slightly from "Cost" in some Meta reports.
Cost Per Result (Meta)
Cost per campaign objective action. Varies by objective (leads, purchases, engagement).
Landing Page Views (Meta)
Users who clicked AND loaded your website. Lower than Link Clicks due to bounces/errors.
Accounts Center Accounts Reached (Meta)
Unique reach across Facebook and Instagram combined.
Viral Impressions (LinkedIn)
Impressions from social actions (likes, shares, comments on your ads).
Lead Form Opens (LinkedIn)
Users opening Lead Gen Form. Benchmark: 30-40% of clicks open form.
Video Views at 25%/50%/75%/100% (Multiple Platforms)
Quartile completion tracking. Shows where users drop off.
Swipe-Up Rate (Instagram Stories/Snapcat)
Percentage swiping up on CTA. Formula: (Swipe-Ups ÷ Views) × 100. Benchmark: 1-3% average, 5%+ excellent.
Pin Rate (Pinterest)
Saves to boards. Formula: Saves per impression. Benchmark: 0.5-1.5%.
Retweets (Twitter/X)
Shares of your tweet. Amplification metric.
Quote Tweets (Twitter/X)
Retweets with commentary. Shows engagement depth.
Profile Visits
Users viewing your profile after seeing content. Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter metric.
Website Clicks (Instagram)
Clicks on link in bio. Instagram Insights metric.
Product Views (E-commerce)
Times product pages viewed. Shopify, Amazon, e-commerce platforms.
Units Sold
Quantity of products sold. E-commerce fundamental.
Revenue by Product
Revenue broken down by SKU. E-commerce analytics.
Attribution Window Conversions
Conversions within specified window (1-day, 7-day, 28-day). Compare windows to understand purchase cycles.
Cross-Device Conversions
Conversions where user clicked on one device, converted on another.
Complete Metrics Quick Reference Table
See our guide on tracking KPIs effectively for frameworks on choosing the right metrics.
Platform-Specific Naming Differences
The same metric has different names across platforms:
Clicks:
- Google Ads: "Clicks"
- Meta: "Link Clicks"
- Twitter/X: "URL Clicks"
- LinkedIn: "Destination URL Clicks"
Video Views:
- Meta: "3-Second Video Views"
- Google Ads: "Video Views" (30 seconds or full view)
- TikTok: "Video Views" (2-second OR 6-second options)
Reach:
- Google Ads: "Unique Users"
- Instagram: "Accounts Reached"
- TikTok: "Audience Reach"
When consolidating data across platforms, standardize naming in reports. Read our Google Ads reporting guide for cross-platform analysis tips.
Common Calculation Mistakes to Avoid
1. Confusing CPA and CAC
CPA = Ad spend only, per conversion
CAC = Total marketing + sales costs, per customer
CAC is typically 2-5x higher than CPA.
2. Calculating ROAS Without Profit Margins
5:1 ROAS with 80% product costs = losing money. Always calculate: (Revenue - COGS) ÷ Ad Spend for true profitability.
3. Using Last-Click Attribution for Multi-Touch Journeys
B2B buyers touch 11-15 pieces of content before purchase. Last-click gives 100% credit to final touchpoint, ignoring awareness efforts.
4. Comparing Benchmarks Across Industries
Legal CPC: $6-10 vs. E-commerce CPC: $1-2. Compare to YOUR industry benchmarks, not averages across all sectors.
5. Mixing Session and User Metrics
Bounce Rate uses sessions (one user = multiple sessions). Never compare session-based metrics to user-based metrics directly.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between CPA and CPL?
Cost Per Lead (CPL) measures cost to generate a lead (form submission, download, interest). Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) measures cost for a paying customer. If CPL is $50 and 20% convert to customers, CPA is $250. B2B with long sales cycles tracks both; e-commerce often skips CPL entirely.
Which metrics matter most for brand awareness campaigns?
Focus on 5 core metrics: (1) Reach (unique users), (2) Frequency (2-3 optimal), (3) CPM (cost efficiency), (4) Brand Lift (survey-based), (5) Brand Search Volume increase. CTR of 0.2% is normal for awareness, don't judge by direct response standards. Track assisted conversions 30-90 days later to measure full impact.
Why does my Google Ads CTR differ from my landing page CTR?
These measure different stages. Google Ads CTR = (Clicks ÷ Impressions) × 100 measures ad effectiveness. Landing page CTR = (CTA Clicks ÷ Landing Page Sessions) × 100 measures page effectiveness. High ad CTR (5%+) but low page CTR (<5%) means messaging mismatch, ad overpromises or attracts wrong audience.
What's a good engagement rate on different platforms?
LinkedIn organic: 2-5% (engagements ÷ followers). Instagram posts: 0.7-1.2%, Stories: 2-5%. TikTok: 5-9% due to algorithm showing content to non-followers. These assume follower-based calculation; ad engagement (by impressions) runs 0.5-1.5% lower. Track your own trends, not cross-platform comparisons.
How can I track metrics across multiple platforms efficiently?
Three options:
- Manual: download CSVs, merge in spreadsheets (2-4 hours weekly),
- Platform reports: limited to single platforms
- Automated integration: connects all platforms to unified dashboards. Automation makes sense when manual reporting time exceeds tool costs. Dataslayer connects 50+ platforms to Google Sheets, Looker Studio, BigQuery, and Power BI.
What attribution window should I use?
Match your typical sales cycle. E-commerce impulse purchases: 1-7 days. Considered purchases: 14-30 days. B2B: 30-90 days. Meta defaults to 7-day click, 1-day view. Google Ads defaults to 90-day click. Use consistent windows across platforms for fair comparison. Our marketing reporting guide covers this in detail.
Which metrics are vanity metrics I should ignore?
Metrics disconnected from business outcomes: total followers (without engagement rate), raw impressions (without reach/frequency context), total likes (without conversion correlation), clicks without conversion tracking. If a metric doesn't inform decisions or connect to revenue, stop tracking it.
Your Next Steps
Choose 8-12 metrics that directly measure progress toward your goals. Ignore the rest.
- Define primary goal (awareness, leads, sales, retention)
- Select 3-4 core metrics from relevant categories above
- Add 2-3 supporting metrics for context
- Set benchmarks using industry averages as starting points
- Track consistently with same methods and attribution windows
- Review weekly for tactics, monthly for strategy
Read our KPI report guide for choosing metrics aligned with specific business goals.
Need to automate cross-platform metric tracking? Try Dataslayer free for 15 days to connect Google Ads, Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok, and 50+ platforms to Google Sheets, Looker Studio, BigQuery, or Power BI, eliminating manual reporting and standardizing metric definitions across all channels.
