🚫 Stop Wasting Ad Spend on the Wrong Metrics
Why Profitability Beats Engagement Every Time
In today’s data-driven marketing world, we’re flooded with metrics. Clicks, impressions, bounce rates, time-on-site the list is endless. But here’s the real question:
👉 Are you focusing on the metrics that actually drive profitability?
I recently weighed in on a conversation about using onsite metrics (like time-on-site or product views per visit) as the main indicators to evaluate marketing channel performance.
On the surface, it seems logical, if users aren’t spending time on your site, the traffic must be bad... right?
Well, not necessarily.
A Quick Story First
Confession: I’ve been hooked on Solo Leveling lately.
And something from season 1 struck me, it’s not just an epic story; it’s a lesson in not being deceived by the obvious.
Remember the double dungeon from the start of the series?
On the surface, it looked like an easy, low-level dungeon.
Everyone relaxed, thinking they knew what they were dealing with.
Then came the real challenge: a hidden, deadlier dungeon that nearly wiped out the entire party.
👉 That’s exactly how relying on vanity metrics can trap marketers.
Metrics like time-on-site or product views might look good at first glance, just like that first dungeon door, but what’s beneath the surface?
Why Onsite Metrics Can Be Misleading
Onsite metrics like session duration or product views can give you a snapshot of engagement, but engagement doesn’t always equal profitability.
Here’s why relying solely on these metrics can steer you wrong:
✅ Not all browsers are buyers:
Some users spend minutes browsing but never purchase. Conversely, quick visits (from returning customers or well-targeted ads) can convert immediately.
✅ Incremental sales might suffer:
Pausing a channel just because it has low time-on-site could mean losing out on incremental conversions, sales that wouldn’t have happened without that channel’s exposure.
✅ You could penalize top-of-funnel (TOF) efforts:
Channels like Meta Ads often build awareness. They might not immediately convert, but they warm up leads that convert later through other touchpoints like Google Search. Cutting these prematurely disrupts your sales pipeline.
✅ Privacy changes limit onsite data reliability:
Post iOS 14 and increasing privacy regulations mean tracking is less accurate. Onsite metrics might underreport the true value of certain channels, especially on mobile.
So... What Metrics Should You Prioritize?
While onsite metrics have their place, profitability and incrementality should be your north stars. Here are better metrics to focus on:
🔑 POAS (Profit on Ad Spend):
Gives you a true picture of how much profit your ads are generating, not just revenue.
🔑 CLTV (Customer Lifetime Value):
Looks beyond the first purchase to assess the long-term value of acquired customers.
🔑 Incrementality Testing:
Helps you understand which channels are actually adding value, rather than hijacking conversions that would’ve happened anyway.
🔑 Blended CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost):
Provides an overall view of how efficiently you’re acquiring customers across channels.
🔑 Full-Funnel Attribution (when possible):
Instead of focusing on last-click, look at the entire journey, from awareness to conversion.
How to Balance Engagement with Profitability
👉 Use onsite metrics as directional indicators, not decision-makers:
High bounce rates or low session durations warrant investigation but don’t make them your sole basis for cutting spend.
👉 Combine metrics for a full picture:
For example, if a channel has low time-on-site but high POAS, it’s working efficiently. Conversely, high engagement + low POAS = wasted spend.
👉 Run holdout tests:
Pause channels in controlled tests to see if overall sales drop. If they don’t, that channel may not be incremental.
👉 Prioritize first-party data:
With privacy changes, leveraging your own customer data is more important than ever.
Bottom Line:
📊 Traffic quality does matter. But at the end of the day, profitability and incrementality should drive your decisions.
Don’t let vanity metrics like time-on-site or product views steer you into cutting channels that are quietly driving growth. Focus on what moves the needle for your bottom line.
What Do You Think?
✅ Are you prioritizing the right metrics in your marketing strategy?
✅ How do you balance engagement data with profitability goals?
Hit reply and share your thoughts, I’d love to hear your perspective!
👉 P.S. Want more insights like this? Subscribe for weekly strategies to grow your brand sustainably (without the marketing chaos).