Marketing KPIs: 25 Metrics That Actually Predict Revenue Growth
Most dashboards measure activity, not impact. The 25 metrics that correlate most strongly with revenue, organised by funnel stage.
A good metric changes a decision. If the number goes up or down and you do exactly the same thing, it isn't a metric, it's decoration.
By that test, most marketing reports get cut in half.
The four that matter almost everywhere
CAC — what a new customer costs you. All marketing and sales costs divided by new customers. Not just ad budget — salaries and tools too.
LTV — what a customer is worth over their lifetime. Average order value × frequency × relationship length.
The LTV:CAC ratio. Below 3:1 means you're paying too much or retaining too little. Above 5:1 usually means you're underinvesting in growth.
Payback period. How many months it takes to recover acquisition cost. The most important metric if cash flow is tight — an excellent three-year LTV:CAC doesn't pay this month's salaries.
The ones that look useful and aren't
Impressions and reach. They measure what you spent, not what you got.
Email open rate. Unreliable since the privacy changes.
Follower count. No correlation with sales in most businesses.
Total traffic. Rising traffic with flat conversions means you're attracting the wrong people.
Bounce rate, alone. It can mean they left unhappy or found exactly what they wanted.
How many to track
Five. Seven at most.
A report with 30 numbers doesn't get read, and if it does, nobody can act on it. Pick the five that would change what you do next week and put the rest in an appendix someone looks at quarterly.
Cadence
Weekly: spend, leads, cost per lead. Often enough to catch a problem.
Monthly: CAC, stage conversion, revenue by channel.
Quarterly: LTV, payback, channel mix. They move too slowly to be worth watching more often.
The final test
For every number in the report, ask: if this moves 20%, what do I do differently? If you have no answer, take it out.
How many hours a week do you lose to repetitive work?
In 20 minutes on Zoom we work out which of them can run on their own. You leave with the answer, whether we work together or not.
Free call, no obligations. You leave with a concrete list of problems and automation opportunities, whether or not you choose to work with us.