Module 10 · Lesson 1
The Metrics That Matter
What you’ll learn
- The core metrics in your Ad Center dashboard
- What new-to-brand tells you that ROAS doesn’t
- How to match a metric to each format’s job
- The reporting views worth knowing
You can’t optimise what you don’t measure — but measuring the wrong thing is just as harmful. This module is about proving what your advertising actually did. We start with the metrics themselves and, crucially, which one to care about when.
The core metrics
Your Ad Center dashboard reports all of these by campaign and over time:
- Impressions — how often your ad showed.
- Clicks & CTR — how often it was clicked (CTR = clicks ÷ impressions).
- CPC — average cost per click.
- Conversions & CVR — purchases, and the rate (orders ÷ clicks).
- Sales & units — revenue and quantity driven.
- ROAS & ACoS — your profit metrics (Module 8).
- New-to-brand (NTB) — orders from genuinely new customers.
Why new-to-brand matters
ROAS tells you “profitable”; NTB tells you “growing”
A high ROAS can come entirely from existing customers who’d have bought anyway. New-to-brand reveals whether you’re actually acquiring new buyers — the metric that separates real growth from recycling your own demand. Watch it closely on Sponsored Brands, Videos and Display.
Match the metric to the job
The biggest measurement mistake is judging every format by last-click ROAS. Each format has a different job, so each earns a different yardstick:
Sponsored Products Convert
Judge on ROAS / ACoS and CVR. Direct conversion is its whole purpose.
Sponsored Brands & Videos Acquire
Judge on new-to-brand and impressions/CTR too — not ROAS alone.
Display & Offsite Reach
Judge on reach, NTB and assisted impact — last-click ROAS undersells them.
Two useful reporting views
- Page Type Performance — how ads did on search vs product vs category pages.
- Platform Performance — results by device: app, desktop, mobile web.
These help you see where performance concentrates, so you can shift emphasis toward what works.
A launch needs different metrics
For a new product, impressions and CTR are more meaningful early signals than immediate ROAS — you’re buying visibility and data first. Define what “good” means before launch so you don’t judge an awareness campaign by a conversion yardstick.
Quick recap
- Know the core metrics: impressions, CTR, CPC, CVR, sales, ROAS/ACoS and new-to-brand.
- New-to-brand shows real acquisition; ROAS alone can just be recycled demand.
- Match the metric to the format — don’t judge awareness formats by last-click ROAS.
- Use Page Type and Platform views, and set launch metrics before you launch.