Ad Performance Metrics Dashboard: What to Track and Why

We provide all our service clients with metrics dashboards because they’re absolutely essential — even for clients who don’t run ads (yet).

Anything worth doing must be measured. Dashboards are our way of tracking vital metrics, including ad performance and conversions, and communicating that information clearly and concisely.

Below, we’ll explore our dashboard, review some metrics we track, and explain why those metrics are crucial to the success of your business — and why you shouldn’t have to pay extra for analytics.

The Problem With Most Dashboards

Many companies treat analytics as a premium add-on, meaning business owners must pay extra to view the data behind their results. Or, when they do deliver the data, it’s so obscure and complex that only a marketing guru could make sense of it. If you can’t understand the information, interpret it, and act on it, it’s a useless waste of money.

Analytics isn’t a luxury, and it certainly isn’t useless. It’s the foundation of good marketing and a good partnership.

As an agency, we prioritize frequent, clear communication to ensure our efforts perfectly align with our clients’ efforts. We’re also proud of our results, and we want to show them off!

Our detailed monthly dashboard outlines a complete performance breakdown, giving our partners peace of mind that our work leads to meaningful results.

Included Ad Performance Metrics and Why They’re Important

We only want to share metrics that demonstrate whether your ads are performing well. We don’t deal in vanity or “fluff” metrics that hold no value and don’t affect the bottom line.

Instead of showing you how many impressions you got from a campaign (which doesn’t actually matter at all), we show you what you got from those impressions.

Below, we’ve listed the most important metrics we track and share across all platforms (Google, Facebook, Bing, etc.).

Metric #1: Conversions

Conversions could mean phone calls, form fills, scheduled tours, or sales. Whatever they are, they’re your most valuable metric and your highest KPI (key performance indicator).

For childcare centers, the highest KPI is enrollment. However, you must also measure the steps that lead to enrollment: phone calls, form fills, and scheduled tours.

Too often, agencies only measure clicks or cost-per-click (CPC), but these ad performance metrics are only useful if viewed in the context of the higher conversion they’re leading toward. This includes conversion rate, cost per conversion, and conversion value.

Metric #2: Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)

Every business owner has to pay attention to the bottom line. That’s where the return on ad spend (ROAS) comes in.

To calculate your return on ad spend, divide your net profit by your net spend (over a period of time) and multiply the resulting number by 100.

Of course, you want that number to be as high as possible, but to do that, you have to know what you’re spending and that you’re spending wisely. A good marketing agency knows how to work the numbers. We expect our lead-generation clients to see at least 500% ROAS and our e-commerce clients to see at least 300%.

However, many of our clients see returns as high as 2,000%. Achieving and maintaining a strong ROAS must be part of your marketing strategy. You can trust that it’s always a part of ours.

Metric #3: Audience Performance

Tracking and understanding your audience performance metrics ensures you’re targeting the right people with your ads.

Very few agencies, if any, provide feedback on this metric, but we believe it’s critical. It tells you whether your campaign is effective and how you can expand it.

For childcare centers, this means making sure your audience receives your ads, and that you don’t waste money targeting the wrong people. For example, we make sure our childcare clients’ ads aren’t shown to childless families or to people outside your service area.

Metric #4: Competition

Childcare center owners know who their 10 competitors down the road are. But they don’t usually know how many competitors are bidding on digital ads.

We show them.

Our dashboard provides auction insights that show who you’re bidding against. It tells you if a new player in the market is bidding on ads, which may explain an increase in cost per click. It can show you when someone stops running ads, enabling you to expand your campaign.

These ad performance metrics are helpful for optimizing your ad copy and display. Because you can see your competitors’ ads on Google, you can one-up them by writing standout copy.

Don’t Settle for Less

We’ve discussed four essential ad performance metrics you should monitor and analyze regularly to keep your business on track for success. If you’re not getting these reports and services from your current digital ad agency or partner, ask about it.

You’re welcome to contact us to see how we can help, too. We’d be happy to chat.