When working toward any goal, success isn’t just about taking action, it’s about making sure those actions lead to meaningful results. One of the most common challenges is figuring out which Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure. With so much data available, it’s easy to get caught up in numbers that look impressive but don’t actually reflect real progress.

Start with an Objective

The foundation of effective measurement is clarity. Every campaign should begin by identifying what stage of the journey it’s designed to influence: awareness, consideration or conversion. Each stage has its own purpose, and the KPIs that matter will shift depending on the objective.

Awareness as a Goal - When it comes to a campaign with an awareness objective, success should be measured by reach and visibility rather than direct conversions. The primary aim at this stage is to introduce the existence of something, focusing on exposure and recognition rather than immediate action. For this type of goal, we are looking to maximise visibility and audience awareness, focusing on metrics that measure how many people see the campaign and how often.

  • Reach: shows the number of unique individuals exposed to the ad, providing insight into the campaign’s overall audience.

  • Impressions: track the total number of times the ad is displayed, reflecting overall exposure.

  • Impression share: measures the percentage of available impressions captured within the target audience, indicating how effectively the campaign is reaching its potential market.

  • Frequency: monitors the average number of times each person sees the ad, ensuring sufficient exposure while avoiding overexposure or audience fatigue.

Consideration as a Goal - At this stage, your audience is aware of a problem or needs a potential solution. To engage them further, give clear reasons and useful information to help them evaluate their options and move toward a decision.

For this type of goal, we are looking to drive engagement and interest, focusing on metrics that show how the audience interacts with the campaign and explores their options.

  • Click-Through Rate: is a useful indicator that measures the percentage of people who clicked on your ads after seeing them. A higher CTR indicates that your ad copy and visuals are compelling and relevant to your target audience, effectively grabbing their attention and enticing them to learn more. For example, a smaller, well-targeted campaign will often achieve a higher CTR than a large campaign aimed at broader reach. This doesn’t necessarily mean the smaller campaign is more successful, it simply reflects how targeting and audience size affect this metric.

  • Engagement Rate: tracks how users interact with your ad content beyond just clicking. It includes interactions like likes, shares, comments, reactions, video views, and saves. A high engagement rate indicates that your ad content deeply resonates with your audience.

  • Add to Cart: measures the percentage of users who, after interacting with your ad, proceed to add an item to their shopping cart on your website. While not a final purchase, a strong Add to Cart rate indicates that your ad effectively drove interest in your products.

Conversion as a Goal - At this stage, your audience is prepared to take a targeted action, whether it’s making a purchase, signing up, or submitting a lead form. To maximise conversions, your ads and landing pages must clearly guide users toward the desired action, removing any obstacles and highlighting the value of completing it.

For this type of goal, we focus on metrics that directly measure the audience’s actions and the efficiency of your campaign in driving those actions.

  • Conversion Rate: measures the percentage of users who complete the desired action after interacting with your ad. A higher CVR indicates that your campaign is effectively convincing your audience to take the intended step. It’s also important to recognize that CVR often reflects site performance more than campaign performance. Even if ads drive high-quality, relevant traffic, conversions may not follow if the website experience is confusing, prices are too high, or the site is slow to load.

  • Cost Per Acquisition: tracks how much it costs to acquire one customer or lead. A lower CPA shows that your campaign is driving conversions efficiently.

  • Return on Ad Spend: evaluates the revenue generated relative to the amount spent on ads. High ROAS means your campaign is not just converting users but doing so profitably.

Why does it matter?

Defining a clear goal for your paid media campaigns is essential, not just a best practice. Understanding your objective helps you prioritise the metrics that truly indicate progress. Different goals require different measures of success. What constitutes a successful awareness campaign is very different from a successful conversion campaign when you know your goal, you can identify which aspects of your campaign are working and which aren't.

Conclusion

Success in paid media starts with a clear goal. Whether your focus is awareness, consideration, or conversion, understanding your objective helps you prioritise the most relevant metrics, evaluate campaign performance effectively, and make data-driven optimisations. By aligning KPIs with each stage of the customer journey, you can identify what’s working, address areas that need improvement, and ensure that every click, impression, and interaction contributes to meaningful results.