Vanity metrics look shiny—but they don’t pay the bills. In this episode, we break down the difference between numbers that look good (followers, likes, views) and the metrics that actually move your business forward. You’ll hear how we think about CAC, LTV, conversion rate, retention, and engagement quality, plus how to stitch reporting together across ads, website, and CRM so you can make smarter decisions—faster.

In this episode, you’ll learn

• Vanity vs. value: Why engagement metrics matter contextually but shouldn’t be your north star.
• The business metrics that count:
  • CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)—what you can afford to pay to win a customer
  • LTV (Customer Lifetime Value)—how much a customer is worth over time
  • Conversion rates across the funnel—from awareness ➜ lead ➜ sale
  • Retention & churn—what happens after the first sale
  • Engagement quality—signals like meaningful comments, site time, clicks, and forms
• Website signals that diagnose ad quality: Bounce rate trends, landing page fit, and audience targeting.
• Benchmarks & expectations: How to use industry benchmarks to sanity-check performance without chasing illusions.
• Reporting cadence that works: Monthly formal reports; tighter checks during ad learning and creative testing.
• Tooling that helps (without the headache): CRMs for sales dashboards, cross-platform reporting (e.g., Semrush), and native Shopify/Ads integrations.

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Meet your hosts and learn more about Kickstart Collective at kickstartcollective.co

Kickstart Collective is a creative marketing agency based in Wilmington, NC. We offer our clients a creative advantage through creative content and marketing strategies.