we’re in the weeds right now trying to figure out what we should actually be measuring. our executive team wants ROI, obviously, but we’re also getting pressure to optimize for brand metrics like awareness and community sentiment. when you’re running campaigns across the US and Russia simultaneously, the metrics are all over the place.
right now we’re tracking: impressions, engagement rate, click-through rate, conversion rate, average order value, and repeat purchase rate. but we’re not sure if all of it matters or if we’re getting distracted by vanity metrics.
the specific challenge is that what converts quickly in the US market might take longer to convert in the Russian market, but we’re pressured to show results fast. we’re also not sure how much weight to give community engagement vs. direct sales.
how do you think about this? what’s your actual reporting framework? and how do you push back if your leadership is asking for metrics that don’t make sense for long-term brand building?
this is where most DTC brands get confused, and it costs them real money. let me break down what actually matters.
first, separate your KPIs into three buckets: acquisition, monetization, and retention. every other metric is secondary.
acquisition: cost per acquisition (CPA) and cost per engaged view. that’s it. everything else (impressions, reach, views) is theater. what matters is how much you’re paying to get someone to take an action.
monetization: ROAS (return on ad spend) and AOV (average order value). these tell you if the UGC you’re buying is actually driving profitable sales. ignore CTR—it doesn’t matter if people click if they don’t buy.
retention: repeat purchase rate and LTV. this is where long-term value lives, and it’s also where community sentiment actually matters.
now, for cross-market reporting: use market-specific target benchmarks. don’t compare US ROAS to Russian ROAS directly because the markets are fundamentally different. instead, track each market against its own historical performance and category benchmarks.
the hard truth about the time factor: yes, Russia sometimes converts slower. but that’s not an excuse to keep running a campaign that’s not working. set clear time gates (e.g., “we’ll run this for 30 days before evaluating”) and move on if the early signals are bad.
community sentiment matters, but only if you’re actually measuring it. if you’re not doing brand tracking or sentiment analysis, stop reporting on it. just track what you can measure.
Anna’s framework is solid. i’d add one more layer: time horizons.
short-term KPIs (30-90 days): CPA, ROAS, AOV. these are your campaign health signals.
medium-term KPIs (3-6 months): repeat purchase rate, customer quality (are high-ROAS customers actually profitable when you account for support costs, returns, etc.), and organic referral rate. this is where you see if your UGC is building real brand equity or just hot-air conversions.
long-term KPIs (6-12+ months): LTV, brand lift, category perception. this is where community and brand metrics actually become important.
the mistake your leadership is probably making is asking for long-term metrics after 30 days. set expectations upfront about which metrics you’ll report on at which intervals. it helps manage pressure and prevents knee-jerk pivots based on incomplete data.
for cross-market reporting, my advice: create one master dashboard that shows each market separately but with standardized definitions. don’t combine them into an average—that obscures what’s actually working.
as someone who sits between creators and brand strategy, i’ll add one thing: don’t ignore the relationship health metrics. track creator satisfaction, retention rate, how many creators are referring other creators to you, and how often your core creators organically create content about your brand.
these are harder to measure than clicks, but they’re leading indicators. if your creator community is happy and invested, your UGC quality stays high and costs stay low. if creators are churning, your acquisition cost goes up because you’re constantly recruiting.
it’s not a primary KPI, but it should be a health check you run quarterly.