metric category
Marketing & Growth KPIs
Marketing and growth metrics measure the efficiency of customer acquisition, channel performance, and the long-term value of the customers a business attracts. They span the full funnel from brand awareness (CPM, Share of Voice) through conversion (CPA, Conversion Rate) to retention (NRR, Bounce Rate), providing the data infrastructure for growth investment decisions.
all definitions
All Marketing & Growth Metrics Definitions (16 KPIs)
Each entry includes formula, platforms, causal drivers, benchmarks, and Q&A.
Customer Acquisition Cost
CAC
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) measures the total sales and marketing expenditure required to acquire one new paying customer over a given period.
CMO
CFO
VP Marketing
Director Marketing
Customer Lifetime Value
LTV
Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) estimates the total net revenue a business expects to generate from a single customer relationship over its entire duration.
CMO
CFO
VP Marketing
Director Marketing
LTV:CAC Ratio
LTV:CAC
The LTV:CAC Ratio compares the expected lifetime value of a customer against the cost to acquire that customer, providing a single efficiency score for the growth model.
CMO
CFO
CEO
VP Marketing
Marketing Qualified Lead
MQL
A Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) is a prospect who has met a predefined set of behavioral or demographic criteria indicating sufficient purchase intent to be worth sales follow-up, but has not yet been accepted by the sales team.
CMO
VP Marketing
VP Sales
Director Marketing
Sales Qualified Lead
SQL
A Sales Qualified Lead (SQL) is a prospect that the sales team has reviewed and accepted as meeting the criteria to enter the active sales pipeline.
VP Sales
VP Marketing
CMO
Director Marketing
Return on Ad Spend
ROAS
Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) measures the gross revenue generated for every dollar spent on advertising.
CMO
VP Marketing
Director Marketing
CFO
Click-Through Rate
CTR
Click-Through Rate (CTR) measures the percentage of people who click on a link or ad after seeing it, expressed as clicks divided by impressions.
VP Marketing
Director Marketing
CMO
Cost Per Click
CPC
Cost Per Click (CPC) is the amount an advertiser pays each time a user clicks on a paid ad, determined by auction dynamics, quality score, and bid strategy.
VP Marketing
Director Marketing
CMO
Cost Per Mille
CPM
Cost Per Mille (CPM) measures the cost an advertiser pays per 1,000 ad impressions, making it the standard pricing metric for brand awareness and display advertising campaigns.
VP Marketing
Director Marketing
CMO
Cost Per Acquisition
CPA
Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) measures the total advertising cost required to generate one desired conversion action, such as a form fill, trial signup, or purchase.
VP Marketing
Director Marketing
CMO
CFO
Conversion Rate
CVR
Conversion Rate (CVR) measures the percentage of users who complete a desired action out of all those who had the opportunity to do so, such as the percentage of website visitors who complete a purchase or form submission.
CMO
VP Marketing
Director Marketing
VP Product
Organic Traffic
Organic Traffic refers to website visitors who arrive through unpaid search engine results, driven by SEO content strategy, technical site health, and domain authority.
CMO
VP Marketing
Director Marketing
Email Open Rate
Email Open Rate measures the percentage of delivered emails that are opened by recipients, indicating how effective subject lines and sender reputation are at compelling engagement.
VP Marketing
Director Marketing
CMO
Share of Voice
SOV
Share of Voice (SOV) measures a brand's proportion of total advertising or media presence within its competitive category, expressed as a percentage of total category impressions, mentions, or spend.
CMO
VP Marketing
Director Marketing
Net Revenue Retention
NRR
Net Revenue Retention (NRR) measures the percentage of recurring revenue retained from existing customers over a period, including expansion revenue from upsells and cross-sells, minus contraction and churn.
CMO
CFO
CEO
VP Sales
Bounce Rate / Engagement Rate
Bounce Rate (in Universal Analytics) measured the percentage of sessions where a user visited only one page and left without further interaction.
VP Marketing
Director Marketing
CMO
ownership
Roles that own these metrics
See the full KPI guide for each role that works with Marketing & Growth Metrics.
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