Ed's apprentice asked him "What do advertisers actually care about?"

We'll call Ed's apprentice Nate

You might be wondering what led to this conversation.

But to cut the story short, Nate lost 2 clients because of his lack of knowledge.

He was frustrated.

So he called his boss over for a cup of coffee.

They met and greeted each other.

Sat down and Ed saw that Nate was down.

So Ed asked what was wrong.

Nate said, "What do advertisers even want? I've lost retainer clients".

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Ed was emphatic with him, then he listed 5 metrics advertisers care about.

1. ​ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) / ROI (Return on Investment): It's simple, Nate.

Are their ads making them more money than they're spending? This is the ultimate bottom line for any campaign.

2. ​Conversion Rate: How many people who see the ad actually do what we want them to do, like sign up or buy?

A high conversion rate means effective creative and targeting.

3. Click-Through Rate (CTR): This tells us if the ad is grabbing attention.

If people aren't even clicking, the message isn't resonating, and it impacts everything downstream.

4. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): How much does it cost to get one new customer through our ads?

Every business needs this number to be profitable.

5. ​Lifetime Value (LTV) or Engagement Rate: LTV measures how much a customer is worth over time, crucial for long-term strategy.

If LTV data isn't available, we look at engagement rate as a proxy for how much users connect with the content, showing potential for future value.

So you see?

Ed concluded. A lot of vanity metrics don't count.

These five align directly with smart design decisions and core business goals.

​Nate was thankful. He took copious notes.

They hugged and went back to work, Nate now armed with actionable insights.

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