Understanding Your Data

This guide explains the metrics available in AdsGateway and how to interpret them for better decision-making.

Core Metrics

Spend

What it is: The total amount of money you’ve spent on ads.

How it’s calculated: Sum of all costs incurred for impressions, clicks, or actions.

What good looks like: This depends on your budget. Monitor for unexpected changes.

What was my ad spend yesterday?

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Impressions

What it is: The number of times your ads were displayed on screen.

How it’s calculated: Each time an ad appears on someone’s screen counts as one impression. The same person can generate multiple impressions.

What good looks like: More impressions generally means more reach, but quality matters more than quantity.

How many impressions did I get last week?

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Reach

What it is: The number of unique people who saw your ads.

How it’s calculated: Counts each person once, even if they saw your ad multiple times.

Impressions vs Reach: If you have 10,000 impressions and 5,000 reach, your average frequency is 2 (each person saw your ad twice).

What's my reach for this month?

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Clicks

What it is: The number of times people clicked on your ads.

Types of clicks:

• Link clicks: Clicks on the ad’s destination link
• All clicks: Includes link clicks plus clicks on likes, comments, shares, etc.

What good looks like: More clicks typically means more engagement, but watch your CTR and conversion rate.

How many clicks did I get yesterday?

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Efficiency Metrics

CTR (Click-Through Rate)

What it is: The percentage of impressions that resulted in a click.

Formula: CTR = (Clicks ÷ Impressions) × 100

What good looks like:

Industry	Average CTR
E-commerce	1.0-2.0%
B2B	0.5-1.0%
Retail	1.5-2.5%
Finance	0.5-1.0%

A higher CTR means your ad creative and targeting are resonating with your audience.

What's my CTR for active campaigns?

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CPC (Cost Per Click)

What it is: The average cost for each click on your ads.

Formula: CPC = Spend ÷ Clicks

What good looks like: Lower is generally better, but not at the expense of quality. A \$2 CPC that converts is better than a \\$0.50 CPC that doesn’t.

What's my average CPC this week?

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CPM (Cost Per Mille)

What it is: The cost for 1,000 impressions.

Formula: CPM = (Spend ÷ Impressions) × 1000

What good looks like: Varies widely by platform, audience, and competition. US Facebook ads typically range from \$5-15 CPM.

What's my CPM for my brand awareness campaigns?

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Conversion Metrics

Conversions

What it is: The number of desired actions taken after seeing or clicking your ad.

Types of conversions:

• Purchases
• Lead form submissions
• Sign-ups
• Add to cart
• App installs
• Page views

What good looks like: This depends on your goals. More is generally better, but cost per conversion matters.

How many conversions did I get this month?

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Cost Per Conversion (CPA)

What it is: The average cost to acquire one conversion.

Formula: CPA = Spend ÷ Conversions

What good looks like: Should be lower than the value of your conversion. If a customer is worth \$100, a \\$30 CPA is good.

What's my cost per conversion?

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ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)

What it is: The revenue generated for every dollar spent on ads.

Formula: ROAS = Revenue ÷ Ad Spend

What good looks like:

ROAS	Meaning
< 1x	Losing money
1x	Breaking even
2-3x	Good
4-5x	Very good
> 5x	Excellent

ROAS only measures direct ad revenue. It doesn’t include the lifetime value of customers or brand building effects.

What's my ROAS for the last 30 days?

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Video Metrics

Video Views

Types:

• 3-Second Views: Number of times your video was watched for 3+ seconds
• ThruPlay Views: Watched to completion or 15+ seconds (whichever is shorter)

How many ThruPlay views did I get?

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Video Completion Rate

What it is: Percentage of people who watched your video to the end.

Formula: Completion Rate = (Completed Views ÷ Video Starts) × 100

What good looks like:

• 25% completion: Average
• 50%+ completion: Good
• 75%+ completion: Excellent

What's my video completion rate?

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Engagement Metrics

Reactions

Likes, loves, hahas, wows, sads, and angrys on your ad.

Comments

Number of comments on your ad.

Shares

Number of times your ad was shared.

Page Engagement

Total engagement actions (reactions + comments + shares + clicks).

Show me engagement metrics for my brand campaign

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Interpreting Changes

When Metrics Increase

Metric	Increase Could Mean
CTR	Better creative resonance, improved targeting
CPC	More competition, broader targeting
Conversions	Better funnel, seasonal demand
CPM	Higher demand, smaller audience

When Metrics Decrease

Metric	Decrease Could Mean
CTR	Ad fatigue, poor targeting, creative issues
CPC	Less competition, better quality score
Conversions	Funnel issues, landing page problems
ROAS	Increased costs, lower conversion rates

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Using Metrics Together

High CTR but low conversions

Your ads are engaging but not leading to action. Check:

• Landing page experience
• Offer alignment
• Audience intent

Low CTR but high ROAS

Your targeting is specific and converts well. Consider:

• You may be reaching exactly the right people
• Could potentially expand reach carefully

Increasing CPM with stable results

Competition is increasing. Options:

• Refresh creative to maintain engagement
• Find new audiences
• Accept higher costs if ROAS is still good

Decreasing reach with same budget

Audience fatigue or competition. Try:

• Expand targeting
• Refresh creative
• Test new audiences

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Quick Metric Lookup

Ask AdsGateway for specific metrics:

What's my [metric] for [time period]?

Examples:

• “What’s my CTR for last week?”
• “What’s my ROAS for this month?”
• “What’s my CPC for my Summer Sale campaign?”
• “What’s my conversion rate for yesterday?”