Some of the most important discussions that we are having with clients is how teams are optimizing for metrics that feel productive, but that also quietly waste budget.
Some of the culprits include:
1.) CTR:
The first metric that we hear about is Click-Through Rate (CTR). It’s been a metric since the beginning of the internet and has always been a bit misleading. Let's face it, CTR rewards clickbait over intent.
A better metric to track is cost per qualified opportunity or the cost per pipeline dollar. Both of these actually allow you to more accurately track the ROI of the campaign (Providing your goal is conversions).
2.) MQL:
The second metric that can sometimes be seen as a vanity metric is MQL Volume. This is the classic quantity over quality argument, but by focusing on MQL volume, you flood your sales team with junk leads.
AI makes this easier to manage, but you’re still dealing with cleaning up junk.
Of course, the best thing to track is MQL to opportunity conversion or, even better (at least from a sales guy’s POV), is cost per sales-accepted lead.
3.) Impressions:
Everyone loves impressions, especially when working on TOFU campaigns, but it’s easy to get lulled into this one.
Impression is just awareness without action and there is zero correlation to revenue.
Instead, our recommendation is to track share of voice, in the case of ABM campaigns, or influenced pipeline.
At Yirla, our platform modernizes these antiquated metrics. By tracking audience quality, not just engagement, our clients gain a better understanding of the type of customers that they are getting and whether the campaign is actually reaching those buyers.
By surfacing which campaigns drive real pipeline vs. MQL’s, our clients are able to truly understand which campaigns are driving real revenue vs. lookieloos, improving ROAS.
Finally, by having all of this in a single place, Google, LinkedIn, Meta, Reddit, you’re finally able to easily get quick, at a glance views into how all of your campaigns are performing across all channels and understand which channels are truly driving the most revenue.
It’s 2026. It’s far time to stop reporting on activity and start measuring business impact. At Yirla, we are working hard to turns noisy cross-channel data into clear actions tied to pipeline.
