When you open Ads Manager you find dozens of numbers. The hard part is not learning each definition, it is knowing which numbers tell you the result and which tell you about the road to it. This glossary splits them into three groups.

Group one: reach and attention

These tell you whether your ad is reaching people and being seen. Useful for diagnosis, but they do not tell you whether you are making money.

Impressions

The number of times the ad was shown. The same person may see it more than once.

Reach

The number of different people who saw the ad.

Frequency

How many times, on average, one person saw the ad. Very high frequency with falling performance means the audience is tired of the ad.

CPM (cost per thousand impressions)

The cost of showing the ad a thousand times. It depends on competition, season and audience. A high CPM is not a problem if the end results are good.

Group two: engagement

Click-through rate (CTR)

The share of people who clicked. A sign that the ad attracts attention, but it can mislead: a very sensational ad can bring lots of clicks from people who will never buy.

Cost per click (CPC)

What you pay per click. A cheap click is not a goal in itself.

Conversion rate

Out of every 100 visitors, how many completed the target action. This metric links the ad to the site: if CTR is good and conversion rate is weak, the problem is usually the landing page.

Group three: outcome and profitability

These are the numbers that tell you whether you are making money.

Cost per acquisition (CPA)

The cost of an order, lead or sign-up. It matters enormously to know what the result is: a submitted order or a delivered one? A lead or a qualified lead? At a Saudi contracting group, cost per lead looked fine while cost per qualified lead was SAR 940. See qualified leads.

Return on ad spend (ROAS)

Meaningless on its own. It must be compared with your break-even point, which is 1 ÷ gross margin. Details in break-even ROAS.

Customer acquisition cost (CAC)

Broader than CPA, because it includes all costs, not just ads: fees, tools, content, sometimes sales salaries.

Customer lifetime value (LTV)

The profit a customer brings over the relationship. When LTV is clearly higher than CAC, you can pay more to acquire customers and grow faster than competitors.

LTV to CAC ratio

The health indicator for the whole model. If customer value does not cover acquisition cost with a comfortable margin, the problem is the model, not the ads.

Metrics specific to local markets

Delivery rate

For cash on delivery: delivered orders ÷ all orders. It changes every other number. At an Egyptian store, bringing rejection down from 34% to 16% raised collected revenue by 72%. See reducing COD returns.

Activation rate

For apps: who installed and then actually used the app. See app install campaigns.

Which metric to watch daily?

  • For decisions: the real cost per result (delivered order, qualified lead) and ROAS against break-even.
  • For diagnosis: CTR, conversion rate, frequency and CPM.
  • For strategy: LTV and CAC, monthly or quarterly.

The bottom line

Every metric in the ads dashboard answers a question. What matters is knowing which question matters to you today. And the question that always matters: does every unit spent come back as more? If you want someone to read your numbers that way, see the freelance media buyer page.