KPI Glossary
Use this glossary to align teams on common marketing, growth, customer data, and analytics terms. Your organization may define some metrics differently, so document final business definitions in your internal reporting standards.
Acquisition and campaign KPIs
| KPI | Meaning | Common use |
|---|---|---|
| ROAS | Return on ad spend. Revenue attributed to advertising divided by ad spend. | Campaign efficiency |
| CAC | Customer acquisition cost. Cost to acquire a customer. | Budget planning |
| CPA | Cost per acquisition or cost per action. | Channel comparison |
| CPC | Cost per click. | Traffic cost monitoring |
| CPM | Cost per thousand impressions. | Awareness and reach planning |
| CTR | Click-through rate. Clicks divided by impressions. | Creative and placement quality |
| CVR | Conversion rate. Conversions divided by eligible users, clicks, or sessions. | Funnel performance |
Customer and lifecycle KPIs
| KPI | Meaning | Common use |
|---|---|---|
| LTV | Lifetime value. Estimated value generated by a customer over time. | Budget and growth planning |
| Churn rate | Share of customers who stop using or paying for the product. | Retention health |
| Retention rate | Share of customers who return or remain active after a period. | Product and lifecycle quality |
| Repeat purchase rate | Share of customers who purchase more than once. | Commerce and loyalty |
| Activation rate | Share of users who reach a defined value milestone. | Onboarding quality |
| Engagement rate | Share of users who take meaningful actions. | Product and campaign health |
Attribution KPIs
| KPI | Meaning | Common use |
|---|---|---|
| Attributed conversions | Conversions credited to eligible touchpoints. | Campaign reporting |
| Assisted conversions | Conversions influenced by non-final touchpoints. | Journey analysis |
| Lookback window | Time period used to connect touchpoints to conversions. | Model configuration |
| Reattribution | Assigning credit when an existing user returns through a new campaign. | Lifecycle campaign analysis |
| Incremental lift | Estimated improvement compared with a baseline or holdout. | Proving campaign impact |
Fraud and quality KPIs
| KPI | Meaning | Common use |
|---|---|---|
| Invalid traffic rate | Share of traffic flagged as suspicious or invalid. | Media quality |
| Click-to-install time | Time between click and install. | Fraud pattern review |
| Post-install quality | Downstream engagement after install. | Partner quality |
| Blocked source count | Number of sources excluded or blocked. | Fraud operations |
| False positive rate | Share of flagged activity later judged legitimate. | Rule tuning |
Reporting guidance
- Define the numerator and denominator for every KPI.
- Identify the source of truth for each metric.
- Document timezone, currency, attribution model, and window.
- Note whether fraud filtering is applied.
- Keep KPI definitions stable during active campaigns when possible.
tip
A KPI is only useful when teams agree how it is calculated. Add metric definitions to report descriptions so reviewers do not need to guess.