In 2021, I was put in charge of a literary blog’s marketing campaign. The blog was racking up page views, yet none of those visits were turning into product sales. It felt frustrating watching the numbers climb without any real impact.
After about three months, I realized that I was chasing a vanity metric (page views) that looked impressive but ultimately did nothing to move the needle. So, I shifted my attention to more meaningful metrics like engagement rate, click-throughs on calls-to-action, and conversion rates from visitors to subscribers/buyers.
This required me to tweak the content strategy quite a bit, but soon, the results began to speak for themselves. In this article, I’ll be covering what a vanity metric is, how to identify them, some examples of vanity metrics (and their alternative actionable metrics).
Table of Contents
I learned about vanity metrics the hard way with the literary blog. It was annoying to realize that chasing these shiny numbers meant that my marketing efforts were going down the drain and we were losing money. But the moment I focused on actionable metrics (and key performance indicators (KPIs)) instead, those sales slowly, but steadily, started pouring in.
Beware of vanity metrics. Instead of getting caught up in the low-hanging fruit, ask yourself: “What does this graph mean? Should I continue doing something, increase the time or money I spend on a certain channel, or even stop doing something altogether?”
Vanity Metrics vs. Actionable Metrics
As I said before, vanity metrics refer to data points that may look impressive at first glance but do not provide meaningful insights into a business's actual performance.
Actionable metrics are the opposite--these metrics directly tie into business objectives and offer insights that drive strategy and decision-making.
Here’s a table that shows the key differences between vanity metrics and actionable metrics
| Vanity metrics |
Actionable metrics |
|
| Examples |
Examples of vanity metrics include page views, social media followers, and email open rate. |
Examples of actionable metrics include conversion rates, click-through rates, and customer retention figures. |
| Relationship to goals |
They do not directly correlate with business outcomes and may not indicate progress toward goals. |
They are closely tied to specific business objectives and measure progress towards achieving them. |
| Insights provided |
They offer superficial insight that can be misleading without context. |
They offer clear, measurable insights that help shape effective marketing strategies. |
| Impact on decision-making |
Decisions based on vanity metrics may lead to misdirected efforts and inefficient resource allocation. |
Decisions based on actionable metrics lead to more effective strategies and optimized resource use. |
| Reliability |
Vanity metrics can be unreliable because they do not reflect the quality of engagement or conversion. |
Actionable metrics reliably reflect the quality of engagement and can pinpoint areas for improvement. |
Examples of Vanity Metrics (+ Alternative Actionable Metrics)
Here are seven vanity metrics you should stop obsessing over and the actionable metrics you should track instead.
1. Blog Post Page Views
Blog post page views simply count how many times a page is loaded. It feels great when the numbers are high, like they were with the literary blog--I mean, 50k page views every month is a lot--but it doesn't show if visitors actually read the post or took the next step. In my case, visitors certainly weren’t clicking the Purchase button.
Page views also don’t indicate where your visitors are coming from, if your blog content answered their question, or even how long they spent on your page.
Actionable Metrics: Bounce Rate, Social Shares
- Bounce rate: This tells the percentage of people who visit one page on your website and leave without clicking further into the site. In other words: high bounce rate = bad. A declining bounce rate is a great metric to report because it suggests that your blog is becoming more interesting to your visitors.
Pro tip: Keep readers' attention with a good call-to-action (CTA), as well as links to other content and other parts of your site.
- Social shares: People share content on social media that they relate to or resonate with in some capacity. So, if your content is getting lots of social shares, there’s a good chance your content is connecting with your audience, which is what you want.
And while search engines like Google and Bing don't directly use social shares as a primary ranking factor, shares can indirectly influence SEO by indicating content relevance and quality, which can lead to backlinks and increased traffic.
2. Email Open Rate
Email open rate measures the percentage of recipients who open your emails. Here’s the formula:
Open rate = (Number of emails opened / Number of delivered emails) x 100
Email open rate is a reasonable metric to track to check the effectiveness of your email’s subject line and timing. However, it says nothing about the email’s content or its ability to prompt action. Also, there are technical limitations because many email clients have to load images to count as an open, and many users have images turned off by default.
I’ve seen marketing campaigns where the email open rates were sky-high, yet barely any clicks or conversions followed.
Actionable Metric: Click-through Rate (CTR)
CTR measures the percentage of people who clicked on links within your email. It directly indicates whether your content was compelling enough to prompt further action. A high click-through rate (CTR) for an email that invites users to download something on your website, for example, tells you the email campaign has high lead-generating power.
Pro tip: Focus on one call-to-action (CTA) in your email that draws users to your site, and measure your click-throughs on those links.
3. Number of Subscribers/Product Users
It’s simple enough to track how many people have converted into a trial user, or agreed to receive your newsletter. But these metrics don’t tell you if these people are actively engaging with your content or product. Sometimes, the numbers inflate simply due to outdated sign-ups or inactive users.
Actionable Metrics: Active Users, Path to Conversion
- Active users: Instead of focusing on the total user count, track how many subscribers or users are actually engaging with your content or product on a regular basis.
For example, in Google Analytics, you can examine metrics like New vs. Returning visitors, which measures the percentage of visitors who are new to your website versus those who have visited it before. A higher percentage of returning visitors indicates stronger visitor loyalty and retention.
You can also look at Frequency and Recency in Google Analytics, too--a report that shows how often visitors return to your website and how long it’s been since their last visit.
- Path to conversion: This metric analyzes the journey users take from first contact to conversion, highlighting where you might be losing potential customers. So, track which content drew in leads that converted to qualified contacts or even customers -- as well as what actions those leads took on your website before they converted.
You can monitor this information a few ways, such as adding tracking links to your CTAs so you can see where a user came from as they moved through the conversion path. Rinse, lather, repeat.
4. Social Media Follower Count
On platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or X (formerly Twitter), you shouldn’t really focus on the number of followers you have. People often follow accounts for reasons that don’t reflect genuine interest--and I should know, seeing as the Follow button is like a magnet I’m naturally drawn to (I’ll change, I promise).
Some users may follow you because of that one funny video you posted just to switch things up from your otherwise serious content. Others might follow you hoping for a follow-back, and if that doesn’t happen, those numbers quickly drop off.
Actionable Metric: Engagement Rate
This metric measures interactions like likes, comments, and shares relative to your follower count. It provides a more accurate picture of how your audience is engaging with your content, rather than just how many people might have clicked “follow.”
So, if you have 100,000 followers and are only getting 75 likes and four shares per post, then you know something’s wrong somewhere. It could be that your posts aren’t resonating with your audience or they’re not seeing it--or something else entirely.
Then, you can tweak your strategy and take measures to fix the issue.
5. Ad Impressions
I’ll never forget the first time my friend and I ran an Instagram ad for his window blinds business. It was 2020 — we were both green to paid advertising and I was practically buzzing with excitement as we set up the campaign.
The promise of thousands of ad impressions had us feeling like we’d struck gold — after all, more eyes on the ad should mean more business, right? Well, over the 14 days the ad ran, we racked up thousands of impressions, but only two people actually reached out.
That’s when it hit me: ad impressions are flashy, but they don’t necessarily lead to real engagement or sales.
Actionable Metrics: Conversion Rate
We talked about click-through rate (in the email open rate section above), and you should track that if you’re running paid ads because it shows how many people clicked on your ad after seeing it.
But even better, track your conversion rate, which shows how many clicks led to a meaningful action, like a purchase or sign-up.
In my (and my friend’s) case, focusing on CTR and conversion rate would have shown us that while our ad was being seen, it wasn’t truly connecting with our audience. We would’ve paused it and tried to figure out (and fix) the problem.
6. App Downloads
App downloads count how many times your app has been installed. It’s tempting to celebrate a surge in app downloads—after all, those numbers look great on paper. I’ve seen campaigns where the download count skyrocketed right after launch.
But here’s the catch: downloads alone don’t prove that your app is valuable or that users are sticking around. Something’s wrong if your downloads are through the roof and yet barely anyone if using your app after the initial install.
Actionable Metrics: Retention Rate, Daily Active Users (DAU)
- Retention rate: This metric tracks the percentage of users who continue using your app after their first download. A high retention rate means your app is offering long-term value.
- Daily active users (DAU): DAU counts how many unique users interact with your app on a daily basis, giving you a real-time snapshot of its popularity. These metrics are better because they show not just the initial interest but the ongoing relationship between your app and its users.
This ensures that you’re not just racking up downloads but building a loyal user base.
7. Video Views
Video views are often the go-to metric for gauging the success of a video campaign. However, views only tell you that the video was played—they don’t reveal whether viewers watched the whole thing or if it left a lasting impression.
It’s possible for a 10-minute video to rack up hundreds of thousands of views, but have most viewers drop off after the first minute. Their views still count towards video views, but those viewers would likely not be impacted by the video. And if the CTA is at the middle or the end of the video, they won’t see it, let alone act on it.
Actionable Metric: Watch Time Percentage
This metric shows how much of your video viewers actually watch on average. It’s a much clearer indicator of whether your video content is engaging and worth watching. By focusing on watch time, you can fine-tune your content to keep viewers hooked from start to finish, so that your video is not only seen but truly appreciated.
If you need a tool to help you track actionable metrics, look no further than HubSpot Marketing Analytics and Dashboard software. With built-in analytics, detailed reports, and comprehensive dashboards, HubSpot lets you measure the performance of all your marketing campaigns in one place.
How to Identify Vanity Metrics
If you’re not sure how to identify a vanity metric, here are some tips that helped (and could help you, too):
1. Look beyond the surface numbers.
I learned early on that a high number on its own doesn’t tell the whole story. For example, when I saw thousands of page views on our literary blog, it initially felt like a major win. However, I soon realized that these figures were just surface-level and didn’t offer insight into whether those visitors were truly engaged or interested in our products.
This experience taught me to dig deeper and ask, “What does this number really mean for the business?” Instead of just celebrating big numbers, I started analyzing what they were achieving.
2. Check for consistent patterns.
One effective way I identified vanity metrics was by looking at growth patterns. I noticed that while some numbers, like page views, would spike after a viral post, other critical metrics—like demo requests or free trials—remained flat.
Consistency is key. If one metric shows sporadic bursts without any corresponding growth in conversion or engagement, it might be a sign that you’re focusing on vanity numbers rather than sustainable growth.
3. Analyze the relationship between metrics.
I learned to compare related metrics to see if they supported one another. For instance, if there was a surge in social media followers but no increase in website traffic or conversions, that disparity was a clear indicator of a vanity metric.
I would look at how changes in one metric affected another. When the numbers don’t move together as expected—like a rise in likes without a similar rise in comments or shares—it tells me that the engagement might be superficial.
4. Evaluate the quality of engagement.
Not all interactions are created equal. I know now to measure the quality of engagement rather than just counting the interactions. For instance, I compare posts that have numerous likes with those that generate thoughtful comments or were shared widely.
I’ve found that posts with meaningful interactions often led to deeper customer relationships and higher conversions. This approach helped me distinguish between a metric that simply looked good on paper and one that truly drove the business forward.
5. Rely on benchmarking for context.
I found comparing metrics to industry benchmarks and past performance provides valuable context. For example, if your blog’s conversion rate is significantly lower than the industry average despite high traffic numbers, then you need to re-evaluate your strategy.
Benchmarking helps you set realistic targets and better understand which metrics are truly driving success. This context is crucial for distinguishing between metrics that merely look good and those that are genuinely effective.
Transform Data Into Impactful Strategies
Vanity metrics may dazzle at first glance, but they don’t provide the insights needed to drive true business growth. By focusing on actionable metrics—like click-through rates, conversion rates, retention rates, and watch time percentages—you can uncover what’s really working and identify areas for improvement.
Editor's note: This post was originally published in August 2011 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.