To make advertising profitable, you need to speak the same language as the business: KPI advertising in Tajikistan It's not just clicks and impressions, but, above all, cost per lead/customer, return on investment, and customer lifetime value. Below is a short "alphabet" of metrics, calculation examples, and checklists without unnecessary theory.
Key metrics and formulas
Basic "money and applications"«
- CR (Conversion Rate) = Conversions / Sessions × 100%
- CPC (Cost per Click) = Consumption / Clicks
- CPA / CPL = Cost / Conversions (order/lead)
- CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) = Marketing and sales expenses / Number of new paying customers
Revenue and payback
- AOV (Average Order Value) = Revenue / Number of orders
- ROAS = Advertising revenue / Advertising expenses
- ROI = (Revenue - Expenses) / Expenses
When calculating expenses, consider not only media, but also production, platform commissions, discounts, and returns—otherwise, ROI will be too much.
Customer lifetime value
- LTV (simplified) = Average check × Frequency of purchases over the period × Marginality
- For subscriptions: LTV = ARPU / Churn (or ARPU × Average Customer Lifetime)
Break-even point
- Break-even CPA = LTV × Marginality × Share that is willing to give up for attracting
If your actual CPA ≤ Break-even CPA, the campaign is at least not unprofitable.
Calculation examples (conditional, but realistic)
Example 1. Leads from a service page
- Cost: 8,000 TJS
- Clicks: 2,500 –> CPC = 8,000 / 2,500 = 3.2 TJS
- Conversions to leads: 125 –> CPL = 8,000 / 125 = 64 TJS
- Of the 125 leads from 30%, 37 became paying clients.
- CAC = 8,000 / 37 ≈ 216 TJS
If your average contribution to the order (marginal income) = 300 TJS, you in the black (216 < 300).
ROI (rough): (37 × 300 − 8,000) / 8,000 = (11,100 − 8,000) / 8,000 = +38,75%.
Example 2. Online store with repeat purchases
- AOV = 220 TJS, marginality = 40% –> contribution to order = 88 TJS
- Average purchase frequency over 6 months = 2.2 –> lifetime contribution = 88 × 2.2 = 193.6 TJS
- Willingness to invest in attraction = 60% from LTV contribution –> Break-even CAC ≈ 116 TJS
If the current CAC = 105 TJS — we scale; if 140 TJS — we reduce the cost per click/improve conversion/work with repeat orders.
How to read reports (and not confuse warm with soft)
- Agree on the attribution window. For performance advertising, it's often 7–30 days; for media advertising, it's longer. Comparing campaigns with different windows is inaccurate.
- Distinguish Brand vs Non-Brand. Brand search "cheats" the picture. Make the report in two columns.
- Look at the funnel as a whole. CPC is low, but CPL is high? So the problem is with the landing page or the offer.
- Segment. Geo, devices, new/returned - the average temperature in a hospital says little.
- Synchronize with CRM. Marketing leads ≠ qualified leads. The report has two layers: MQL and SQL/purchase.
- Record "annotations" in the dashboard. If you changed the price/removed the discount/moved the form, please mark the date, otherwise the conclusions will be false.
Typical errors of interpretation
- Confuse ROAS and ROI. ROAS doesn't take into account production, discounts, or fulfillment—resulting in "mountains of gold" in the figures and a cash flow gap in practice.
- Consider a "lead" as a client. CPL can be great, but CAC can be a loss if the qualification is weak.
- Ignore returns/cancellations. Adjust revenue in reports.
- Put different channels into one boiler. Channels have different roles: search = intent, video = reach; KPI are different.
- Look only at the average. Averaging hides the "holes" in segments (for example, in one region CPA is 2 times higher).
- Lack of hypotheses. A report without hypotheses is just a bunch of numbers. Each report contains 2–3 new hypotheses and a test plan.
One-Page Performance Report Checklist
- The goal of the campaign (leads/sales/awareness) and KPI by goals.
- Attribution window and date annotations of changes.
- Brand vs. Non-Brand separately.
- Metrics chain: CPC –> CTR –> CVR (click->lead) –> CVR (lead->purchase) –> CAC.
- Unit Economics: AOV, marginality, LTV, Break-even CPA.
- Hypotheses and tests for the next sprint (2-3 pcs.) with the expected effect.
FAQ (briefly)
Which is better to track: ROAS or ROI?
Both. ROAS is about traffic purchasing efficiency, ROI is about actual profitability, taking into account all expenses.
How can you quickly tell if your campaign is going well?
Review early metrics (CTR, CPC, adds to cart) and lead conversions in the first 3-7 days. If the bottom line is good but sales are low, the problem lies with the sales department, logistics, or pricing.
When to count LTV?
If your business has repeats/subscriptions, for one-time purchases, look at the contribution from the first transaction and work on increasing upsells.
Need a compact KPI report template (Google Sheets + formulas)? Contact us – we'll send it free and help you customize it for your funnel: https://tag.tj/contact/
To set up performance campaigns and creative testing, please contact our services section: https://tag.tj/services/digital-marketing/