Lesson 1 of 5
The numbers that matter: from visits to money
From a visit to money: where people drop off
The idea
Picture a shop. People walk past, some come in, a few buy, and some come back. If lots come in but nobody buys, a bigger sign outside won't help. Something inside needs fixing.
Step 1
Visits
The people who arrive
Step 2
Enquiries
Sign-ups or messages
Step 3
Customers
The people who pay
Step 4
Repeat
The ones who stay or come back
Every step loses people. Work first on the step that loses the most.
Sort it
1 of 5
Which step is broken?
“Lots of visitors, almost nobody signs up or gets in touch”
Three numbers
Cost per customer
What you spent on marketing this month, divided by new customers
What a customer brings
Their lifetime value, from Module 10
Payback
Months until a customer has paid back what winning them cost
Run the numbers
What a customer costs, and when they pay it back
The starting numbers are only an example. Put in a month of yours: what marketing cost in money and paid tools, how many new customers came, and what one brings in a month.
Cost per customer
$60
spend divided by new customers
Paid back in
3.9 months
of what one customer brings
Paid back within a year: workable, if customers stay longer than that.
Today, with AI
Analytics tools now sum up your numbers in plain words. The danger is reading a story into one odd week.
Privacy settings and blocked cookies mean some visits go uncounted. Trends over months matter more than exact counts.
What AI does well
Reading every report at once, spotting the step that changed, and saying what it means in plain words.
Where it goes wrong
It will explain a random dip with total confidence. Check that the change holds over 28 days before you act.
What stays yours
Which number matters, and the decision the numbers lead to.
Check yourself
Do it in the studio
- 01
Connect Google: Profile settings → Connections → Connect Google, then pick your Search Console site and your Analytics property.
free - 02
Open Results → Traffic: the last 28 days against the 28 before.
free - 03
Run the calculator above for your cost per customer and payback.
free - 04
Optional: Read the numbers has the CMO read every tab and write what it means.
20 credits
Done when You know your weakest step, your cost per customer, and the months it takes to earn it back.
Go deeper
University courses on the same topic, if you want to go further.
Northwestern Medill
Marketing Metrics (MS IMC)Website numbers, tracking, testing, surveys and privacy
Imperial College Business School
Customer Analytics and Engagement (BUSI70184)Using numbers to understand what customers are worth