What ad metrics should a $10M-$50M brand report to its board?
A mid-market brand should report contribution margin after ad spend, blended and incremental CAC, new-customer share, and creative-testing velocity, not vanity ROAS or impressions. Boards care whether paid spend is driving growth, so lead with margin and new-customer acquisition, not platform-claimed conversions.
The four metrics that matter
- Contribution margin after ad spend: is paid a profit driver or a subsidy?
- Blended CAC versus target LTV: are you buying customers at a sustainable ratio?
- New-customer share: is the channel growing the base or recirculating existing buyers?
- Creative test velocity: how many distinct concepts did you test last quarter?
Why platform ROAS misleads boards
Platform-reported ROAS overcounts because it attributes conversions that would have happened anyway. At board level, the question is whether total contribution margin improved as ad spend increased. That requires warehouse-reconciled data, not last-click attribution from the ad platform itself.
A note on measurement
Lautzu reconciles platform data against client data warehouses rather than relying on platform attribution alone. Incremental measurement through holdout tests and media mix analysis is the direction the industry is moving; last-click theatre flatters the spend and misleads the board.
Related questions
Should a mid-market brand invest in MMM at their scale?
A simplified media mix model is achievable and useful at $5M or more in annual ad spend. Below that, holdout tests and blended CAC tracking are more cost-effective than a full econometric model.
How often should these metrics be reported to the board?
Monthly at minimum, with a quarterly review that includes creative-test learnings and any changes to incremental CAC trends. Weekly platform dashboards are for operators, not boards.
Want this run on your account?
We build the creative, test it at volume, and pour budget into what wins. Start with a free growth audit.