Marketing Metrics Glossary

Plain-English definitions and formulas for every metric on StatCalcs, and the acronyms behind them.

Conversion Rate (CVR): The share of visitors who take a desired action. CVR = conversions / visitors × 100. Calculator.
Click-Through Rate (CTR): The share of impressions that result in a click. CTR = clicks / impressions × 100. Calculator.
Click-to-Open Rate (CTOR): Email clicks as a share of opens, a purer read of content quality. CTOR = clicks / opens × 100. Calculator.
Open Rate: Emails opened as a share of those delivered. Open rate = opens / delivered × 100. Inflated by Apple Mail Privacy Protection, so weight clicks more. Calculator.
Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): Revenue generated per unit of ad spend. ROAS = revenue / ad spend. Often written as a ratio such as 4:1. Calculator.
Return on Investment (ROI): Profit relative to total cost. ROI = (revenue − cost) / cost × 100. Truer than ROAS because it counts all costs, not just ad spend.
Break-even ROAS: The minimum ROAS needed to cover costs. Break-even ROAS = 1 / profit margin. At a 25% margin you break even at 4x.
Engagement Rate: Interactions as a share of your audience. Engagement rate = interactions / (followers, reach or impressions) × 100. Saves and shares are weighted more heavily by algorithms. Calculator.
Average Order Value (AOV): The mean revenue per order. AOV = total revenue / orders. Order bumps and upsells raise it directly. Calculator.
Revenue Per Visitor (RPV): Revenue earned per site visitor. RPV = revenue / visitors, which also equals AOV × conversion rate. Often the truest measure of monetisation.
Churn Rate: Customers or revenue lost over a period. Churn = churned / starting count × 100. Monthly churn compounds fast into a much larger annual figure. Calculator.
Retention Rate: The share of customers kept. Retention = 100 − churn rate. The mirror image of churn.
Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR): The predictable subscription revenue billed each month. Annualised it becomes ARR (annual recurring revenue).
Net Revenue Retention (NRR): Revenue kept from existing customers including expansion, minus churn. Above 100% means the base grows without new customers, the mark of best-in-class SaaS.
Cost Per Click (CPC): The average price paid for one ad click. CPC = ad spend / clicks.
Cost Per Mille (CPM): The cost per thousand ad impressions. CPM = (ad spend / impressions) × 1000.
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): The average cost to win one new customer, including ad and sales spend. Read alongside lifetime value.
Lifetime Value (LTV): The total revenue a customer is expected to generate over their whole relationship with you. The LTV to CAC ratio shows whether acquisition pays back.