What CMOs Want: The Mobile Marketing Metrics Executives Actually Care About

Data-driven marketers track a lot of mobile app metrics in order to better understand their users and customers. Site metrics, content marketing metrics, email marketing metrics, paid campaign metrics — you have a zillion marketing KPIs to track and analyze. And on top of it all, you have to tie your efforts back to a larger marketing strategy.
But when it comes to reporting to your CMO, how do you package all that data in a way that communicates your success?
If you’re looking for the best ways to present marketing progress to your CMO and executive team, beware information overload.
Turns out, 70% of CEOs think marketers bombard executive stakeholders with marketing data that doesn’t relate to the company’s bottom line.¹
CMOs don’t care about click-through rates, downloads, or bounce rates. They care about how marketing activities help the company reach its business objectives and revenue goals.
Focus on these five key mobile marketing metrics to report on the numbers your CMO actually cares about, tie campaign results back to relevant business goals, and build smart marketing strategies that drive company growth.
Conversion Rate
What types of conversions are important for your business?
What do users want when they come to your app?
Your conversion rate tells your CMO how effective your marketing efforts are at turning users into paying customers.
Here’s how to calculate it:

Say you sent a free shipping push notification to 8,000 users. If 400 of them used the discount code, your conversion rate would be 5%.
Tracking conversion rates tells you which campaigns actually drive business revenue. Run A/B tests to optimize and find the messaging that resonates best with your users.
Average Revenue Per User & Customer Lifetime Value
Not all users are equal. Some customers buy more frequently, consume more content, or have higher order values.
Tracking these two metrics helps your CMO understand how well you’re monetizing users and retaining your most valuable customers.


Customer Lifetime Value refers to the monetary value a customer contributes to your business.
Say you have a food delivery app, and the average user spends $10 a month and stays with your app for 2 years. Your average CLTV would be $240.
To ensure your app stays profitable, your CMO will want to see customer LTVs that exceed cost per acquisition by 3x or more.¹
Cost Per Install & Cost Per Loyal User
Did a certain marketing campaign justify its cost? That’s the question CMOs are looking to answer when evaluating performance. Cost Per Install and Cost Per Loyal User are important metrics for determining whether marketing dollars are actually resulting in meaningful business and revenue growth.


Cost Per Loyal User is an especially important metric to watch. Since retention is critical to your app’s success, it’s not enough to get users to download. They have to be successfully activated and become active users.   
Note that “active user” will mean something slightly different for every app. It could be someone who’s launched the app at least 3 times since install. Or it might be defined as someone who watches at least one video a week. To define your active user, think about what matters most to your business: ad impressions, purchase frequency, search volume, etc.  
Campaign ROI
Which marketing channels perform best for lead generation? Are your most valuable users coming from social media, a paid ad landing page, or your referral programs?
Your CMO will need these insights in order to allocate budget and resources, optimize campaign spend, and improve ROI.
Calculate your return on investment with this formula:

Retention Rate
How many customers stay with your app after one week? One month? Three months?
It’s essential for your CMO to know the percentage of customers who stay active on your app, versus those who become inactive or uninstall.
Sustainable growth depends on your ability to retain users. By keeping a close eye on churn, your CMO can prioritize marketing strategies that drive retention over expensive acquisition campaigns. They know that’s the key to growing your user base and company revenue.

Connecting Marketing Metrics to What CMOs Care About

To learn which marketing analytics you should track within the marketing team, the vanity metrics you should avoid, plus more advice for impressing your CMO, download our free guide: The Mobile Marketing Metrics that Matter to CMOs

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