Pretty CTR reports can hide unprofitable ads. The honest question: what does a lead cost and does it pay back.
Three metric levels
Platform level (impressions, clicks, CTR, CPC) describes the auction. Site level: landing conversion and CPL. Business level: CAC, revenue, ROI — where budget decisions belong.
Prerequisites
Metrica goals on all forms, call tracking if customers phone, CRM lead attribution. Without these, any evaluation is guesswork.
Reading a contractor report
Demand ad spend separated from the fee, per-campaign CPL dynamics and a test log with next-period plans.
When Direct “doesn’t work”
The problem is usually the landing, the offer or slow lead handling. Audit the whole chain before switching ads off.
Related questions
What is a good CTR?
None by itself — judge by CPL and payback.