Why Vanity Metrics Kill Marketing Budgets (And What to Track)

Kimberly is passionate about eliminating vanity metrics like followers, engagements, and impressions from executive-level reporting. Instead, build your measurement framework around metrics that directly tie to business value: return on ad spend, average order value, incremental sales, and ultimately customer lifetime value. When fighting for budget, prove marketing is a revenue generator, not a cost center. This requires having the right analytics infrastructure in place from day one.

While Google and paid social are table stakes, Kimberly has found programmatic advertising—especially when paired with Connected TV—to be a powerful full-funnel approach. Programmatic follows your audience across news sites, podcasts, and streaming platforms, functioning like "the stock market for ads" with tight targeting controls. When combined with the rich storytelling capabilities of streaming TV, this approach delivers both strong ROAS and measurable incremental sales. The key is recognizing that consumers now need 10-20 touches (not seven) before messages truly resonate.

At Signet Jewelers, Kimberly ran a conversion lift study testing high-production TV spots against influencer-created digital content. Despite the influencer content accounting for only 7% of impressions, it drove a 10.4% lift in revenue per household and a 12% lift in response rate—outperforming the TV creative on both measures. The lesson: content optimized for TV doesn't automatically work in digital environments. Use conversion lift studies to measure true incrementality, not just last-click attribution. Digital platforms require content that matches the consumer's mindset in that specific context.

Kimberly's mantra is "content without context is ineffective." A user on Pinterest is in discovery/inspiration mode, while someone on TikTok wants fast entertainment. Even within social platforms, you need to customize messaging, creative format, and tone to match where consumers are mentally. This goes beyond simple platform specs—it's about understanding the psychological state of your audience in each environment and tailoring content accordingly. The same principle applies across programmatic, social, and search.

If nothing in your marketing mix is failing, you're not innovating. Build a systematic test-and-learn process where you take calculated risks with smaller budget allocations. Every test should have clear success metrics defined upfront and ideally include incrementality measurement (like conversion lift studies) to understand if you're truly driving new behavior or just reaching people who would have converted anyway. Failed tests aren't setbacks—they're insights that prevent larger missteps.

Counter to conventional wisdom, Kimberly actively recruits marketing leaders from different industries rather than seeking category-specific experience. While industry knowledge matters, most businesses already have deep internal expertise in their sector. Bringing in marketers with proven track records across multiple industries introduces fresh perspectives and prevents groupthink. At leadership levels, prioritize demonstrated marketing fundamentals and strategic thinking over industry tenure. For all levels, prioritize attitude, learning agility, and EQ alongside technical skills.

Think of analytics as a health check: basic metrics like ROAS and AOV are your "temperature check"—they tell you if you're healthy today. Advanced analytics like media mix modeling and multi-touch attribution are your "MRI machine"—they reveal what's actually driving business outcomes underneath. Start with foundational metrics that prove efficiency, then systematically build toward more sophisticated measurement. Layer in customer lifetime value analysis as you mature. This progression is what enables you to scale teams and budgets by demonstrating clear business impact.

Kimberly uses AI for brainstorming, messaging refinement, content outlines, data analysis, and ad targeting optimization. The key is treating AI as an enabler that frees up time for higher-value activities like strategic thinking, creative innovation, and identifying new test opportunities. Tasks that took hours now take minutes, but the human touch remains essential for brand storytelling, emotional resonance, and strategic decision-making. Better AI utilization equals competitive advantage through speed and productivity—but only when paired with proper fact-checking and human oversight.