Are Your Ads Really Working? A Simple Guide to Advertising KPIs

2026.08.24 Paid Advertising

"I spent NT$100,000 on ads — how do I know if they worked?"

Lots of impressions and a high click count — does that mean the ads performed well?

In fact, what counts as "good results" depends entirely on the goal of the campaign. E-commerce, messaging, lead generation and brand awareness each have different numbers that really matter.

So which KPI should you be watching?

1. E-commerce ads: what matters is revenue

If the goal is purchases on your website, the core metrics are:

Orders, CPA, ROAS

For example:

Ad spend NT$10,000
30 orders
Ad revenue NT$50,000

→ CPA about NT$333
→ ROAS 5

That means each order costs about NT$333 on average, and every NT$1 of ad spend brings back NT$5 in revenue.

Recommended order of metrics for e-commerce

Tier 1 | Most important

• Number of orders
• CPA (cost per acquisition)
• ROAS (return on ad spend)

Tier 2 | Is there purchase intent?

• Add to cart
• Checkout started
• Website conversion rate

Tier 3 | For diagnosing problems

• CTR
• CPC
• CPM

So a great CTR doesn't automatically mean the ads are working.

If lots of people click but nobody buys, an e-commerce brand still needs to improve the product page, pricing or checkout — for example, are the descriptions clear, are the images persuasive, is checkout too complicated? Only then does traffic turn into orders.

2. Messaging ads: what matters is qualified enquiries

If the goal is to get people to message you on LINE, Messenger or Instagram, the key metrics are:

Messages, cost per message, qualified enquiries, closed deals

For example:

Ad spend NT$10,000
100 messages received

→ Cost per message NT$100

But you can't call that a success yet.

If only 5 of those 100 people genuinely need what you sell, while another ad set brings just 60 messages but 30 qualified enquiries, the second one is actually worth more.

What to track for messaging ads

On the ad side
Messages → cost per message

On the sales side
Qualified enquiries → bookings / quotes → closed deals

That's why we recommend brands report back on message quality as well as checking the ad dashboard — it's the only way to know whether the platform is bringing in the right people.

3. Lead-gen ads: don't just watch CPL — watch lead quality

For franchises, courses, real estate, B2B and other ads where people fill in a form, brands usually focus on:

Number of leads, CPL, qualified-lead rate, close rate

For example:

Ad A
100 leads × CPL NT$100
but only 10 are qualified

Ad B
50 leads × CPL NT$150
but 30 are qualified

On CPL alone, A looks cheaper.

But in terms of real sales results, B delivers better leads.

The funnel that really matters for lead-gen ads:

Ad spend → leads → qualified leads → successful contact → meeting / consultation → closed deal

So a lower CPL doesn't necessarily mean better results. Ideally, the ad side and the sales side track performance together.

4. Traffic ads: are people actually arriving?

If the goal is to drive people to your website, a campaign page, an article or LINE, look at:

• Link clicks
• CTR (click-through rate)
• CPC (cost per click)
• Landing page views
• Time on site and what visitors do next

But with traffic ads, remember:

Cheap traffic isn't always good traffic.

If CPC is low and clicks are high but visitors leave immediately, the ads may not be creating any real value for your brand.

5. Engagement ads: are people willing to take part?

If the goal isn't a direct conversion but participation — polls, comments, quizzes, giveaways, swipe interactions or gamified ads — you are running engagement ads.

Metrics to watch:

• Engagements
• Engagement rate
• Cost per engagement (CPE)
• Comments / shares / saves

But the most important question isn't how much fun people had. It's this:

After engaging, did people learn more about the brand or take action?

For example, did they:

• Visit the website?
• Follow your page?
• Add you on LINE?
• Leave their details?
• Start the purchase process?

Common mistakes with engagement ads

• High engagement doesn't mean the ad succeeded.
• If people just play and leave, it does little for your business goals.

What to track for engagement ads

Tier 1 | Engagement

• Engagement rate
• Engagements
• CPE

Tier 2 | Brand follow-through

• Website clicks
• Follows / LINE friends added
• Comments and shares

Tier 3 | Conversions

• Leads
• Messages
• Purchases

The value of engagement ads is that they are usually the first step in warming up a cold audience — not the last.

Ad KPI cheat sheet

Ad metrics aren't about looking good — they are about whether the campaign achieved its real business goal.

E-commerce: look at revenue and ROAS.
Messaging ads: look at qualified enquiries and closed deals.
Lead-gen ads: look at lead quality and what happens next.

Once you understand your KPIs, you can judge for yourself whether your ad budget is money well spent.