Marketing Metric Definition Template
Define an acquisition or activation metric with its numerator, denominator, unit, event boundary and exclusions before comparing reports.
When to use this template
Use this when dashboards disagree or a team uses a label such as “conversion” without specifying the actual behavior and population.
Choose another approach when: You want to redefine success after an experiment, collect unnecessary personal data, or use a metric label to conceal missing instrumentation.
Gather these inputs
- The decision the metric is intended to inform.
- The actual event or data source and its current limitations.
- An appropriate aggregate unit and observation window.
Copy and adapt the template
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Worked example
Illustrative example, not a Crany customer result. Replace every example detail with facts you can verify.
A fictional team defines “completed beta request rate” as eligible exposed visitors with one confirmed request divided by eligible exposed visitors in the same assignment group. Repeated button clicks do not count as multiple completed requests. If the team cannot reliably join visitor exposure with form completion, that limitation is recorded before the report is used. A dashboard showing total click events is not silently relabeled as unique requesting users. The definition keeps the numerator and denominator in compatible units.
How to use it
- Choose the behavior and unit before naming the metric.
- Specify eligibility, counting, timing and exclusions from the actual data setup.
- Validate a small safe example and version the definition before comparisons.
Check before using it
- The numerator and denominator describe compatible populations.
- A click is not substituted for a confirmed outcome.
- Missing or unknown data is not treated as zero without explanation.
What to measure
Track report discrepancies resolved through a shared definition and instrumentation gaps discovered. A precise definition does not establish that the underlying events are complete or causally interpretable.
Research and sources
Measurement design and consistent acquisition parameters inform this original metric card. It is not a universal analytics schema or an attribution guarantee.
- Microsoft Research: Patterns of Trustworthy Experimentation, Pre-Experiment Stage — checked 2026-10-23. Clear hypotheses, appropriate measurement, assignment units and data-quality checks before a controlled experiment.
- Google Analytics: Collect campaign data with custom URLs — checked 2026-10-23. Campaign parameter definitions and consistent naming; no attribution or conversion guarantee.
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