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The Metrics Matter: Andy Griffiths on eCommerce numbers that don’t add up
Andy Griffiths, Chief Growth Officer at Climb Agency, joins Dan to dissect why most eCommerce brands are obsessing over the wrong metrics and paying what he calls the “Google tax” – targeting people who would buy anyway instead of finding new customers.
What we covered
The metrics addiction problem – Why CFOs with spreadsheets are setting media budgets, and how the pressure for immediate ROI is pushing marketers toward vanity metrics instead of real business growth.
The Google tax exposed – How much of your budget is wasted on branded search terms targeting people who were already going to buy, and why that 10x ROAS might be costing you actual growth.
Breaking the cycle – The education gap between budget holders and budget spenders, and practical ways to shift conversations from short-term metrics to lifetime value.
Test and learn like bees – Why 80-85% of budget should go on proven tactics, 15-20% on exploration, and how to build proper structure around experimentation instead of ad-hoc “we tried something different last Black Friday” approaches.
AI reality check – Where the real gains are happening (operational efficiency and mass variant testing) versus the hype, and why mid-market agencies are suddenly competing with big holding companies.
Key insights
“We’re all very used to focusing on that kind of glory stat or something that perhaps seems in the immediate short term super important but doesn’t necessarily give you a full idea of actual net revenue gain for the business.”
“It gets very easy to effectively run around preaching to the converted… A complete religious pursuit to bid as much as they possibly can on brand terms would potentially be at the expense of going more aggressively after non-branded keywords.”
“There has never been more opportunities to test something new that could give you a competitive advantage through early adoption.”
The practical takeaway
Stop avoiding GA4. Two years on, too many marketers are still using their CRM or Shopify as their “single source of truth” instead of properly implementing Google Analytics 4. The data discrepancies are undermining your ability to test, learn, and break away from CFO pressure for simple ROAS metrics.
Yes, GA4 is harder than Universal Analytics. Yes, it needs more customization. But the attribution capabilities and audience segmentation options make it essential for understanding real customer journeys beyond last-click conversions.
Blatant plugs
Connect with Andy on LinkedIn.
Learn more about Climb at climbagency.com.
View all episodes
By Dan Bond, RevLifterAndy Griffiths, Chief Growth Officer at Climb Agency, joins Dan to dissect why most eCommerce brands are obsessing over the wrong metrics and paying what he calls the “Google tax” – targeting people who would buy anyway instead of finding new customers.
What we covered
The metrics addiction problem – Why CFOs with spreadsheets are setting media budgets, and how the pressure for immediate ROI is pushing marketers toward vanity metrics instead of real business growth.
The Google tax exposed – How much of your budget is wasted on branded search terms targeting people who were already going to buy, and why that 10x ROAS might be costing you actual growth.
Breaking the cycle – The education gap between budget holders and budget spenders, and practical ways to shift conversations from short-term metrics to lifetime value.
Test and learn like bees – Why 80-85% of budget should go on proven tactics, 15-20% on exploration, and how to build proper structure around experimentation instead of ad-hoc “we tried something different last Black Friday” approaches.
AI reality check – Where the real gains are happening (operational efficiency and mass variant testing) versus the hype, and why mid-market agencies are suddenly competing with big holding companies.
Key insights
“We’re all very used to focusing on that kind of glory stat or something that perhaps seems in the immediate short term super important but doesn’t necessarily give you a full idea of actual net revenue gain for the business.”
“It gets very easy to effectively run around preaching to the converted… A complete religious pursuit to bid as much as they possibly can on brand terms would potentially be at the expense of going more aggressively after non-branded keywords.”
“There has never been more opportunities to test something new that could give you a competitive advantage through early adoption.”
The practical takeaway
Stop avoiding GA4. Two years on, too many marketers are still using their CRM or Shopify as their “single source of truth” instead of properly implementing Google Analytics 4. The data discrepancies are undermining your ability to test, learn, and break away from CFO pressure for simple ROAS metrics.
Yes, GA4 is harder than Universal Analytics. Yes, it needs more customization. But the attribution capabilities and audience segmentation options make it essential for understanding real customer journeys beyond last-click conversions.
Blatant plugs
Connect with Andy on LinkedIn.
Learn more about Climb at climbagency.com.