Burning Cash with Benchmarks: Why CPM & CTR Are Basically the Telco Equivalent of Astrology

Burning Cash with Benchmarks: Why CPM & CTR Are Basically the Telco Equivalent of Astrology

Look, I’m just gonna say it: if your agency still brags about a “great CPM,” it’s time to sit them down for a little intervention.

We’ve been throwing money at impressions and clicks like it’s 2012 — back when Gangnam Style was trending and marketers thought “reach” meant relevance. But in 2025? Chasing CPM and CTR is like measuring your fitness by the number of gym selfies you post. It looks like progress, but your results say otherwise.

The Ancient Religion of CPM & CTR

• These metrics had their moment. We thank them for their service.
• But let’s be honest: they’re now the junk food of performance marketing — cheap, fast, and deeply unsatisfying.
• Agencies still love them because they’re easy to hit. (And harder for clients to challenge.)

High CTR ≠ high intent. Low CPM ≠ high value. You can pay pennies to talk to bots in the middle of the night. Doesn’t mean you should.

The Big Disconnect

• Brands want revenue. Agencies report reach.
• Your CEO’s asking “How many new users?” and your agency’s like “Look at our CTR go brrrr.”
• Performance decks look great — until you realize they’re all vibes, no substance.

True story: I’ve seen million-IDR campaigns that “crushed” benchmarks… and converted worse than a banner ad on a cooking blog

What Actually Matters (a.k.a. The Grown-Up KPIs)

• CPA. ROAS. Trial-to-usage. Repeat rate.
• Traffic quality > traffic quantity.
• Bonus points if your attribution isn’t cooked.

Also: If your media report doesn’t mention what business objective it moved… you got a vibes report, not a performance one.

Dear Marketers (esp. Telco), Let’s Stop Playing Ourselves

• Stop being impressed by vanity metrics dressed in charts.
• Ask your agency: what would they do if every click cost real money out of their own wallet?
• AI’s in the mix now — are they using it to optimize performance or just to generate fancy slide transitions?

CPM and CTR won’t die until we stop celebrating them. So let’s stop. Let’s demand better. Let’s measure what actually matters.

Tell me — what outdated metrics are you still being forced to clap for in your campaign reviews? I’ll bring the popcorn.