Are You Tracking the Right KPIs?

Marketers love metrics. But let’s be honest, not every number on your dashboard deserves attention.

In this episode of the Truelogic DX Podcast, Home Credit CMO Sheila Paul joins Bernard San Juan to talk about something many brands still struggle with: identifying which marketing metrics actually matter.

Recent e-commerce data tells the story: while online conversion rates in the Philippines rose from 1.8% to 2.4%, roughly three out of four shoppers still abandon their carts. Engagement may look good on paper, but what happens after the click tells a different story.

So what do marketers do when the numbers say two different things? Which KPIs actually prove performance, and which ones just make us feel productive?

For Sheila, that’s the heart of the problem; too many marketers are optimizing for numbers that make them feel successful, not the ones that prove it.

From Clicks to Conversion: Why Context Defines Success

Here’s the thing, not every marketing funnel is built the same way. And if you’re measuring success using a template that doesn’t fit your business model, your KPIs are lying to you.

Berns asked Sheila how her team at Home Credit handles this challenge, especially given their mix of online and offline touchpoints.

Home Credit’s funnel is a great example. It’s digital-led, but not purely digital. Customers browse products online, apply for financing through the Home Credit app, and finalize in-store.

That means standard e-commerce metrics, like cart abandonment or conversion rates, don’t tell the whole story.

Sheila explains that her team looks at each stage differently, from click-through rates that gauge ad effectiveness, to app installs that show intent, down to store conversions, which close the loop.

In other words, context beats comparison. What defines success for one product, channel, or audience might mean something entirely different for another.

As Sheila puts it, “At the end of the day, the metrics have to match how people actually buy.”

The Metrics That Move the Needle

The truth is, not all metrics are created equal, and certainly not all of them deserve boardroom airtime.

So how does Home Credit define a KPI that truly matters? What’s worth tracking, and what’s just noise?

For Sheila and her team, the most valuable KPIs are the ones that mirror the customer journey, not just the campaign. Every number has to connect to a real moment in the buying process, from the first ad click to the final store visit.

At the top of the funnel, click-through rates still matter, but only in context. Comparing them across products or channels can be misleading. As Berns asked, is there a golden number she looks for, something like a 3% CTR benchmark?

Sheila’s answer: it depends. “An ad for a budget smartphone won’t perform like one for a high-ticket motorcycle,” she explained. “The key question isn’t ‘What’s the CTR?’—it’s ‘Is the CTR strong enough for this category, price point, and audience?’”

Next comes the app install rate, a stronger indicator of interest and intent. Once customers download the Home Credit app and begin the pre-approval process, they’re halfway to the finish line. “People who make it all the way to the app install and apply probably have a 50% chance of converting in-store,” Sheila notes.

That’s followed by application rates (how many users submit financing applications), and finally, store conversions, where digital intent becomes a physical sale.

In a nutshell, Home Credit’s KPIs tell one cohesive story:

When KPIs answer those questions clearly, marketers stop optimizing for traffic, and start optimizing for impact.

Brand’s Health is STILL a Performance Metric

Performance marketers love quick wins, lower CPAs, higher conversions, faster ROAS. But Berns brought up another angle: how does brand trust fit into all this?

For Sheila, brand health is non-negotiable. In industries like financial services, people won’t transact with you unless they trust you. That’s why she pays just as much attention to Net Promoter Score (NPS) and brand equity as she does to clicks and installs.

“People won’t transact with you if they don’t trust you,” she explains. And it’s not just theory. Home Credit currently leads its category in NPS, outperforming even older, more established banks.

The logic is simple: when customers trust your brand, every other metric gets cheaper. Ads perform better, organic traffic grows, and conversion rates climb. In other words, a healthy brand amplifies performance.

Sheila notes that Home Credit benchmarks its NPS against both direct competitors (other financing and BNPL providers) and adjacent players like banks. This approach helps the team understand not only where they stand, but why customers feel that way.

Their goal isn’t to dominate every metric, but to excel at the ones that matter most to their audience. “You can’t be great at everything,” she says. “If you try, you’ll excel at nothing.”

A sharp reminder for marketers everywhere, brand perception isn’t a vanity metric, it’s a performance multiplier.

Faster Pivots, Smarter Spend

The best marketers don’t just gather data, they act on it fast.

When asked how quickly her team decides whether to scale or kill a campaign, Sheila’s answer was surprisingly pragmatic.

At Home Credit, campaign performance isn’t reviewed monthly or quarterly. It’s monitored weekly, with optimization cycles running two to four weeks depending on how much data a campaign has gathered.

This gives Sheila’s team room to test, learn, and pivot quickly, without pulling the plug too soon. “Sometimes the campaign isn’t the problem,” she says. “It’s the landing page, or even the offer itself.”

That kind of thinking separates agile marketers from reactive ones. Instead of making knee-jerk changes to ad creative or targeting, Home Credit evaluates the entire journey. If traffic is strong but conversions are weak, the problem might not be awareness, it could be friction later in the funnel.

The same mindset applies to budget allocation. When a campaign clearly delivers on KPIs tied to profitability, it earns the right to scale. “If you can show finance that a campaign drives the KPIs linked to profit,” Sheila adds, “you can ask for more money.”

This is how data maturity looks in practice, testing fast, learning faster, and investing where the performance meets purpose.

Pick Your Battles: Aligning KPIs With Real Business Goals

As the conversation wrapped up, Berns asked a tough one, can brands really balance growth and profitability at the same time?

Marketers often fall into the trap of chasing both growth and profitability with equal urgency, but in reality, one has to take priority. “You really have to choose one,” Sheila says. “Growth or profitability, not both.”

It’s a realistic approach rooted in business alignment. The metrics that matter most depend on where your company is in its lifecycle. For a young or scaling business, growth-focused KPIs like acquisition volume or reach make sense. For a mature brand, profitability and retention should take center stage.

That kind of clarity simplifies everything: team alignment, campaign goals, and even stakeholder buy-in. When your metrics ladder up to your business objectives, you spend less time reporting numbers and more time driving results.

As marketing evolves, Sheila’s perspective feels refreshingly grounded. Whether it’s evaluating funnel performance, managing brand equity, or experimenting with AI tools, the principle stays the same, measure what matters, pivot fast, and stay anchored to the business.

Measure What Matters

If there’s one thing today’s marketers can agree on, it’s that chasing numbers for the sake of looking busy is over.

Marketing maturity isn’t about tracking more, it’s about tracking better. Every metric should prove how your work drives the business forward, whether that means building trust, improving profitability, or turning intent into action.

The strongest marketing teams know their scoreboard. They measure what matters, pivot fast, and align every KPI with purpose.

To hear the full conversation, listen to the episode featuring Sheila Paul, CMO of Home Credit, on the Truelogic DX Podcast on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube.