Who This Helps
This is for growth marketers who feel like they're spinning plates. You track 20 numbers, run tests every week, but still can't tell which experiment actually moved the needle. The Metrics & Dashboards Basics course is built for you.
Mini Case
Meet Maya. She runs growth at a SaaS startup. Her team tracks 20 metrics, but every Monday she stares at a noisy dashboard and picks an experiment by gut feel. Last month, she ran three tests in parallel. One worked, one flopped, one did nothing. She wasted 12% of her budget on the flop. After she built a weekly scoreboard (a core mission in the course), she spotted the winning variant in 7 days instead of 14. She saved 3 hours every Monday and focused her next experiment on the channel that actually moved signups.
Do This Now (5 Steps)
- Pick one North Star metric. Not 20. Just one. For Maya, it was weekly active signups.
- Define 3 supporting metrics. These are leading indicators. Maya chose trial starts, activation rate, and referral invites.
- Set realistic targets. Don't guess. Use last 4 weeks of data. Maya set a 5% weekly growth target for signups.
- Build a weekly scoreboard. List your North Star, supporting metrics, and targets. Update it every Monday morning.
- Add guardrails. If a metric drops below a threshold (like activation rate under 30%), flag it. Don't run experiments on a broken funnel.
Avoid These Traps
- Tracking too many numbers. You'll chase noise. Stick to 4 metrics max.
- Changing targets weekly. Pick a target and keep it for at least 4 weeks.
- Running experiments without guardrails. You might optimize a broken funnel. Fix the leak first.
- Ignoring the weekly scoreboard. If you don't look at it, you'll revert to gut decisions.
- Using vague definitions. "Active users" means nothing. Define it: logged in and completed one core action in 7 days.
Your Win by Friday
By Friday, you'll have a one-page weekly scoreboard with your North Star metric, 3 supporting metrics, and clear targets. You'll know exactly which experiment to prioritize next. No more guesswork. Just a calm, data-backed decision that saves you time and budget. And hey, you might even enjoy Monday mornings a little more.