MAL692025 Breaking The Curse Of Vanity Metrics | Page 58

those customers were one-night stands, not relationships. They came for the discount, not the brand.

What ties all these together isn’ t bad marketing or poor products. It’ s misaligned metrics, numbers that look promising but fail to answer fundamental questions about user value, behaviour, or longevity. When you measure the wrong things, even the right actions can look like failures, and the wrong actions can look like success.

Data itself is not the enemy here. In fact, true data-driven decision-making has never been more essential. What’ s dangerous is the assumption that all data is equal, that a big number must mean a big achievement, and that any upward curve signals strategic progress.

The reality is that some numbers lie. Or, more accurately, some numbers tell only the convenient part of the truth.

Why Vanity Metrics Seduce Us

If vanity metrics were obviously useless, none of us would fall for them. But they aren’ t obvious. That’ s why they’ re dangerous. They rise quickly, look impressive, and give teams something to celebrate. They reward our desire for certainty and progress, and in many organisations, they become the closest thing to validation. That psychological comfort, combined with organisational pressure and marketing, can be stressful, which is precisely why vanity metrics thrive.

One of the biggest drivers of this obsession is impatience. Marketers operate in environments that demand instant proof. Boards want“ measurable” wins. Investors want“ traction”. CEOs want“ growth”. Quarterly reviews demand“ numbers that move”. Investors want hockey-stick charts. In this context, slow-building metrics like brand equity, perception shifts, customer trust, or lifetime value feel frustratingly vague. But vanity metrics feel gratifying, giving the illusion that the work is paying off. It’ s no surprise that we sometimes chase these numbers even when we know they are not tied to sustainable value.

Harvard Business Review describes this perfectly in its analysis of“ metric fixation.” When people face pressure to demonstrate progress, they“ gravitate toward the metrics that move the fastest,” regardless of whether those metrics reflect real performance. In other words, vanity metrics don’ t just appeal to marketers- they appeal to organisational psychology.

Going back to the lending space example( another story for another day- GeoPoll recently conducted a study showing that close to 40 % of digital lender customers across Africa borrow with the intention to default, which is a crazy metric). The early KPIs, installs, first-loan uptake, and disbursement volume shoot upward dramatically, and become an excellent ammunition for the next investor pitch. But deeper metrics, such as repayment reliability, month-three retention, borrowing behaviour after interest sets in, or customer lifetime value, tell a much darker story. Yet because they take longer to materialise, they are often deprioritised. The story the team tells itself, and their investors, is based on the numbers that look good, not the ones that matter. Small wonder that many start-ups in this part of the world fail even when heavily funded. And I can bet you just thought of one such start-up.

This dynamic isn’ t unique to Africa. According to the " Facebook Files " reported by The Wall Street Journal, Facebook( now Meta) notoriously built its entire algorithmic system around engagement. Engagement was their vanity metric of choice- more likes, more comments, more shares. The higher the engagement, the better the platform was assumed to be performing. But internal research later showed that high engagement often correlated with divisive, inflammatory, or misleading content. Engagement grew, yes, but at the cost of trust, safety, and societal well-being. That’ s the power of vanity metrics: they reward what is measurable, even if the quantifiable thing is harmful.

Meanwhile, according to research by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising( IPA), approximately 60 % of the sales lift from advertising comes from brandbuilding, not tactical activations. In other words, 60 % of the total payback from advertising comes from sustained, long-term brand-building, while the remaining 40 % comes from short-term sales activation. Yet many marketing teams obsess over click-through rates and short-term response metrics, because those numbers move today. They’ re visible. They’ re comforting. But they don’ t build long-term success.

Even seemingly innocent metrics like follower counts play on our need for social proof. A brand with 500,000 followers feels more legitimate than one with 5,000, even if those followers are largely inactive, unengaged, or uninterested. Vanity metrics feed our insecurities and our desire for status. They make us look bigger, louder, more successful than we actually are.

There is also a cultural dimension to all of this. In many organisations, KPIs are tied closely to personal performance. If your job depends on delivering growth, you will naturally gravitate towards the numbers that grow fastest, as I did at the start-up. It’ s not dishonesty, it’ s survival. Vanity metrics become a shield. They allow employees to say,“ Look, I did what was asked,” even when the outcomes aren’ t meaningful.

And then there’ s the simple truth that meaningful metrics are harder. They take time to measure. They require better systems. They require researchers, analysts, and cross-team collaboration. Metrics like customer lifetime value, net promoter score, 90-day retention, satisfaction at key touchpoints, brand consideration, and emotional resonance are incredibly valuable, but they take effort and discipline. Vanity metrics, by comparison, are easy to collect. They’ re automated. They’ re convenient. They’ re always available.

In a famous experiment published in Psychological Science, researchers found that people often choose rewards that appear bigger rather than rewards that are meaningfully better. That’ s how our brains are wired. This behavioural bias doesn’ t disappear in boardrooms. It’ s why 100,000 impressions feel more exciting than 100 high-quality leads, even though those leads are the real value.

The seduction of vanity metrics is not only numerical but also emotional. They flatter us. They reassure us. They tell us that our marketing is doing something. They fill presentations with beautiful graphs. They mask the discomfort of uncertainty. And sometimes, they keep us from asking hard questions we don’ t want to confront.

But that comfort comes with a cost that every mature marketer learns eventually. Numbers can make you feel safe right up until the moment they betray you. And if you’ ve been relying on the wrong ones, that betrayal is always very painful.

The Opposite Of Vanity Metrics Is Actionable Metrics

If vanity metrics are the loud, flattering numbers with no substance, actionable metrics are their grounded, honest counterparts. They tend to be quieter, slower-moving, and sometimes even

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