Key KPI Comparison
Overview
Every other attribution dashboard in LayerFive shows you a single time period. Key KPI Comparison is built to do one thing those can't: show you how a metric moved across time, broken down by channel, so you can separate a real trend from a single good or bad week.
Use this dashboard when you need to answer "is this getting better or worse, and which channel is driving the change?" — before a budget decision, a QBR, or a stakeholder update.
Navigate to: Signal → Marketing Attribution → Key KPI Comparison
Choosing Your Metric
Use the Metric dropdown (top right) to select what you're comparing:
| Metric | Use It To Answer |
|---|---|
| Revenue | Which channels are growing or shrinking their contribution? |
| ROAS | Are your channels getting more or less efficient over time? |
| CPA | Is your cost to convert creeping up anywhere? |
Every chart and table on the page updates to match the metric you select.
Setting Your Comparison Periods
This is where the dashboard earns its name. A single period tells you what happened. Multiple periods tell you the direction you're heading.
| Field | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Number of Periods | How many periods to compare against each other |
| Base Period (Date Range) | The reference date range your comparison is built around |
Set both, then click Run Comparison. The charts and tables refresh with your results.
Tip: Match your period length to your decision cadence. Comparing week-over-week catches fast-moving campaign issues; month-over-month is better for spotting genuine trends without weekly noise.
Reading the Trend Chart
The trend chart breaks your selected metric down by media source rather than showing one blended number.
This matters because a blended figure hides the story. If revenue dipped, the chart shows you whether it was one channel that fell or the whole account softening — two very different problems with two very different responses.
Reading the Comparison Table
Below the chart, the table gives you the exact numbers by channel. The columns depend on your selected metric:
| Metric Selected | Columns Shown |
|---|---|
| Revenue | Revenue, Revenue % |
| ROAS | ROAS, ROAS % |
| CPA | CPA, CPA % |
The percentage column is the one to watch. The absolute value tells you where a channel stands; the percentage change tells you where it's going. A channel can look healthy on absolute revenue while quietly declining period-over-period — the percentage is what surfaces that.
How to Use This Dashboard to Make Decisions
The most useful workflow runs all three metrics in sequence:
1. Start with Revenue. See which channels are growing their share and which are shrinking. This tells you where your revenue is actually coming from now versus your base period.
2. Switch to ROAS. Check whether your growing channels are still efficient, or just getting more expensive to run. A channel growing revenue while its ROAS declines is buying that growth, not earning it.
3. Finish with CPA. Catch any channel where your cost to acquire is creeping up before it becomes a margin problem.
The pattern to watch for across all three: rising revenue paired with rising CPA or falling ROAS is a warning, not a win. It means a channel is scaling on cost, not efficiency. This dashboard is the fastest way to catch that early.
Exporting for Reports and Reviews
The chart menu (top right of the chart) exports your comparison for use elsewhere:
-
Images: PNG, JPEG, SVG
-
Documents: PDF
-
Data: CSV, XLS
Use these to drop trend visuals straight into QBR decks, board updates, or stakeholder reports without rebuilding the analysis.
Common Questions
Why does a channel show strong absolute revenue but a negative percentage change? The absolute number reflects the current period; the percentage reflects the movement from your base period. A channel can still be large while trending down. Both are true, and the percentage is the one that predicts where it's heading.
Should I compare week-over-week or month-over-month? Shorter periods catch campaign-level issues faster but carry more noise. Longer periods smooth out weekly volatility and surface genuine trends. Match the period to the decision — tactical budget shifts favor shorter windows; strategic reviews favor longer ones.
My blended metric looks flat but I know something changed. Why? A flat blended number often hides offsetting channel movements — one channel up, another down. Switch to the trend chart and read it by media source; the movement is almost always visible at the channel level even when the total looks unchanged.
Related Articles