What Are KPAs? Understanding Goals vs. Key Performance Actions

Goals and KPAs work together, but they aren't the same thing.

The easiest way to remember the difference is:

Your goal is the destination. Your KPAs are the turn-by-turn directions.

What Is a Campaign Goal?

A campaign goal is the tangible result we're ultimately working toward.

Examples include:

  • 100 qualified leads per month

  • $75 Cost Per Lead

  • $250 new Customer Acquisition Cost

  • 4x Return on Ad Spend

A good campaign goal answers one simple question:

What number will we use to objectively determine whether this campaign is producing the outcome we expected?

What Is a KPA?

A Key Performance Action (KPA) is a tangible, trackable digital action that helps us understand whether users are moving toward that goal.

You may be more familiar with the term "conversion."

The important distinction is that GPS doesn't automatically treat every conversion an advertising platform reports as equally meaningful.

We identify the actions that actually matter to the campaign.

For example, lead generation KPAs could include:

  • Form fills

  • Phone calls

  • Chats

  • Appointment requests

  • High-intent downloads

Ecommerce KPAs could include:

  • Purchases

  • Add-to-carts

  • Checkouts started

Awareness KPAs may include:

  • Reach

  • Video views

  • Engagement

  • Meaningful site behavior

Primary vs. Secondary KPAs

During onboarding, you may be asked to identify Primary and Secondary KPAs for your campaign.

A Primary KPA should represent one of the most meaningful actions a user can take toward the campaign goal.

A Secondary KPA can provide additional context about user intent or progression.

For example, a financial institution promoting a new account may establish:

Primary KPA: Completed account application

Secondary KPAs: Clicks to "Open an Account," branch searches, or phone calls

The secondary actions are valuable, but they shouldn't automatically be treated as equivalent to the primary outcome.

Why Doesn't Conduit Just Use Platform Conversions?

Different platforms measure conversions differently.

Google, Meta, GA4, and other platforms each have their own attribution methodology. That can make it difficult to look across channels and answer a seemingly simple question:

How many meaningful actions did our marketing actually produce?

GPS establishes the actions we're measuring before the campaign begins so reporting can be more consistent and holistic.

The point isn't to find the platform with the biggest conversion number.

The point is to measure the actions that matter to the business.

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