How to Know If Your Marketing Is Actually Working

"Our impressions are up 43% this month!"

Great. Did you make more money?

"Well, uh... our engagement increased significantly."

But did more people hire you?

"Brand awareness is definitely building..."

I've had this conversation countless times. Business owners get reports that feel impressive but don't actually answer the fundamental question: is this marketing making me money or not?

Here's how to know, really know, if your marketing is working.

The Only Question That Matters

Are you getting more profitable customers than you would without this marketing spend?

That's it. Everything else is noise.

If you spend $3,000/month on marketing and it generates $15,000 in gross profit from new customers, it's working. If it generates $2,500, it's not.

Simple. But somehow, marketing makes this feel complicated.

Red Flags Your Marketing Isn't Working

Red Flag 1: You Can't Trace Revenue to Marketing

Ask your marketing person/agency: "Show me which revenue came from your work."

If they can't give you a clear answer, that's a problem.

Good answers look like: - "Google Ads generated 45 calls last month. Based on your 40% close rate and $400 average job, that's approximately $7,200 in revenue." - "The organic traffic we've built drives 30 leads/month at a close rate of 35%, generating about $4,200."

Bad answers look like: - "We've increased your visibility significantly" - "Brand awareness is hard to measure" - "These things take time" - "Your competitors are probably spending way more"

Red Flag 2: Metrics Keep Changing

Last month they bragged about traffic. This month it's engagement. Next month it'll be something else.

If the goalposts keep moving, they're hiding something.

Healthy reporting focuses on the same core metrics month after month: leads, cost per lead, revenue generated. Those numbers tell the story clearly.

Red Flag 3: You're Told "Don't Worry About Leads Yet"

Unless you're a brand new business building from zero, you should see leads within 30-60 days of starting any marketing.

"We're building your foundation" is sometimes legitimate for brand new businesses. It's often an excuse for businesses that should be seeing results.

Google Ads should generate calls within the first week. SEO should show lead improvement within 3-6 months. Social media for service businesses should support other channels, not be an excuse for lack of leads.

Red Flag 4: Reports Are Full of Vanity Metrics

Vanity metrics are numbers that look impressive but don't translate to business outcomes.

Vanity: - Impressions - Reach - Followers - Likes/comments/shares - Page views - "Share of voice"

Real: - Leads/calls - Cost per lead - Customers acquired - Revenue generated - Return on ad spend

If the report is 80% vanity metrics, they're hiding poor performance.

Red Flag 5: You Have No Idea What You're Paying For

"We're doing SEO and social media and some paid stuff."

What exactly? What work is being done? Where specifically is the money going?

You should know: - Exact ad spend vs. management fees - Specific SEO activities happening each month - What content is being created and where it's published - How much time is spent on your account

Vagueness is not your friend.

How to Actually Evaluate Marketing Performance

Step 1: Define Success Before You Start

Before any marketing campaign, define what success looks like in numbers:

• "We need 40 leads/month to hit our revenue goals"
• "We can afford to pay up to $100/lead and stay profitable"
• "We expect marketing to generate $20K/month in revenue"

Write it down. Hold everyone accountable to it.

Step 2: Track Lead Sources

This is non-negotiable. Use call tracking. Tag form submissions. Know where every lead comes from.

If you can't attribute leads to sources, you can't evaluate anything.

Step 3: Know Your Costs

Total marketing cost = ad spend + agency fees + software + your time

Don't forget about: - Monthly retainer or management fees - Call tracking software - CRM costs - Hours you spend on marketing-related tasks

All of this goes into your cost-per-lead and CAC calculations.

Step 4: Calculate Real ROI

ROI = (Revenue from marketing - Cost of marketing) / Cost of marketing × 100

Example: - Marketing cost: $4,000/month - Revenue from marketing-generated customers: $15,000/month - ROI = ($15,000 - $4,000) / $4,000 × 100 = 275%

That's a good ROI. You're getting $2.75 back for every $1 spent.

If your ROI is below 200%, question whether you should continue that marketing. If it's below 100%, you're losing money.

Step 5: Evaluate by Channel

Don't lump everything together. Calculate ROI per channel:

• Google Ads ROI: 350%
• SEO ROI: 250%
• Facebook ROI: 80%

This tells you Google Ads is working great, SEO is solid, and Facebook is losing money. Act accordingly.

Questions to Ask Your Marketing Person/Agency

About Performance:

1. . "How many leads did we get last month, and from which sources?"
2. . "What's our cost per lead by channel?"
3. . "How does this compare to previous months?"
4. . "Based on these leads, what revenue should this generate?"

If they can't answer these clearly, there's a problem.

About Activities:

1. . "What specific work did you do for us this month?"
2. . "Where exactly is our ad spend going?"
3. . "What changes did you make based on last month's data?"
4. . "What's the plan for next month and why?"

About Improvement:

1. . "What's not working and what are we doing about it?"
2. . "Where do you see opportunity to improve?"
3. . "What would you do differently if we increased/decreased budget?"

The Honest Assessment Framework

Rate each of these on a 1-5 scale:

1. Are you getting enough leads to meet business goals? - 1: Nowhere close - 3: Sometimes - 5: Consistently hitting or exceeding

2. Do you know where leads come from? - 1: No idea - 3: Rough estimates - 5: Tracked precisely

3. Is cost per lead reasonable for your industry? - 1: Way too high - 3: Average - 5: Below average/efficient

4. Can you calculate ROI on marketing spend? - 1: No - 3: Roughly - 5: Yes, accurately

5. Do you understand what you're paying for? - 1: Total mystery - 3: General idea - 5: Complete clarity

Scoring: - 20-25: Marketing is working and well-managed - 15-19: Room for improvement, but on track - 10-14: Significant issues to address - 5-9: Marketing is failing or unmanaged

When to Fire Your Marketing Agency

Consider making a change if:

1. . No improvement after 6 months: Especially for SEO, there should be measurable progress by 6 months.

1. . They can't explain where leads come from: This is basic accountability.

1. . They get defensive about metrics: Good marketers welcome scrutiny because their results speak for themselves.

1. . You can't reach them: Unresponsive agencies are collecting checks, not delivering value.

1. . They blame external factors for everything: "The market is tough" only explains so much.

1. . ROI is consistently negative: At some point, the experiment has failed.

When Marketing Legitimately Takes Time

Not everything is instant. Here's what's reasonable:

Google Ads: Should generate leads within 1-2 weeks of launch. Optimization improves results over 2-3 months.

SEO: Initial traffic improvements in 2-3 months. Significant lead generation in 4-6 months. Full results often take 12+ months for competitive markets.

Social Media: Shouldn't be your primary lead source as a service business. If you're waiting for social media to generate leads, you'll wait forever.

Content Marketing: Similar timeline to SEO. Builds over time, pays off long-term.

Brand Building: This is real, but it shouldn't be the excuse for not getting leads. Brand building should happen alongside measurable lead generation, not instead of it.

The Minimum Viable Marketing Report

Stop accepting 15-page reports. Here's all you need monthly:

1. Lead Summary - Total leads this month - Leads by source - Comparison to previous months

2. Cost Summary - Total spend - Cost per lead overall - Cost per lead by channel

3. Performance Assessment - What worked - What didn't - What we're changing

4. Projected Revenue - Based on leads × close rate × average job value - Expected ROI on marketing spend

One page. Maybe two. Everything else is noise unless you specifically request a deep dive.

The Bottom Line

Marketing should make you money. Not eventually. Not theoretically. Actually.

If you can't point to specific revenue that your marketing generated, something is wrong. Either the marketing isn't working, or the tracking isn't in place.

Either way, you need to fix it.

Don't accept impressive-sounding reports that don't answer the fundamental question: did we get more profitable customers because of this marketing?

If yes, keep going. If no, change something.

Tired of marketing reports that don't make sense? [Let's build a clear measurement system](/contact) so you always know what's working.