How to Know If Your Marketing Is Actually Working (Without Drowning in Data)
- Alana Rauert
- 20 hours ago
- 5 min read
You're posting three times a week on LinkedIn. You're running Google Ads. You've got your Instagram sorted. Your email list is growing.
But here's the question that keeps you up at 2am: Is any of it actually working?
You've got a Google Analytics dashboard you don't understand. Meta tells you your "engagement rate" is good (whatever that means). Someone once told you to track impressions, but you're not sure why.
Welcome to the overwhelm club. Population: every small business owner I've ever met.
The Problem with "More Data"
Here's what usually happens: You start marketing. Someone (a well-meaning friend, a marketing guru, that one LinkedIn post) tells you that you need to "track everything." So you do.
You set up Google Analytics. You check your social media insights. You note down how many people opened your emails. You watch your website traffic like it's the stock market.
And then... you have no idea what to do with any of it.
Because having data isn't the same as knowing what it means. And knowing what it means isn't the same as knowing what to do about it.
I see this all the time. Business owners drowning in dashboards, obsessing over vanity metrics that make them feel busy but don't actually tell them if their marketing is working.
What Actually Matters (And What Doesn't)
Let me save you some time: most marketing metrics are noise.
Your Instagram likes? Nice ego boost, but they don't pay your rent.
Your email open rate? It’s an important data point, but doesn't tell you if anyone's buying.
Your website traffic? Great if they're enquiring. Useless if they're bouncing.
The 5 Metrics That Actually Matter
After years of doing this (and wading through a lot of dashboards), I've landed on five metrics that actually tell you if your marketing is working. Not 47 metrics. Not a dashboard that looks like a spaceship control panel. Five.
1. Enquiry Volume (Are People Actually Contacting You?)
This is the most honest metric you've got. How many genuine enquiries are you getting each month?
Not "website visitors." Not "impressions." Not "engagement."
Actual humans reaching out to work with you.
Track this simply: A number in a spreadsheet. Every enquiry gets logged. Every month, you look at whether that number is going up, down, or staying flat.
If this number is dropping, your marketing isn't working. Full stop.
2. Enquiry Source (Where Are They Finding You?)
Ask every new client: "How did you find me?"
Then write down their answer. That's it. That's the whole tracking system if you are starting out.
Over time, you start to see patterns. Maybe half your enquiries mention your LinkedIn posts. Maybe everyone's coming from referrals. Maybe that expensive Google Ads campaign isn't actually bringing anyone in.
This tells you where to focus. Not where you think people should find you. Where they actually are finding you.
Pro tip: Don't trust Google Analytics to tell you this. Just ask people. They'll tell you.
3. Conversion Rate (Are Enquiries Becoming Clients?)
You're getting enquiries. Great. But how many of them are actually becoming paying clients?
If you're getting 20 enquiries a month but only converting 2%, you don't have a marketing problem. You've got a sales problem. Or a pricing problem. Or a positioning problem.
This metric tells you whether your marketing is attracting the right people. If you're converting well, your marketing message is working. If you're not, your marketing is bringing in people who aren't a good fit.
Track it like this: Enquiries this month. Clients won from those enquiries. Divide one by the other. That's your conversion rate.
Higher priced items typically have a lower conversion rate.
4. Average Project Value
This one surprises people, but it matters.
Let's say you're getting more enquiries than ever. You're converting well. But every new client wants the cheapest package you offer. Or they buy once and don’t return.
Your marketing might be working... but it's attracting the wrong people.
If your average project value is dropping unexpectedly, your marketing might be too focused on price, or attracting clients who aren't your ideal fit.
5. Client Source Mix (Are You Dangerously Dependent?)
This is the one that saves you when something breaks.
If 80% of your clients come from referrals and your current clients suddenly dry up, you're in trouble. If 100% of your clients come from Google Search and Google changes their algorithm, you're scrambling.
A healthy marketing system has multiple sources. Not because you need to be everywhere, but because you need backup plans.
Track this quarterly: Where did your last 10 clients come from? If more than half came from one source, you're vulnerable.
How to Actually Track This (Without Fancy Tools)
You don't need expensive software. You don't need a marketing degree. You need a spreadsheet and 10 minutes a month.
Here's a basic tracking system:
A Google Sheet with these columns:
Date of enquiry
Name
How they found you (ask them)
Did they become a client? (yes/no)
Project value (if yes)
Date closed (when they signed/paid)
That's it.
Every month, spend 10 minutes looking at this sheet and asking:
Are enquiries increasing or decreasing?
Where are most enquiries coming from?
What's my conversion rate this month?
What's my average project value this month?
Am I too dependent on one source?
If you can answer those five questions, you know if your marketing is working.
What to Do When the Numbers Look Bad
Here's what I love about tracking only five metrics: when something's broken, you know exactly where to look.
Enquiries dropping? Your visibility is the problem. You've stopped marketing, or your marketing has gone stale.
Enquiries up but conversions down? Your marketing is attracting the wrong people, or your sales process needs work.
Project values dropping? Your marketing is positioning you for the lower-priced items or you need to look at upsells or re-engagement.
All enquiries from one source? You're one algorithm change away from panic. Time to diversify.
Everything looks good but you're still stressed? You're probably tracking too many other things. Stop checking your Instagram likes.
The Boring Truth About Marketing Metrics
Systems aren't sexy. Tracking five simple metrics in a spreadsheet isn't going to wow anyone at a networking event.
But you know what's less sexy? Spending money on marketing that doesn't work because you're measuring the wrong things.
The goal isn't to have impressive analytics dashboards. The goal is to know if you're making money.
And you can't know that by tracking everything. You can only know that by tracking what matters.
What Next?
If you've been drowning in data (or avoiding it completely because it's overwhelming), start here:
Set up that simple spreadsheet. Track just those five metrics for the next three months.
Stop checking your social media insights every day. Stop obsessing over website traffic. Stop trying to understand what "bounce rate" means.
Just track enquiries, sources, conversions, project values, and source mix.
Three months from now, you'll know more about whether your marketing is working than any fancy analytics dashboard could ever tell you.
And if you need help getting your marketing foundations sorted before you even think about tracking? The Fresh Start Package exists for exactly this reason. We'll audit your business presence, fix what's broken, and make sure you're actually discoverable before you worry about metrics.
Because tracking metrics on marketing that doesn't work is like checking your speedometer when your car won't start. Let's make sure the engine's running first.
Ready to build marketing systems that actually make sense? Book a free Marketing Mastermind session and let's talk about what you actually need to track (and what you can stop stressing about).
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