Look, I’ve sat in too many boardrooms and cafes across Brisbane where a business owner is beaming with pride because their latest post got a thousand likes.
Then I ask them how many phone calls they got that week.
Silence.
If you’re running a business—whether you’re a sparky in Coorparoo or running a law firm in the CBD—you don’t eat 'likes' for breakfast. You can’t pay your staff with 'impressions'. And your landlord definitely doesn’t accept 'reach' as a form of rent.
Most marketing agencies love these numbers because they’re easy to get. They make the monthly report look green and pretty. But if those numbers aren't turning into cold, hard cash, they’re just vanity. Pure fluff.
I’m going to level with you: most of what you’re being told to track is rubbish. We’ve seen clients spend thousands on 'brand awareness' only to realise their phone hasn't rung in a month.
Let’s sort through the junk and talk about what actually matters.
The Trap of Vanity Metrics
I call them 'feel-good numbers'. They make you feel like a rockstar while your bank balance stays stagnant.
The biggest offender is Impressions. That just means your ad or post showed up on someone’s screen. They might have been sneezing, dropping their phone, or scrolling past at Mach 10. It doesn't mean they saw it, and it certainly doesn't mean they care.
Then there’s Followers. Having ten thousand followers is great for the ego. But if those people aren't in Brisbane, and they aren't looking for your services, they’re useless. We’ve had clients with tiny followings out-earn 'influencers' ten to one because their small audience actually wanted to buy what they were selling.
If you want to stop wasting time, you need to stop flying blind and focus on the data that leads to a sale.
1. Cost Per Lead (The 'How Much to Make the Phone Ring' Metric)
This is the first thing I look at. If you’re spending $1,000 a month on Google Ads and you get 10 phone calls, each lead cost you $100.
Is that good? It depends.
If you’re a plumber and a new hot water system job is worth $2,500, then paying $100 to get that lead is a no-brainer. You’d do that all day.
But if you’re selling $20 coffee beans, you’re going broke fast.
You need to know exactly what it costs to get someone to put their hand up and say, "Yes, I’m interested." Without this number, you’re just throwing money at a wall and hoping some of it sticks.
2. Lead-to-Sale Conversion (The 'Truth' Metric)
This is where the finger-pointing usually starts. An agency will say, "We sent you 50 leads!" and the business owner says, "Yeah, but they were all tyre-kickers and time-wasters."
If you get 50 enquiries but only 2 people actually book a job, you have a problem.
It’s either: 1. The marketing is targeting the wrong people (people looking for 'cheap' when you’re 'premium'). 2. Your sales process is clunky (you’re taking three days to call them back).
Honestly, most of the time it’s a bit of both. But you can’t fix it if you aren't measuring it. You need to know which ads are actually making you money rather than just filling your inbox with spam.
3. The 'Leaky Bucket' (Website Drop-offs)
Imagine you’ve paid for 100 people to visit your shop. They walk in, look at the floor, and walk straight back out without saying a word.
You’d be ropeable, right?
That’s what happens on your website every day. If people are clicking your ads but leaving before they even see your phone number, you’re burning cash. Usually, it’s because the site is slow, it looks rubbish on a phone, or they can't find the 'Book Now' button.
"If your website takes more than three seconds to load on a phone, you’ve already lost half your customers to the bloke next door on Google."
— Angus Smith, Founder & Marketing Director
We see this constantly. Business owners spend a fortune on ads but won't fix the click to call journey on their site. It’s like pouring water into a bucket with a massive hole in the bottom. Fix the hole first.
4. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
This is the big daddy of metrics. It’s the total cost of your marketing divided by the number of actual, paying customers you got.
Let’s say you spend $3,000 on marketing in a month. - You get 30 leads ($100 per lead). - You close 10 of them as customers. - Your CAC is $300.
Now you have a real business number. If your average profit per customer is $1,000, you’re laughing. You know that for every $300 you give the 'marketing machine', it spits out $1,000.
That’s when marketing stops being an 'expense' and starts being an investment.
The Numbers You Should Stop Caring About (Right Now)
I’m going to be blunt here. If your marketing person starts talking about these and doesn't mention sales, they’re hiding something:
Click-Through Rate (CTR): Who cares if people click if they don't buy? A high click rate on a bad ad just means you’re losing money faster. Time on Page: Maybe they’re on the page for five minutes because they’re confused and can't find your email address. It doesn't mean they love your content.
- Bounce Rate: Sometimes people land on your page, find your phone number in two seconds, call you, and leave. Google calls that a 'bounce' (a bad thing), but for your bank account, it’s a win.
How to Start Tracking What Matters
You don’t need a degree in data science. You just need to be disciplined.
1. Ask every caller: "How did you hear about us?" (And actually write it down in a spreadsheet). 2. Use a dedicated tracking number: This is a local Brisbane number that forwards to your phone but tells you exactly which calls came from your ads. It’s a game-changer. 3. Check your bank account: At the end of the month, did the marketing spend result in more profit than the month before?
It sounds simple because it is. Marketing has become over-complicated by people who want to sound smart.
My Honest Take
Most small businesses in Brisbane are flying blind. They see money going out to Google or Facebook and they see some jobs coming in, but they can't see the line connecting the two.
If you don't know your numbers, you're at the mercy of your agency. And if that agency is only reporting on 'likes' and 'impressions', they’re taking you for a ride.
Start demanding to see the numbers that pay the bills. If they can't show you how many calls or enquiries they generated, it’s time to find someone who can.
What Should You Do First?
Stop looking at your Facebook notifications for five minutes and look at your sales for the last month.
Where did they come from? How much did you spend to get them?
If you can't answer that, that’s your first job. Set up a simple system—even if it’s just a notebook next to the phone—to track every single enquiry.
Once you know what’s working, you can do more of it. And more importantly, you can stop wasting money on the stuff that isn't.
At Local Marketing Group, we don't care about being 'pretty'. We care about making sure your phone rings. If you're tired of reports that don't make sense, let’s have a chat.