Why Most Brisbane Business Owners Are Flying Blind
I was sitting down with a landscaper in Chermside a few months ago. He was spending $4,000 a month on Google Ads, another $1,000 on Facebook, and he’d just signed a contract for a local magazine spread.
I asked him a simple question: "Which one of those got you that $20,000 retaining wall job you finished last week?"
He looked at me and shrugged. "I think it was the Google Ads? But the phone's been ringing, so I just keep paying the bills."
This is how most small businesses in Queensland operate. They treat marketing like a black hole—you throw money in and hope customers come out the other side. But hope isn't a business strategy. If you don't know exactly which ad, which post, or which search term resulted in a phone call or a booking, you are almost certainly flushing money down the toilet.
You don't need a complex "analytics dashboard" filled with graphs that look like a flight simulator. You need to know three things: 1. How much did I spend? 2. How many people called or emailed? 3. How much profit did I make from those leads?
In this guide, I’m going to show you how to set up a simple system to stop wasting cash and start making informed decisions that actually grow your bank balance.
The "Bullshit Meter": What Metrics Actually Matter?
If a marketing agency sends you a report filled with "impressions," "reach," or "engagement," they are distracting you from the fact that they might not be making you any money.
Let’s be blunt: You cannot pay your mortgage with "likes." You cannot put "reach" into your super fund.
The metrics that matter:
Total Leads: How many people actually contacted you? (Phone calls, form fills, WhatsApp messages). Cost Per Lead: If you spent $1,000 and got 10 calls, each call cost you $100. Is that worth it for your business? Sales Value: What was the total dollar value of the jobs booked from those leads? Return on Investment (ROI): For every $1 you gave Google or Facebook, how many dollars did you get back?Everything else is just noise. I’ve seen businesses in Newstead brag about having 10,000 followers on Instagram while their shopfront is empty. I’ve also seen "boring" businesses like pest controllers with zero social media presence making a killing because they see exactly where sales come from and put their money there.
Case Study: The Plumber Who Cut His Ad Spend by Half (And Made More Money)
We worked with a plumbing business based in Morningside. They were spending $6,000 a month on various ads. They felt busy, but at the end of the month, the profit wasn't there.
We set up a simple dashboard that tracked every single phone call. We didn't care about website clicks; we cared about people who needed a plumber now.
Within 30 days, the data showed something shocking: Google Ads: Bringing in 40 calls a month at $40 per call. High conversion to jobs. Facebook Ads: Bringing in 5 calls a month at $200 per call. Mostly people asking for "ballpark quotes" who never booked. Local Directory: $500 a month spend. Zero calls.
By looking at these simple numbers, the owner killed the directory listing and the Facebook ads immediately. He moved that money into the Google Ads that were already working. He ended up spending $3,000 a month instead of $6,000, but his total number of booked jobs increased.
That is the power of a results-focused dashboard. It’s not about being fancy; it’s about being profitable.
How to Build Your Own "Profitable Marketing" View
You don't need to be a tech genius to do this. You can start with a simple spreadsheet, or use a basic tool that pulls your data into one place.
Step 1: Track the Phone
For most local Brisbane businesses—tradies, lawyers, dentists—the phone is your most important tool. If you aren't using "call tracking," you are guessing. Call tracking gives you a unique phone number for your website that forwards to your real phone. It tells you exactly which ad the person clicked before they called you.Step 2: Track the Forms
When someone fills out a "Contact Us" form, your system should tell you where they came from. Did they find you on Google Maps? Did they click a paid ad? This helps you track the path customers take so you know which parts of your website are actually doing the heavy lifting.Step 3: Connect the Costs
You need to see your spend right next to your results. If you see that you spent $200 yesterday but got zero calls, you can check if something is broken. If you see you spent $50 and got a $5,000 job, you know you should probably spend more.The Common Traps (What to Avoid)
I see business owners make the same three mistakes constantly when trying to look at their data:
1. Looking at too much data: You don't need to know your "average session duration." It doesn't matter. Focus on the money. 2. Checking it every hour: Marketing takes time to settle. Look at your numbers once a week or once a month. Don't panic because Tuesday was quiet if Monday was huge. 3. Trusting the platforms blindly: Google and Facebook will always tell you your ads are doing great because they want you to keep spending. You need an independent view that shows your actual leads.
What Should This Cost You?
Setting up a basic tracking system shouldn't cost an arm and a leg. You can get a professional to set up a dashboard for a few hundred dollars, or you can spend a few hours doing it yourself for free using basic tools.
The real cost is not* doing it. If you are spending $2,000 a month on marketing and 25% of it is wasted, you are losing $6,000 a year. A good dashboard pays for itself in weeks by highlighting that waste.
Summary of Action Steps
1. Stop looking at likes and reach. They don't pay the bills. 2. Set up call tracking. This is the #1 thing for local businesses. 3. Create a one-page view of your Spend vs. Leads vs. Sales. 4. Review it monthly. If a channel isn't performing after 90 days, kill it.
If you're tired of wondering if your marketing is actually working, we can help. At Local Marketing Group, we build simple, no-fluff dashboards for Brisbane business owners that show exactly how many customers you're getting for every dollar spent. No jargon, just results.
Ready to see what's actually happening with your marketing? Contact us at Local Marketing Group and let's get your data sorted.