Stop Guessing: See Exactly Where Your Sales Are Coming From

The Problem: You’re Flying Blind

I was sitting down with a landscaping business owner in Chermside a few months ago. He was frustrated. He was spending $4,000 a month on Google Ads, another $1,000 on Facebook, and paying a guy to post on Instagram.

When I asked him which one was actually putting money in his bank account, he shrugged. "I get phone calls," he said, "but I have no idea which ad triggered them. I just pay the bills and hope for the best."

Most Brisbane business owners are in the same boat. You get a monthly report from a marketing person that’s twenty pages long, full of graphs about 'impressions' and 'engagement.' But at the end of the day, you still don't know if that $5,000 spend resulted in $20,000 of work or $2,000.

You don’t need more data. You need a way to see, at a glance, if your marketing is working or if you’re just burning money. That’s where a simple, one-page visual dashboard (we use a tool called Looker Studio) changes everything.

What is a Results Dashboard?

Forget the fancy name. Think of this like the dashboard in your ute. You don’t need to know the chemical composition of the fuel or the exact torque of the engine while you're driving. You just need to know: 1. How fast am I going? 2. How much fuel do I have left? 3. Is the engine overheating?

A marketing dashboard does the same for your business. It pulls information from Google, Facebook, and your website into one single page that shows you the numbers that actually matter: Leads, Sales, and Costs.

Case Study: The Plumber Who Stopped Wasting $2k a Month

Let’s look at a real-world example. We worked with a plumbing firm near Coorparoo. They were running ads for 'Emergency Plumbing,' 'Hot Water Systems,' and 'Blocked Drains.'

Before we set up their dashboard, they thought 'Emergency Plumbing' was their winner because the phone rang all the time. But once we put the numbers on one screen, the truth came out:

Emergency Plumbing: Cost $80 per lead. Most callers were just price-shopping at 2 AM and didn't book. Hot Water Systems: Cost $45 per lead. Almost every caller booked a high-profit installation.

By seeing these marketing numbers actually pay side-by-side, the owner made a decision in thirty seconds: cut the emergency budget in half and double down on hot water.

That’s the power of a dashboard. It’s not about 'analytics'; it’s about making business decisions that put more cash in your pocket.

Why Your Current Reports are Probably Rubbish

If you’re getting a PDF report every month, it’s likely designed to make the person sending it look good, not to help you grow. They’ll show you that 'website traffic is up 20%.'

Who cares? Traffic doesn't pay the rent.

I’ve seen dozens of businesses where traffic is going through the roof, but sales are flat. Usually, it's because marketing data is lying to them—counting things like 'page views' as success while ignoring the fact that nobody is actually hitting the 'Call Now' button.

A good dashboard ignores the fluff. It focuses on the 'Money In' vs 'Money Out.'

The "One Screen" Rule

If I’m building a dashboard for a mate who runs a shop or a trade business, I follow the "One Screen" rule. If you have to scroll down to find the answer, it’s too complicated.

Here is what should be on your one screen:

1. Total Spend

2. New Enquiries (Leads)

3. Cost Per Lead

4. Revenue (If possible)

How Much Does This Cost?

Here’s the honest truth: The tool itself (Looker Studio) is free. Google provides it because they want you to see your ads working so you spend more money.

However, setting it up properly is the tricky part. If you try to do it yourself, you’ll spend ten hours watching YouTube videos and end up with a mess of broken charts.

DIY: Free, but expect to lose a few weekends and potentially get the wrong data. Professional Setup: A good agency should charge you a one-off fee (usually between $800 and $2,000 depending on complexity) to build it.

• Ongoing: Once it’s built, it should update automatically. You shouldn't have to pay a monthly fee just to look at your own data.

How Long Until You See Results?

You can have a dashboard live in about a week. The real "result" happens the second you look at it.

I remember a gym owner in North Lakes who looked at his new dashboard for the first time. He pointed at a red bar on the graph and said, "Wait, I’m paying $150 for a lead from Instagram, but only $12 from Google?" He turned off the Instagram ads that afternoon. He saved $1,200 a month instantly. That’s a result.

What’s a Waste of Money?

Don't let anyone sell you a "Comprehensive Monthly Analysis Report." It’s usually a 30-page document that no one reads, generated by a robot.

Also, don't bother tracking things like 'Time on Site' or 'Bounce Rate' on your main dashboard. They are distractions. If someone spends 10 minutes on your site but doesn't call you, they weren't a customer; they were a window shopper. Focus on the money.

What Should You Do First?

If you want to stop guessing and start knowing where your customers are coming from, here is your checklist:

1. Ask your current marketing person: "Can you show me a live dashboard that shows my cost per lead?" If they say no or try to give you a PDF, that’s a red flag. 2. Identify your 'Conversion': Is it a phone call? A contact form? A booked quote? You must know what a 'win' looks like. 3. Get it built: Whether you use us or someone else, get a single-page view of your business health.

Stop letting marketing be a mystery. You wouldn't run your workshop without checking your bank balance, so don't run your marketing without a dashboard that shows you the profit.

If you’re tired of looking at reports that don't make sense and want to see the numbers that actually matter for your Brisbane business, we can help.

Ready to see what's actually working? Contact us at Local Marketing Group and let’s get your numbers sorted.