Why Your Gut Feeling is Costing You Money
I’ve sat down with hundreds of business owners across Brisbane—from landscapers in Samford to solicitors in the CBD. Most of them have one thing in common: they make big financial decisions based on a "feeling."
They feel like the radio ad worked because a neighbor mentioned it. They feel like Facebook is a waste of time because they don't use it personally. They feel like their website is doing its job because it looks nice.
Here is the cold, hard truth: Your gut is a great tool for running your day-to-day operations, but it’s a terrible tool for deciding where to spend your marketing budget. When you guess, you bleed cash.
In this guide, we’re going to look at the common mistakes Brisbane business owners make when looking at their numbers, and how you can start making decisions that actually put more money in your bank account. We aren't going to talk about complex math; we’re going to talk about results.
Mistake 1: Falling for "Vanity Numbers" That Don't Pay the Bills
If a marketing person tells you that your "engagement is up 200%" or your "impressions have doubled," you should ask one question: "How many more phone calls did I get?"
I recently spoke with a cabinet maker in Capalaba who was paying $2,000 a month to a social media agency. They were sending him monthly reports filled with graphs showing how many people "liked" his photos. His page looked busy, but when we looked at his bank account, his revenue hadn't budged.
Likes don't pay wages. Comments don't buy new work utes.
What to look at instead:
If you want to grow, you need to ignore the fluff and focus on the numbers that lead to a sale.1. Phone Calls: How many people actually picked up the phone and called your business after seeing an ad? 2. Enquiry Forms: How many people filled out the "Get a Quote" form on your site? 3. Bookings: How many real appointments were made?
If you aren't sure which of your efforts are actually driving these results, you are probably wasting money on marketing that isn't performing. Stop looking at how many people saw your business and start looking at how many people tried to buy from you.
Mistake 2: Not Knowing What a Customer is Worth
I ask every business owner I meet: "How much can you afford to pay to get one new customer?"
Most don't know. If you don't know that number, you can't tell if your marketing is working or if it's a disaster.
Let’s say you’re an electrician. A basic smoke alarm job might be worth $200. If you spend $150 in ads to get that one job, you’ve probably lost money once you factor in your time, travel, and parts. However, if you’re a solar installer and a single customer is worth $10,000, then spending $500 to get that customer is a massive win.
The "Back of the Napkin" Calculation
To make smart decisions, you need to work out your average profit per job.- Total Revenue per year / Number of jobs = Average Sale Value. - Average Sale Value - Costs (Materials/Labor) = Average Profit.
Once you know your average profit is, say, $500, you can confidently say, "I'm willing to spend $100 to get a lead, because I know I close 1 in 3 leads, meaning it costs me $300 to get a $500 profit."
Without this data, you’re just throwing darts in the dark. You might turn off an ad campaign that was actually making you rich, or keep funding one that is slowly bankrupting you.
Mistake 3: Treating Every Source of Customers the Same
Not all customers are created equal. A person who finds you on Google because their toilet is overflowing is ready to spend money right now. A person who sees your ad while scrolling through Facebook might just be curious about a bathroom renovation they want to do next year.
One of the biggest mistakes I see is businesses spending the same amount of money across every platform without checking which one actually results in a sale.
We worked with a pest control company in Chermside that was splitting their budget 50/50 between Google and Facebook. When we actually looked at the data, we found that Google leads turned into paying customers 70% of the time, while Facebook leads only turned into customers 10% of the time.
By simply moving the money from the "lookers" (Facebook) to the "buyers" (Google), they doubled their revenue in two months without spending an extra cent. To do this, you have to see exactly where sales come from so you don't waste your budget on people who are just browsing.
Mistake 4: Giving Up Too Early (or Staying Too Long)
Marketing data takes time to settle, but it shouldn't take forever.
I see two extremes in Brisbane: 1. The Quitter: They run an ad for three days, don't get a phone call, and turn it off. They say "Google Ads doesn't work for my business." 2. The Hopeful: They spend $1,000 a month for six months on a magazine ad that has never generated a single lead because "you have to get your name out there."
Both are wrong.
The Rule of 100
In my experience, you usually need to see about 100 people click through to your website or interact with your business before you have enough data to make a decision. If 100 people visit your site and nobody calls, your website is the problem. If you can't get 100 people to click, your ad is the problem.Don't make a decision based on three days of data. But don't wait six months if the numbers are showing zeros. Usually, 30 days is the "sweet spot" for a small business to see if a new marketing push is going to pay off.
Mistake 5: Ignoring the "Leaky Bucket"
You can spend all the money in the world on the best ads in Queensland, but if your website is slow or your phone goes to voicemail every time, you are throwing money away.
I call this the Leaky Bucket. Data-driven marketing isn't just about getting more people to the bucket; it’s about plugging the holes.
If the data shows that 500 people visited your website last month but only 2 people called, you don't need more visitors. You need a better website. Maybe your phone number is hard to find. Maybe your site doesn't work on phones (which is where 80% of your customers are looking).
How to spot a leak:
- Low contact rate: Lots of visitors, no calls. (Your website is confusing or doesn't build trust). - High drop-off: People visit one page and leave immediately. (Your site is too slow or doesn't give them what they expected). - Unanswered calls: If you track your calls and see 10 missed calls a week, that’s thousands of dollars in lost revenue you’ve already paid for.To fix this, you need to trace the path to sale and find out exactly where people are dropping out. Is it at the first click? Is it when they see your prices? Is it because you didn't call them back for two days?
Mistake 6: Trusting the "Expert" Without Verification
There are a lot of marketing agencies out there that will send you a 40-page report every month. They do this to overwhelm you so you don't ask the hard questions. They use big words and technical jargon to hide the fact that they aren't actually making you money.
If you can't understand your marketing report in 60 seconds, it’s a bad report.
A good report should tell you: 1. How much did I spend? 2. How many leads did I get? 3. What was the cost per lead? 4. How much money did I make?
If your "expert" can't tell you those four things, they are guessing just as much as you are.
How to Start Making Better Decisions Today
You don't need a degree in statistics to fix this. You just need to start paying attention to the right things. Here is a simple plan for any Brisbane business owner to start using data to grow:
Step 1: Set Up Simple Tracking
Make sure you know how many people are calling you from your website. There are simple tools that show you a different phone number to people who find you on Google vs. people who find you on Facebook. This is the single most important piece of data you can have.Step 2: Review Your Numbers Monthly
Set aside 30 minutes on the first of every month. Look at your total marketing spend and your total new customers. If your "Cost Per Lead" is going up, find out why. If one source is consistently cheaper than the others, move more of your budget there.Step 3: Focus on the "Middle"
Most owners focus on the start (getting more people) or the end (closing the sale). The data usually shows the biggest wins are in the middle. If you can make your website just a little bit better so that 4% of people call instead of 2%, you have doubled your business without spending an extra cent on ads.The Reality of Results
How long does it take to see a return?
If you start tracking your data today, you’ll have enough information to make your first smart move in 30 days. Within 90 days, you should see a noticeable drop in wasted spend and an increase in the quality of your leads.
This isn't an overnight fix. It’s about being 1% smarter every month. Over a year, those 1% gains compound until you’re dominating your local area while your competitors are still "feeling" their way through their budget.
Let’s Get Your Numbers Working for You
At Local Marketing Group, we don't care about likes, follows, or fancy jargon. We care about how many times your phone rings and how much profit is in your pocket at the end of the month.
We help Brisbane businesses cut through the noise and focus on the data that actually moves the needle. If you're tired of guessing and want to know exactly which parts of your marketing are making you money (and which parts are a waste of time), we should talk.
Ready to grow your business with facts, not feelings?
Contact Local Marketing Group today and let’s look at your numbers together.