Why marketing data feels overwhelming
If you’ve ever looked at a marketing report and asked, “What does all this mean?” you’re not alone. Digital marketing gives us more numbers than ever, which makes understanding how to track marketing success feel confusing. It’s easy to get lost in a muddle of metrics like clicks, views, likes, impressions, and bounce rates.
The problem is that most businesses start from the bottom up. They look at every metric they can find before asking if any of it actually connects to sales. The key is to flip that approach and start from the top down and focus on your business goals first.
Ask yourself:
- Did our marketing actually help us reach our main goals?
- How much did we spend to get there?
- Which part of our marketing made it happen?
When you focus on the outcomes first, your reports suddenly become a lot easier to read, and much more useful.
Step 1: Focus on the results that really matter
Track these five key results:
- Phone calls: Each call is a potential customer. Use a different phone number for your ads, website, and mailers so you can see which source drives the most calls. Tools like CallRail make this easy.
- Form submissions or quote requests: When someone fills out a contact form, that’s a conversion. In Google Analytics 4, set those up as conversion events so you can see what source they came from.
- Appointment bookings: If you use online scheduling tools like Calendly or a booking widget, make sure these actions are tracked. They’re often your most valuable conversion events.
- Cost per lead and return on ad spend (ROAS): How much does it cost to get one new lead? Are your ads making back what you spend? Knowing these two numbers helps you invest smarter.
- Lead-to-customer rate: Of all the leads you get, how many actually become paying clients? Tracking this closes the loop between marketing and revenue.
About one in four small businesses don’t track this data at all, so even a few simple measurements will put you ahead of the competition.
Step 2: Use simple tools to make tracking easy
You don’t need an analytics team to track results. A few straightforward tools can give you everything you need:
- Google Analytics 4 (GA4): Set up to track form submissions, button clicks, or calls as conversions.
- Call tracking: Add unique phone numbers for each campaign or channel to see what’s driving calls.
- CRM or spreadsheet: Keep a simple record of new leads, where they came from, and whether they became customers.
- “How did you hear about us?” field: Add this to every form or ask it on every first call. You’ll get insights that data can’t always show.
If you know where your best leads come from, you can confidently double down on those channels and stop wasting money on the rest.
Step 3: Review your numbers regularly
Check your marketing data once a month—no need to overcomplicate it. Look for:
- Which sources brought in the most leads?
- Which channels led to paying customers?
- How much did each lead cost?
- Which campaigns gave you the best return?
You don’t need a 50-slide report to know what’s working. Sometimes, a single dashboard or summary will do the job. At Big Storm, our clients see everything in one place. Metrics for calls, form fills, ad spend, and performance over time.
Examples of measurable results:
- Great Northern Metal Company doubled its leads after tracking which campaigns generated calls and quotes.
- Ohio Children’s Alliance boosted foster parent applications by 66% by focusing on one key goal.
- Angel, Coil & Bartlett transitioned from print to digital and saw a consistent increase in phone and form leads.
- Montana Silversmiths earned a 485% return on ad spend by focusing on the ads that drove sales.
Step 4: Adjust and repeat
Once you’re tracking the right data, you’ll start spotting trends. Maybe your Google Ads bring in more leads than Facebook. Maybe your blog content converts better than your paid campaigns.
Here’s what to do next:
- Invest more in what’s working. Put your money toward channels that consistently bring in leads.
- Improve or drop what isn’t. If a campaign doesn’t produce results, update it or let it go.
- Keep testing. Try different ad messages, landing pages, or offers, and measure which ones perform best.
Marketing success comes from steady improvement over time, not from trying to do everything at once.
Our approach: clear, focused, & data-driven
At Big Storm, we help businesses simplify marketing and advertising analytics. Instead of confusing dashboards and vanity metrics, we focus on measurable actions, calls, appointments, form submissions, and return on investment.
We believe in tracking what matters most, so you can spend smarter, grow faster, and focus on the heart of your business.