Common problem
Marketing isn't working
"$20K into campaigns this year. Three customers to show for it."
Symptoms you'll recognize
- →No ROI measurement per channel
- →One generic landing page for every ad
- →No follow-up system for leads that didn't close immediately
- →No A/B testing on messages or creative
- →Conflicting advice from every marketer you've talked to
Root causes
'Marketing isn't working' is three different problems
Either no leads arrive, or leads arrive but the quality is poor, or good leads arrive and don't close. Each has a completely different fix. Treating them as one problem is how budgets get burned twice.
The leak is downstream of the ad
In most diagnoses the campaign is fine. The landing page is weak, or follow-up is slow, or the sales conversation is unprepared. The ad gets blamed for the funnel's sins, and the next agency inherits the same broken funnel.
Measured by noise, not numbers
Likes and impressions instead of cost per qualified lead and cost per customer. When the wrong thing is measured, the wrong thing gets optimized, and the budget follows the noise.
The solution path
Run a full funnel audit
Impressions to clicks to leads to meetings to customers, with numbers per stage per channel. The leak is usually visible within two weeks, and it's usually one specific stage.
Fix the biggest leak first
Weak landing page: rebuild around one action. Slow follow-up: respond within an hour, sequence the rest. Unprepared sales calls: script plus qualification. One fix at a time, measured.
A/B test messages, not budgets
Same spend, two messages or creatives, kill the loser weekly. Message testing routinely moves results more than budget changes ever do.
Rebuild lead follow-up
5-7 automated touches for every lead that didn't close immediately. In most funnels, 30-50% of conversions come after the first 'not now'.
Install a weekly marketing scorecard
Spend, cost per lead, lead quality, cost per customer, per channel. Scale winners and kill losers monthly, on numbers instead of vibes.
Realistic timeline
Funnel audit: 2 weeks. First leak fixed: 30 days. The same budget typically yields 2-5x more closed customers within 90 days of fixing the main leak.
Frequently asked questions
What's a reasonable return on ad spend?
A ROAS of 3:1 is the working baseline: every dollar of ads returns three in revenue. 5:1 and up is strong. Below 2:1 the campaign is losing money once delivery costs are counted.
How long should I give a campaign before killing it?
At least two continuous weeks with adequate budget, so the data means something. Killing campaigns after three quiet days is one of the most common ways SMBs guarantee nothing ever works.
Should I fire my agency?
Audit first. Very often the ads are fine and the leak is after the click: the landing page, the follow-up, the sales call. Those are usually yours, not the agency's, and firing the agency won't fix them.