What a marketing result actually tells you

A lead count tells you how many enquiries a campaign produced. It does not tell you how many people bought, whether the work was profitable or what the whole marketing effort cost.

Before you compare two agencies or decide to increase a budget, ask for four things: the outcome being measured, the reporting period, the costs included and the source of the result. Our own case studies show why those distinctions matter.

Revenue and leads can cover different periods

MAG Roofing’s owner reported more than $100,000 in revenue in the first 90 days, with $6,000 in advertising spend during that period.

The separate lead report covers November 2025 to May 2026: 238 customer leads and approximately $13,300 in direct advertising spend. Recruiting leads are excluded.

Those figures describe different windows. Dividing the first 90 days’ revenue by the longer period’s spend would produce a misleading comparison. Even matching revenue and advertising spend would not establish profit: roofing jobs have labour, materials and other costs.

Read MAG Roofing’s case study and reporting notes.

An enquiry and a new customer are different outcomes

Beach Grove Golf Club confirmed 77 new memberships during January to September 2026. Its campaign reporting also records 1,046 prospective-member enquiries.

Both numbers matter. Enquiries show the volume entering the process; memberships show a later business outcome. A report should explain how your team connects them, including the time between an enquiry and a purchase.

The published cost figures use direct Meta lead-generation spend. They exclude content production, management and other acquisition costs. A business comparing that figure with its own fully loaded customer acquisition cost would be comparing different things.

See Beach Grove’s membership campaign.

A search ranking needs a keyword, location and date

Atlas Pavers recorded 1,148 Google Search Console impressions and 37 clicks from August 12 to September 8, 2026. Those are search visibility and visit measures. They are not 37 enquiries.

A September 10 check placed “paver contractor white rock” at number one in Google Maps and number ten in regular organic results. The tracked organic position had been number 30 on August 29. The checks used a Surrey location.

That is a specific, dated result. It does not establish that every keyword improved or that Atlas ranks first for every search in Surrey. Maps and organic rankings should be named separately so the reader knows what “number one” means.

See the Atlas Pavers reporting, or read about our SEO work in Surrey.

Agree what counts before a campaign starts

For a service business, a useful reporting chain is:

1. Enquiry: a person calls or submits their details.
2. Qualified opportunity: the request fits your service, area and agreed criteria.
3. Quote or appointment: your team moves the conversation forward.
4. Customer: the person accepts and becomes a recorded sale.
5. Revenue and margin: your team records the value and costs on the agreed basis.

Define those stages together. A duplicate form submission should not look like a second customer. A job outside your service area should not be treated as a qualified opportunity simply because the advertising platform counted a conversion.

Record the source, dates and current status in your CRM. Some sales happen after the advertising month ends, so decide how those will be reported before comparing months.

What to ask for in a marketing proposal

Ask what the reporting will include, who provides sales information and which costs appear in the figures. Make sure advertising spend, management, content production and software are clear in the scope.

Then ask to see a case study with enough context to check the claim. A roofing enquiry, a golf membership and a search click are all useful outcomes when they are labelled correctly. They answer different business questions.

If you want help connecting your campaigns to that reporting, explore our Google and Meta advertising work or tell us about your business.