PRACTICAL GUIDE / ADVERTISING MEASUREMENT
Are your ads creating
qualified inquiries?
An ad report can show where a message ran and how often it was seen. Your business needs to know whether the right people made contact—and whether those conversations led to paying work.
Start with the result you actually want.
A completed view and a website visit can be useful signals. Neither is a sale. Before buying a campaign, name the action that matters: an inquiry, appointment, qualified prospect, proposal, or purchase. Agree on what you can realistically track.
Connect each step without overstating it.
- Record the channel, dates, geography, audience, spend, and actual placement report.
- Check whether visitors reached a relevant page with an obvious way to contact you.
- Count genuine inquiries and ask how they heard about you when appropriate. Tag campaign links consistently.
- Review which inquiries were a fit, which received proposals, and which became customers.
- Compare the results with cost and project contribution. Account for a longer sales cycle and other ways clients may have discovered you.
If your business cannot trace every sale to one ad, say so. A campaign can influence demand across several channels; a dashboard should not claim certainty it cannot provide.
Questions worth asking before the next buy
Which audience and geography can the plan actually reach? Where will the ad appear? How much budget buys media, and how much pays for creative or management? What will the report count? Who will check inquiries and follow up?
Andie can help examine these questions as part of a paid marketing audit or discuss a targeted advertising plan built around your customers.