The End of Year Reality Check: Is Your Marketing Actually Working?
The End of Year Reality Check: Is Your Marketing Actually Working?
Hey there! Another year almost done. Before jumping into 2026 planning, let's ask the real question: did your marketing actually work?
Not “did you post consistently” but did it bring customers and grow your business? Let's figure this out together.
Before You Start: Get Your Review Process Right
Who needs to be in the room and why
Gather your crew:
- Marketing team
- Someone from sales (knows which leads close)
- Someone from customer service (hears real feedback)
- A decision-maker (can approve changes)
Block off two solid hours—not a rushed call.
The data you actually need (not the vanity metrics)
Skip Instagram likes. Here's what matters:
- Revenue by customer source
- Real costs for every channel (including your time)
- Lead quality and conversion rates
- Customer acquisition cost vs. lifetime value
- Actual ROI
Did You Even Set Real Goals?
Goals that sound good: "Increase engagement"
Goals that matter: "Generate 50 qualified leads monthly"
Hit your goals? Figure out what worked. Missed them? Understand why.
What to do if your goals changed mid-year
Goals change—totally normal. Write down what caused it (budget cuts, market shifts, competitor moves). This helps you plan smarter next year.
Where Your Customers Actually Found You
The attribution lie
Analytics say Facebook ad. Reality? They saw the ad, ignored it, friend mentioned you, Googled you, read blogs, subscribed, then bought after an email.
Which gets credit? All of them.
How to trace revenue backward
Ask your customers directly:
- "How did you first hear about us?"
- "What convinced you to buy?"
Look for patterns. You might discover SEO deserves more credit than paid ads, or referrals are doing the real work.
What Your Best Leads Cost You
The real formula
Total marketing spend ÷ customers acquired = actual cost
Include everything:
- Ads, tools, contractors, salaries, content, events
Spent $120K, got 100 customers? Real cost is $1,200 per customer. Would you pay that today?
Quality beats quantity
10 leads at 40% conversion beats 100 leads at 2%. Always.
Calculate conversion by channel. Focus on quality, not volume.
Your Team Knows More Than You Think
Create structured surveys asking:
- What messages stuck with you?
- What almost made you choose a competitor?
- What questions did we fail to answer?
Sales knows what resonates. Customer service knows where promises don't match reality. Customers know why they chose you.
What Your Customers Really Think
Update your personas
Those two-year-old personas? Outdated.
Ask customers:
- What are your biggest challenges now?
- What factors matter when choosing solutions?
- Where do you research purchases?
Update with:
- Current behaviors and pain points
- How decision-making has shifted
- Where they spend time online now
What Your Competitors Did Better
Study your top 3-5 competitors:
- What campaigns did they run?
- Which channels did they prioritize?
- Where did they beat you?
Use SEMrush or Ahrefs. Sign up for their emails.
Find white space:
- Channels they're ignoring
- Customer needs no one's meeting
- Your unique positioning opportunity
The Trends That Actually Impact You
Can't ignore in 2025:
- AI reshaping content and research
- Cookie deprecation affecting tracking
- Social platform shifts
Focus only on trends affecting:
- How customers research and buy
- How you reach and convert them
Everything else is noise.
The Channels Eating Your Budget for Nothing
For each channel, calculate:
- Investment, leads, customers, revenue, ROI
Be honest—which are you doing from habit?
- Newsletter nobody reads?
- Social posts into silence?
- Networking group with no leads?
Kill what doesn't work. If you stopped it for three months, would anyone notice?
Free up budget for what actually delivers.
Document Everything
Write down:
- What worked, what flopped, why
- What you're keeping, killing, changing
- New benchmarks and goals
- Updated personas
- Channel performance
Make it organized and usable. Next December, you'll thank yourself.
Ready to Make Your Marketing Work?
A year-end review is how you get better at marketing.
Bring the right people together, look at honest data, kill what isn't working—turn the year-end into your launching pad.
Feeling overwhelmed? We get it. LA Creatives turns marketing chaos into clarity. Sometimes the smartest move is bringing in people who see what you're too close to notice.
Here's to marketing that actually grows your business!
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