Does Your Marketing Budget and ROI Feel Like a Black Hole?

You pour money in, but the reports you get back are a confusing mess of jargon. You’re told things are working, but your bank account isn’t so sure.

You’re not alone.

This confusion is surprisingly common. In fact, research shows a staggering one-in-three Australian small businesses end up in a dispute with their marketing provider, often over a failure to manage expectations around…you guessed it, marketing ROI.  

The problem isn’t the marketing. It’s the mystery.

Marketing shouldn’t be scary, and it definitely shouldn’t be a gamble. It’s a system. And to run that system, you just need to know which three buttons to press. This is your 3-minute, jargon-free guide to finding the truth.

The 3-Minute Jargon-Buster

Forget the 50-page reports. To find out if your marketing is working, you only need to ask three questions.

1. The Junk Lead Question: “What’s Our MQL?”

• The Jargon: MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead) – understanding MQL vs SQL.
• What It Really Means: An MQL is a simple, agreed-upon filter to automatically separate the “just browsing” window-shoppers from the “ready to talk” buyers.  
• Why It Matters: It stops your sales team from wasting precious time. If your goal is enquiries, you don’t want 1,000 junk leads. You want 50 MQLs who are actually primed to buy. It’s the difference between a full pipeline and a busy, broke sales team.

The Simple Question to Ask: “Are we wasting our sales team’s time? Show me the exact filter that separates a ‘tyre-kicker’ from a ‘quality lead’.”

2. The Profit Question: “What’s Our Real ROAS?”

• The Jargon: ROAS vs ROI (Return on Ad Spend).  
• What It Really Means: This is your “Payback Score.” It’s a hard, simple ratio (like $4:1) that tells you, instantly, how many dollars you get back for every $1 you put into ads.  
• Why It Matters: If your goal is profit, this is your single most important number. It is not a “fuzzy” metric. It’s the ultimate pass/fail grade for a campaign. It gives you the confidence to either cut a failing ad or (even better) double down on a winning one.

The Simple Question to Ask: “Am I making money from these ads? For every $1 spent, what is the exact dollar amount I get back in sales?”

3. The Truth Question: “Are Your Reports ‘Double-Dipping’?”

• The Jargon: Attribution (This is the big one).
• What It Really Means: This is the “judge” that decides which ad gets credit for a sale. And this is where the “black box” hides.  
• The 300% Problem: Here’s a common scenario. Here’s a common scenario often seen when comparing Facebook ads vs Google Analytics.

1. A customer clicks a Facebook Ad.
2. Later, they click a Google Ad
3. Finally, they buy from an Email Link.

A lazy or dishonest report will show you three “sales.” Your Facebook report claims 100% credit. Your Google report also claims 100% credit. Your email report also claims 100% credit. Your reports add up to 300% of your actual revenue. It’s an accounting trick, not a marketing success. 

The Simple Question to Ask: “Are these numbers real? Show me how your attribution model works and prove to me that all my channels add up to 100% of my revenue, not 300%.”

Your 5-Minute Agency Health Check

Armed with those questions, you can now run a quick health check on your marketing, whether it’s in-house or with an agency.

1. Do you have a “Mission Control” Dashboard? You shouldn’t have to hunt through five different platforms to get answers. You deserve a single, simple command centre that pulls all your real numbers (your true ROAS, your MQLs, your 100% attribution) into one place. If you don’t have one, ask “why?” 
2. Are you afraid to ask “stupid” questions? If you feel intimidated in meetings, that’s a red flag. A true partner wants you to ask questions. They want you to challenge them. Creating a space where you feel safe to ask “why?” is the foundation of trust. If you’re made to feel dumb for asking, your partner is failing. 
3. Are you micromanaging the “how”? This one is on you. If you’ve hired experts, you have to let them be experts. But that’s scary if you don’t have trust. This is the owner’s trap: you don’t trust, so you micromanage; your micromanagement kills creativity and gets bad results; the bad results prove you can’t trust. The only way to break this cycle is with transparency (see point 1). 
4. Do you know all the costs? Your ROI can be destroyed by hidden costs. Look at your invoices. Are you being hit with vague setup fees, software subscriptions, or ad spend mark-ups? A flexible, modern partner provides one clear, operational investment. When you compare a marketing manager salary vs agency fees, you need to see the full picture. You Don’t Need a Supplier. You Need a Partner.

Your Don’t Need a Supplier. You Need a Partner

Clarity is the new currency.

Your business deserves a partner who welcomes your questions. A team that isn’t a tangled mess of mysterious subcontractors, but a 100% in-house unit that you can actually talk to.  

Bear Marketing brings the right partner in a rare mix: the strategic wisdom of 25-year business veterans combined with the technical, cutting-edge skills of young digital natives.

It’s the team that finally gives you the confidence to stop worrying about waste and get excited about your growth again.

Ready for Real Clarity?

Stop guessing and start knowing. If you’re ready to see what a 100% transparent, outsourced marketing team looks like. Come chat with us at Bear Marketing today.