Is Your Marketing Working — Or Just Making Noise?

How to tell if your current marketing is actually moving the needle (and what to do if it’s not)

By Craig Wilson
Digital Marketing Consultant at Sticky Digital

Key Takeaways

Many Newcastle SMEs mistake activity for progress—just because you’re posting or advertising doesn’t mean it’s working.
Signs of underperforming marketing include inconsistent leads, low conversion rates, and unclear ROI.
Regular review, better tracking, and a clear strategy can fix ineffective marketing.
Sticky Digital helps SMEs build high-performing campaigns designed for real results.

Busy Doesn’t Equal Effective

In the age of constant content, it’s easy for marketing to become noise—lots of output, but little impact.

Maybe you’re posting on social media, running Google Ads, sending newsletters, or even blogging… but the phones aren’t ringing, the inbox isn’t pinging, and your sales haven’t moved.

This is the reality for many small-to-medium businesses. And the biggest challenge? Knowing whether your marketing is actually working—or just keeping you busy.

Common Signs Your Marketing Isn’t Delivering

You’re Getting Clicks, But No Customers

If you’re running Google Ads or Meta campaigns and getting traffic but no enquiries, it’s a strong indicator that:

Your targeting is off
Your offer isn’t compelling
Or your landing page isn’t converting

Leads Are Inconsistent (or Nonexistent)

One month you get a few decent leads, then nothing. That kind of unpredictability often comes from campaigns without structure, strategy, or retargeting.

You Don’t Know What’s Working

If you ask your team, “What marketing channel brought in our last five leads?” and nobody knows—there’s a problem. You’re flying blind without tracking.

Your Website Gets Traffic But No Enquiries

You’ve paid for SEO, your site gets visitors… but your contact forms are quiet. Often this means poor call-to-action design, unclear messaging, or a mismatch between traffic source and content.

You Can’t Measure ROI

Many businesses put money into marketing each month but don’t know if it’s profitable. If you can’t say, “We spent X and got Y back,” it’s time to change your approach.

Why Marketing Underperforms

Let’s be clear—it’s not always the channel’s fault. Often, ineffective marketing stems from:

No strategy: Jumping straight into tactics (like “let’s run Facebook ads”) without a plan leads to disjointed, hard-to-scale efforts.
No audience clarity: You can’t speak to “everyone”—without a defined ideal customer, your message gets diluted.
No optimisation: If you’re not testing headlines, creatives, landing pages, and targeting, you’re leaving results to chance.
No alignment: Your website, ads, and emails should all tell the same story. If they don’t, trust and conversions suffer.

How to Diagnose and Improve Your Marketing

Review Your Metrics

Don’t just look at clicks or impressions. Instead, ask:

How many leads did we generate?
What was the cost per enquiry?
What was the quality of those leads?
How many became paying clients?

Check for Message Clarity

Is it clear, on your website, in your ads, and in your emails, what you do, who it’s for, and why it matters?

Revisit Your Targeting

Look at who you’re speaking to and whether your campaigns are reaching them. Are you still relying on “boosted posts” instead of proper Meta targeting or segmented Google Ads?

Audit Your Website & Landing Pages

If your website doesn’t clearly guide visitors to take action, even the best campaigns will struggle to convert.

See our Website Design Services to learn more.

Bring in Strategic Help

Sometimes, the best thing you can do is get an outside perspective from a team who knows how to turn marketing from noise into results.

FAQs

How do I know if my digital marketing is working?

Look at results, not just activity. You should see consistent enquiries, measurable ROI, and marketing that aligns with your business goals—not just impressions or clicks.

What’s the biggest mistake Newcastle SMEs make with marketing?

Jumping straight into tactics without strategy. Whether it’s boosting Facebook posts or running broad-match Google Ads, activity without planning rarely leads to ROI.

Should I stop my current campaigns if they’re not delivering?

Not necessarily. First, review performance data, test different creative or targeting, and consider small optimisations. Often, it’s not the channel—it’s how it’s being used.