COMPANIES I'VE SCALED AND ADVISED
THE PROOF

Feedback from founders who wanted the truth

VANITY VS REVENUE

Vanity metrics vs revenue metrics

  • CTR (click-through rate). It tells you people clicked, not that they bought. What matters: how many of those clicks become paying customers.
  • CPC (cost per click). Cheap clicks from the wrong people are expensive. What matters: cost to acquire a paying customer (CAC).
  • Impressions and reach. Being seen is not the same as being chosen. What matters: new customers and revenue in the same period.
  • Platform ROAS. Meta and Google grade their own homework and often both claim the same sale. What matters: MER, total revenue divided by total marketing spend.
  • Cost per lead. A lead that never buys has no value. What matters: cost per qualified lead and lead-to-customer rate.
  • Engagement and followers. Likes don't pay salaries. What matters: contribution margin after marketing spend.

Recent results: 0.5 to 3.4 ROAS in 90 days for a marketplace. CAC down 32% in 50 days for a DTC brand.

THE NUMBERS

The numbers your agency should report on

  • Blended CAC. Total marketing spend divided by new customers. One honest number for what a customer costs you, whatever the platforms claim.
  • MER (marketing efficiency ratio). Total revenue divided by total marketing spend. It shows whether marketing as a whole is paying off, not just one channel.
  • Contribution margin after marketing. Revenue minus product costs, delivery and ad spend. It tells you whether growth is making money or just moving it around.
  • Payback period. How long it takes for a new customer to pay back what it cost to acquire them. It decides how fast you can afford to scale.
  • New vs returning revenue. How much revenue comes from new customers versus people who already bought. It stops retargeting your existing customers from looking like growth.

If your agency can't report these, the problem usually isn't effort. Nobody has asked them to own the number.

THE PROCESS

How it works and what you get

"Ever since I met you, I’ve had high hopes for you, and from what I can see, only now, thanks to you, are we finally doing something coherent with our online marketing"

Alina Almasan

Co-Founder, Rowe

"I can't seem to understand why we didn't work together before"

Siddhi Mittal

Co-Founder, Yhangry

"Robert was really helpful. He confirmed what I’d already been suspecting and gave me a much clearer direction on what to do next"

Andrei Dinca

Founder, Arc Financial Technology

  • Send the form.
  • I call or email within one business day.
    ‍    A few minutes to understand where you are and whether I can help. If I can't, I'll tell you.
  • If there's a fit, we book a proper session.
    I go through your numbers and your agency's reports before we speak. You leave with the handful of numbers your business should be judged on, how far your current reporting is from them, and the one change I'd make first.
  • If I can help, you get a proposal.
    Within 5 days: the scope, how we'd work together, what your team owns and what I own, the numbers we'd judge it on, and the cost. No pressure to sign. Whatever you decide, you keep everything from the session.
THE OPERATOR

You need a Marketing Agency
‍Growth Partner

Most agencies aren't hiding anything. They report CTR, CPC and platform ROAS because those are the numbers they control. Revenue, margin and payback depend on your offer, your website and your sales team, so they quietly drop out of the deck. I spent 11 years running growth in-house: Head of Growth at Bark.com and co-founder of RacketPal, both acquired. I've owned the revenue number, so I make sure the numbers your team is judged on are the ones that pay the bills.

Get in touch
FAQ

Questions founders ask about marketing reporting

  • What's the difference between ROAS and MER? ROAS is the revenue an ad platform attributes to its own ads, divided by what you spent on that platform. MER is your total revenue divided by your total marketing spend. ROAS tells you how a platform grades itself. MER tells you whether marketing as a whole is paying off.
  • What KPIs should a marketing agency report on? At minimum: spend, new customers, blended CAC, MER and revenue against target, ideally with contribution margin and payback period. CTR, CPC and impressions are useful for diagnosing campaigns, but they shouldn't be the headline.
  • Is a high CTR a good sign? Not on its own. A high CTR with a low conversion rate often means the ad promises something the page or product doesn't deliver. Judge ads on cost per customer, not cost per click.
  • Why does my agency's ROAS look good when revenue is flat? Platforms count sales they influenced, including people who would have bought anyway, and Meta and Google can both claim the same sale. If platform ROAS rises while total revenue stays flat, the extra results are mostly attribution, not growth.
  • How do I ask my agency for better reporting? Ask for one monthly view: spend, new customers, blended CAC, MER and revenue against target, plus what they tested and what they'll change next month. A good agency will welcome it.

Still have a question? Send the form below and I'll give you a straight answer.

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