Marketing Analytics for SMBs: The Six Numbers That Matter

Dashboards are where attention dies

A 40-widget dashboard is a way to feel data-driven without making decisions. Small teams need numbers that each trigger an action when they move. Six are enough.

The six

1. Marketing-sourced pipeline

Dollars of qualified pipeline that started with marketing. The number that justifies the budget; if you track one thing, track this.

2. CAC by channel

What a customer costs from each source. It tells you where the next dollar goes, and where to stop spending.

3. Visitor-to-lead conversion

The health of your site as a salesperson. Below one percent, fix pages before buying more traffic.

4. Lead velocity

Month-over-month growth in qualified leads. Trend matters more than level; it predicts revenue two quarters out.

5. Publishing cadence kept

Planned output actually shipped. Consistency predicts compounding; this number is your honesty meter.

6. Quality rate

For AI-assisted teams: approval rate on produced work. Falling quality rate is the earliest warning that context or briefs have drifted.

The monthly ritual

One page, six numbers, each with a target and a delta. For every red number, one named action for the month. An analytics agent can assemble the page automatically; the decision stays yours.

Frequently asked questions

Why is cadence a metric and not a habit?

Because it is the leading indicator everything else lags. Teams that ship planned work grow; the metric makes the habit visible.