The Big 3 Marketing Metrics Every Small Business Must Track

According to the GrowthBox 2025 State of Small Business Marketing Report, a staggering 81% of small businesses don’t track their marketing performance. That means most owners are effectively flying blind - spending time and money without knowing what’s working.

The result? Wasted budget, missed opportunities, and the dreaded feast-or-famine cycle.

The good news: You don’t need to track dozens of KPIs. You just need to focus on the Big 3 Metrics that tell you whether your marketing is doing its job.

1. Traffic - Who’s finding you?

This is the starting point. Without visibility, you won’t generate leads.

• Website traffic: How many people are visiting your site?

• Social reach: How many people are seeing your posts or ads?

👉 If traffic is low, you have a visibility problem. That’s your signal to invest in awareness channels like SEO, social content, or local advertising.

2. Engagement - Who’s paying attention?

Traffic without interaction is meaningless. Engagement tells you whether people actually care about your message.

• Email engagement: Open rates + click-through rates.

• Social engagement: Likes, comments, shares, link clicks.

👉 If engagement is low, your message isn’t resonating. This is where refining your value proposition and content themes makes all the difference.

3. Conversion - Who’s taking action?

Ultimately, the goal of marketing is action: leads, sales, or bookings.

• Lead generation: Enquiries, form submissions, sign-ups.

• Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): How much you spend to win a new customer.

👉 If conversions are low, either your offer isn’t compelling, or you’re not following up effectively.

Tools can show you the data. But data alone doesn’t grow your business.

That’s where GrowthBox comes in. We don’t just help you measure these 3 metrics - we help you act on them, consistently, with the right balance of strategy, content, and accountability.

💡 Want to know how your marketing stacks up?

👉 Start with our free GrowthBox diagnostic and discover the gaps holding your business back.