A spend review tells you what each marketing dollar returned last year and what it should do next year. We collect every cost, match it to real enquiries and won jobs or sales, and give you a short written strategy that names what to cut, what to keep and what to test.
Why owners ask for this
Most owner-run businesses in the region spend on four to eight channels and measure one or two. A typical mix is a Google Ads account, an agency or freelancer, a directory listing, a community sponsorship, some social posting and word of mouth. Each sends invoices; few send proof.
The result is a budget set by habit. The review replaces habit with a table you can read in five minutes.
What's included
You receive four things: a cost ledger, a source table, a strategy note and a 90-day test plan.
- Cost ledger: every marketing cost for the past 12 months, including staff time spent on posting or quoting leads that went nowhere.
- Source table: for each channel, the number of enquiries, quotes, wins and revenue, plus cost per enquiry and cost per win.
- Strategy note: two to four pages on positioning, which customers to target, which messages to lead with, and how the budget should be split.
- Test plan: two or three controlled tests for the next quarter, each with a budget cap, a measure and a date to decide.
Where useful, we also review your website and Google Business Profile for basic gaps that cost enquiries, such as no clear phone number, no service-area information or no recent photos.
A worked example
Cost per won job, not cost per click, is the number that matters. Suppose a Victoria electrical contractor spends $2,400 a month across three channels:
| Channel | Monthly cost | Enquiries | Wins | Cost per win |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Ads | $1,500 | 30 | 6 | $250 |
| Directory listing | $600 | 8 | 1 | $600 |
| Community sponsorship | $300 | 2 | 2 | $150 |
The directory looks expensive, and the sponsorship looks cheap, but with only two wins it is too small to judge. A sensible plan might trim the directory, keep the sponsorship and track it for six more months, and test whether faster replies to ad enquiries lift the ad win rate before raising that budget.
Timeline
Most reviews take three to five weeks.
- Week 1: access and invoices gathered; we check what tracking exists.
- Week 2: enquiries matched to sources; gaps filled from your call log, inbox and job records.
- Week 3: source table and draft findings, reviewed with you on a call.
- Weeks 4–5: strategy note and test plan finalised.
If tracking is very thin, we add a short measurement period and say so in the quote.
How results are measured
We judge the strategy by cost per won customer and by margin, three and six months later. The test plan names a pass or fail line for each test. If a test fails, that is useful too: you stop paying for something that doesn't work.
We don't promise rankings, lead volumes or returns. What we can promise is that you'll know far more precisely where the money goes.
Mistakes to avoid
These are the errors we see most often in the capital region.
- Judging channels on clicks or followers rather than paying customers.
- Spreading a small budget thinly over too many channels, so none gets enough to work.
- Treating the whole region as one audience when your margin depends on staying close to the yard or shop.
- Changing everything at once, so nobody can tell what worked.
- Ignoring follow-up. A slow reply can halve the value of any channel.
What happens next
Many owners keep the strategy in-house; others hand it to an agency. If you want a firm to run day-to-day campaigns, a Greater Victoria agency such as VictoriaAgency.ca works from this kind of plan, and we can check its reports for you in advisory sessions. For the budget arithmetic, see our marketing budget guide, and for fees, the pricing page.
Frequently asked questions
Will you tell me to fire my agency?
Only if the numbers say so, and often they don't. More often we find tracking gaps, a budget spread too thin, or follow-up problems inside the business that no agency can fix.
Do you run ads or sell marketing services?
This service is advice and analysis, paid as a fixed project. The recommendation follows the source table, and how fees are charged is set out in writing in your proposal.
What access do you need?
Read-only access to your ad accounts, analytics and Google Business Profile, plus invoices from any agency, directory or sponsorship. You keep ownership of everything and can remove our access at any time.
How soon will I know my cost per lead?
Usually within two weeks, provided we can match enquiries to sources. If tracking is missing, we set up a simple manual log first and give you a provisional figure after a month.