Short answer: track enquiries, cost per enquiry, how many enquiries become customers, how engaged your landing-page visitors are, and how many people click through from Google. Together they tell you whether marketing is bringing in business. Followers, impressions and page views on their own don't.
If you're still working out how much to spend, read How Much Should a Small Business Spend on Digital Marketing? first.
1. Enquiries
An enquiry is a person asking to buy or talk: a form submission, a booking, a call. Everything else is a step toward it.
In Google Analytics 4 you mark the actions that matter as key events. Google defines a key event as "an event that measures an action that's particularly important to the success of your business," and says any event you collect can become one. If your enquiry form isn't marked, you're not counting enquiries.
Where to find it: GA4 reports on your key events. Add a manual count of phone calls and walk-ins if those are how people reach you.
2. Cost per enquiry
Divide what you spent by the enquiries you got in the same period. This is your own arithmetic, not a platform figure.
Illustration only, not real client data: if you spent 1,000 in a month and received 20 enquiries, your cost per enquiry is 50. If next month you spend 1,000 and get 25, it is 40.
Why it matters: it lets you compare channels and months on the same scale. Include the full cost, not just ad spend: tools, creative and agency fees if you want the true figure.
3. Enquiry-to-customer rate
How many enquiries become paying customers? Again this is your own calculation, and the number most businesses never work out.
Illustration only: 25 enquiries and 5 new customers is a 20% rate. If a channel brings many enquiries that never buy, its cost per customer is far higher than its cost per enquiry suggests.
Where to find it: your CRM, a spreadsheet, or a simple tally. It won't appear in an analytics tool unless you record sales against enquiries.
4. Engagement rate on the pages that matter
Google defines an engaged session as one that "lasts longer than 10 seconds," "has a key event," or "has 2 or more screen or page views," and engagement rate as "the percentage of engaged sessions." Bounce rate is the percentage that were not engaged.
For a landing page that is meant to get an enquiry, a low engagement rate suggests visitors arrive and leave without doing much, which is a sign the page, the traffic or the promise doesn't fit. Look at it by page and by source rather than sitewide.
5. Search clicks, impressions and click-through rate
If you rely on organic search, Search Console is the source. Google defines impressions as the times a user "has seen (or potentially seen) a link to your site," clicks as how often someone clicked from Google to your site, and click-through rate as clicks divided by impressions.
Watch the trend for your most important queries. Rising impressions with flat clicks suggests your listing isn't compelling; rising clicks with few enquiries points back to the page. Average position is an average across queries, so don't read it as a single ranking.
A simple monthly scorecard
| Number | How to get it | Look for |
|---|---|---|
| Enquiries | GA4 key events + calls/walk-ins | Trend, by source |
| Cost per enquiry | Spend ÷ enquiries | Falling or stable |
| Enquiry-to-customer rate | Customers ÷ enquiries | Differences between channels |
| Engagement rate | GA4, per landing page | Pages that lose people |
| Search clicks and CTR | Search Console | Gaps between impressions and clicks |
Review it once a month at the same time. Change one thing at a time so you know what moved it. If your enquiries are low, Why Your Ad Spend Isn't Turning Into Enquiries walks through the five places money leaks out.
What this won't tell you
These numbers describe what happened, not why. A single month can mislead, especially with low volume. And they don't capture word-of-mouth, so ask new customers how they heard about you.
Common questions
Do I need Google Analytics?
You need some way to count enquiries by source. GA4 is the common free option, and Search Console covers search performance.
Are social followers worth tracking?
They can be a leading indicator, but they aren't enquiries. Track them alongside, not instead.
How many enquiries do I need before the numbers mean anything?
There isn't a fixed number. With very low volumes, look at the direction over several months rather than any single month.
Velocity Branding builds SEO and AI search visibility for small businesses and startups across the US and South Africa.
Not sure your enquiries are being counted properly? Book a free strategy call and we'll check your tracking and set up a one-page scorecard.