“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted,” John Wannamaker famously said. “The trouble is, I don’t know which half.”

This is a conundrum that bedevils a lot of small businesses. They spend money on marketing activities, but they haven’t got a clue what their return on investment is. 

The lesson for small businesses is not to stop marketing, because that will only result in fewer leads and sales.

Instead, small businesses should try to measure their marketing, so they can work out which activities are working and which aren’t.