If You’re Not Measuring Your Marketing, Is It Really Working?

In recruitment, there’s nothing worse than doing a lot of work and not knowing whether it’s moving the needle. 

You might be posting jobs, sending emails or pushing content on social media, but are you tracking whether any of it is actually helping you attract clients, candidates or boosting brand credibility? 

At Gatt Consulting, we believe that a data-led strategy isn’t optional, it’s essential. Your marketing activity only becomes powerful when it's measurable, as it then allows you time to understand what is working, what isn’t working and a benchmark to allow you to see progress when it comes to ROI. 

Why Measurement Matters

• ROI becomes visible: When you track the right metrics, you can see what is generating value, not just effort. That means you can double down on what works and cut back on what doesn’t.

• Helps link marketing with sales: Recruitment marketing isn’t separate from your sales function. You know sales is process driven and outcome oriented, your marketing should be too. Tracking allows you to see how many leads are coming in, how many convert and what channels and content is making the most impact.

• Builds confidence and clarity: The more you measure, the more you remove guesswork. And confidence from the leadership team, the consultants, the rest of the business follows.

Key Metrics You Should Be Measuring

When it comes to marketing metrics, here are some basics you should absolutely have visibility on to know if your marketing strategy is working the way you intended. These are the metrics I have always measured as this reflect true value to the business and bottom line:

Lead volume

If you’re not generating enough leads, you’re not going to grow.

Lead conversion rate

You might generate loads of leads, but if they aren’t converting. This metric was so valuable for the businesses I worked in, as it allowed us to look at the sales process to see where the gaps were and where additional sales training was required. Remember, marketing can help drive leads, but it can’t get the sale over the line.

Cost per lead

Shows whether your marketing spend is efficient. 

Channel effectiveness (SEO, email, social)

Which channels are bringing in the best leads for lowest cost?

Engagement metrics (open rates, click-throughs, bounce, time on site)

Measures whether your content or messaging resonates and what happens when it is looked at. Maybe a simple call to action (CTA) tweak is required! 

Candidate and client retention / satisfaction

It can cost far more to find new clients/candidates than to keep existing ones. What are you doing to track customer satisfaction? 

Common Marketing Pitfalls

If you’re not seeing the marketing insights you need, it might be because of:

• Tracking only superficial metrics (e.g. number of social posts) rather than outcomes (e.g. how many clients/candidates came through social).

• Relying entirely on gut feel rather than data. Sometimes it feels like things are working, but the numbers tell a different story.

• Not setting up the right tools or dashboards. If data is hard to access, nobody looks.

What You Should Do Next

Here’s a mini-checklist you can use this right now, to ensure your marketing is measurable:

1. Define 2-3 business outcomes you want from marketing, e.g. 10 new client leads per month, 400 candidate applications via the website. 

2. Map which channels contribute toward those outcomes, website, email automation, social, referrals

3. Ensure you have tracking in place, Google Analytics / GA4, Google Console etc 

4. Set up reporting, weekly or monthly dashboards with key metrics. I always ran monthly reports, as it offers a better overview

5. Review regularly and adjust. If something isn’t working, don’t stop it, tweak it; if something is working, push more budget/time into it

Final Thought on Measuring Marketing 

Every recruitment agency talks about strategy, ROI and growth. But only those who measure consistently get to improve continuously. If you want to ensure your marketing is more than just activity, if you want it to be a reliable growth engine, it’s time to look honestly at what you’re tracking.

If you’d like a hand reviewing your metrics, dashboards or tracking setup, I offer consultations that help recruitment agencies get clarity and confidence in their marketing data. Reach out and let’s make sure you’re not guessing, but growing.

Contact Us