5 Signs Your Marketing Is Not Really Working

(Even If It Looks Like It Is)

Most mid-sized companies we work with think their marketing is working. Their campaigns are running, the website is live, and the dashboard is full of metrics.

But when we ask,

…things get quiet.

If your marketing efforts feel busy but you’re still not making progress, it’s time for a reset.

Here are five red flags we look for during every Marketing Audit and why they matter more than likes, clicks, or content calendars.

1. You Have a Ton of Assets, But No Story

You’ve got:

• A good-looking website

• Social media content

• Email campaigns

• A shelf-ready trade show booth

But ask 3 people in your company what the brand actually stands for, and you’ll get 4 different answers.

That’s not marketing. That’s noise with a nice header font.

Symptoms:

• Every quarter has a different campaign “theme”

• No consistent through-line in your messaging

• Buyers and retailers struggle to describe what makes you different

Without a core narrative, everything you publish becomes disposable. You’re reinventing the wheel every time you brief the team.

How to fix this:

Clarify your ICP, positioning, and brand promise. These should be tattooed (figuratively, of course) on every campaign brief. That’s why brand clarity is always the first block we audit.

2. Sales Thinks Marketing Is Just “Making Noise”

Here’s a common line from sales teams we audit alongside:

Translation? You’ve got a pipeline problem.

Symptoms:

• Leads are MQLs in name only (aka: “Marketing Qualified” but “Sales Rejected”)

• No joint planning between Sales and Marketing

• Events get leads… then nothing happens

The impact? Wasted spend. Team friction. Longer sales cycles. A funnel full of fluff instead of fuel.

How to fix this:

Start with one hard question: “Would Sales say Marketing is helping them win?”

If the answer isn’t a confident yes, you don’t need more content. You need alignment. And yes, our audit maps marketing activity directly to your pipeline stages.

3. Your Website Looks Fine, But Converts Nothing

Maybe your website isn’t the problem.

But maybe it’s part of a bigger one: Your digital presence isn’t working as a system.

Symptoms:

• Visitors bounce before scrolling

• Product detail pages (PDPs) are light on persuasion

• “Contact us” is the only CTA that gets clicks

• No clear path from landing page to lead

Here’s what happens: missed opportunities. Passive discovery with no intent-building. Your best content is buried or broken.

How to fix this:

Your digital presence should act like a confident salesperson. We evaluate this from first click to final CTA in every audit, and flag where the conversions stall.

4. You’re Reporting Activity—Not Outcomes

We’ve seen teams share 30-slide decks with all the right charts:

• Reach

• Clicks

• Likes

• Followers

But when you ask,

"What revenue did this drive?"

You'll hear about "awareness" or "visibility."

That's when we know it's time to reboot the dashboard.

Symptoms:

• Channel-based reporting, not business-based

• Attribution is vague or debated

• No “north star” KPIs that everyone agrees on

These symptoms result in leadership confusion, budget cuts, and lack of trust in marketing data.

How to fix this:

We build reporting systems that give your CFO peace of mind. And more importantly, give you control.

5. Retailers Keep Asking for Support, But Can’t Say What Worked

For CPG brands, this is the goldmine of audits.

Retailers are asking for shopper activation, but no one can articulate what moved product last quarter.

Symptoms:

• Shopper campaigns are disconnected from digital

• Post-mortems are gut feel, not data-driven

• No repeatable system for retail + consumer marketing

It leads to retailer frustration, channel underperformance, and wasted co-op dollars.

How to fix this:

Our audit connects the dots across trade, shopper, and consumer activation, enabling you to demonstrate results and secure larger investments from retail partners.

Marketing May Be Running… But Is It Working?

Here’s the test:

• Are we easier to remember?

• Are we easier to choose?

• Are we harder to replace?

If you’re not answering “yes” across the board, you don’t need another campaign.

You need a structured audit that tells you what’s actually working, what’s wasting time, and where to go next.

Your Next Step

You don’t need to guess.

A fast, no-fluff diagnostic built for CEOs, CMOs, and founders. Score yourself across strategy, pipeline, digital, and data.

Or…

We’ll show you exactly how our audit process works and if it’s the right fit for your stage and goals.

Don’t throw money at hope.

Start 2026 with answers.