Here is a situation that plays out in a lot of small businesses. The ad account says the campaign got 48 conversions this month. The office says it logged 19 calls and forms. The ad spend was $2,400.
So what did each real call cost? $50? About $126? Neither? Most people pick one of the two numbers and move on. The right answer is that you cannot tell yet, and knowing why is a useful skill.
Short answer: Spot the Marketing Leak is a free practice exercise. You look at made-up businesses, open the facts behind each case and choose what you would check next. Then you see notes on what the facts actually support. It uses no real business numbers, needs no sign-up and saves nothing.
Why practice on made-up businesses?
Reading marketing numbers is a skill, and it is hard to practice on your own business. Your real numbers come with pressure, history and opinions. Mistakes cost money.
Made-up cases remove all of that. You can make a wrong call, see why it was wrong and try again in a few minutes. That is the idea behind our free exercise, Spot the Marketing Leak. In its own words:
"Practice spotting where a made-up business loses money between the ad and the real call."
You bring nothing to it. From the tool page:
"Have ready: nothing. The cases and the numbers are made up."
The worked example: 48 versus 19
This is the example published on the tool page. It is made up and is not a review of a real business.
| What you see | Value |
|---|---|
| Case | 48 conversions, 19 inquiries |
| Made-up ad spend | $2,400 |
| Actions the ad site reported | 48 |
| Calls and forms the office logged, from all sources | 19 |
| What the facts support | Value |
|---|---|
| Ad site math | $2,400 divided by 48 = $50 per reported action |
| What that does not show | A $50 cost per real call or form |
| What the office count cannot do | Show how the ads did, because it covers all sources |
The lesson, from the tool page:
"The ad site and the office are counting different things. Neither number alone tells you what a real call from the ads cost."
What is really going on in that case
There are several ordinary reasons the two counts can differ, and none of them require anyone to be wrong:
- The ad account may count actions that are not calls or forms, like clicks on a phone number that never connected.
- One person might be counted more than once, for example a click on the phone number and a form on the same day.
- The office count includes calls from referrals, repeat customers and the website, not just ads.
- Some ad calls may never have been logged.
The next step is not to pick a number. It is to find out what each count includes. The exercise is built to make that habit automatic:
"Check what each count means and where the calls came from before you treat either number as the answer."
How the exercise works
From the tool page:
"You choose Quick Challenge, Explore or Facilitator, pick a next step for each made-up case and can say how sure you are."
Each case shows facts and proof you can open. After you choose, you see teaching notes on what the facts support. Choices earn 2, 1 or 0 teaching points for that case, but the tool is clear about what the points are for:
"The 2, 1 and 0 teaching points apply to these cases only. Your confidence and choices are not a test of you, your staff or your business."
There is no timer, no leaderboard and no penalty for opening the proof.
Three modes for three situations
| Mode | Good for |
|---|---|
| Quick Challenge | A few minutes on your own, or a quick warm-up |
| Explore | Taking your time with each case and reading every note |
| Facilitator | Running the cases with a group, like a staff meeting or a workshop |
A suggested 20-minute team session
This is our suggestion for using Facilitator mode with an office team or a small group of owners. It is not a feature of the tool.
- Five minutes: Put the first case on a screen. Ask everyone to say what they would check next, before anyone opens the proof.
- Five minutes: Open the proof together. Read the teaching note out loud.
- Five minutes: Ask, "Where could this happen in our business?" Write down one or two answers.
- Five minutes: Pick one thing to check in your own numbers this week, and who will check it.
The last step is where the exercise turns into something useful. A common first action is simply writing down what your ad account counts as a conversion.
What the exercise cannot do
The tool page is upfront about its limits:
"Cases are simpler than real life, and important facts may be missing. No real website, account, staff member or campaign is looked at."
"We have not run a study with players or measured how well it teaches."
We think that honesty is the right call. It is a practice tool, not a test and not an audit.
Your information stays with you
From the tool page:
"Your progress, seed, choices and optional confidence stay in memory in this browser tab. Nothing is saved, and no account, cookie or email address is added."
If you share a result card, it shows a neutral takeaway and the page link, not your answers or any business figures.
From practice to your own numbers
Once the 48-versus-19 problem makes sense, the next step is checking your own month. Two tools help:
- The Marketing Report Translator explains what your ad report counts, in plain words.
- The Marketing Results Calculator keeps reported actions, real contacts and customers in separate lines.
If calls come in but too few become customers, our post on getting leads but no customers covers where that gap usually is.
Questions owners ask
Do I need to enter business numbers?
No. "Bring no business numbers or personal details. Every case is made up."
Is this a review of my business?
No. "The ratings apply only to the made-up facts and the lesson for each case. No real website, account or campaign is looked at."
What should I try after this?
The Marketing Decision Lab is a longer exercise where you make five rounds of choices for a made-up business and watch cash and workload change. Our guide to practicing marketing choices without risking real money explains how it works.
Try one case right now
Open the free Spot the Marketing Leak and run the Quick Challenge. It takes a few minutes and needs nothing from you.
If a case reminds you of something in your own business, you can choose to talk it over with ThinkDMG. Nothing in the exercise depends on it. Learn more about how we approach paid advertising for local businesses.
