# Why Your Marketing Bill Is Thousands a Month and Nobody Can Tell You What's Working

> If you can't tell what your marketing money bought, you're paying for materials you never saw delivered. Ask for a line-item list of the work, tracked calls and forms by source, and booked jobs from those leads. Digital Marketing Coach Chris Heidlebaugh teaches owners to read these numbers themselves so every provider is easy to hold accountable.

Source: https://digitalmarketingcoach.com/learn/hub/marketing-company-cant-tell-you-whats-working
Author: Chris Heidlebaugh, Digital Marketing Coach
Updated: 2026-11-01

Who this is for: Owners paying a monthly marketing fee who can't say which work brought in which jobs.

## Quick checks
- Whether every monthly charge has a matching list of work
- Whether calls and forms are tracked by source
- Whether leads are matched to booked jobs

## Ask for the material list
- Request a plain list of what was done each month.
- Match each charge on the invoice to real work you can see.
- A good provider is happy to show the work.

## Track the calls, not just the clicks
- Make sure calls and forms are tracked by where they came from.
- Clicks and impressions are not jobs.
- Ask for lead counts you can check against your own phone log.

## Close the loop with booked jobs
- Have the office mark which leads became booked jobs.
- Compare the monthly fee to the jobs it produced.
- Review this together once a month.

## What a useful monthly marketing report shows
| Item | Job-site version | What to ask for |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Work completed | Delivered materials | A line-item list of tasks |
| Tracked leads | Calls at the gate | Calls and forms by source |
| Booked jobs | Trucks rolling | Leads matched to jobs |

## FAQ
### What should a home service marketing report include?
The work completed, tracked calls and forms by source, and how many of those leads became booked jobs.

### Is it normal not to know what my marketing company does?
It's common, but it shouldn't be. You can ask for a plain list of work and lead tracking at any time.