Insights & Resources
Marketing insights for small businesses and academic advice for students
Where we think out loud.
Practical articles for business owners on marketing strategy, and for students and researchers on dissertation editing and academic success. Some are analytical, some are stories, and all are written to make one thing clearer.
Written by John McAvoy, PhD, and Kristen McAvoy, MBA.
For Small Business
Latest
Vanity Metrics: How to Tell a Number That Feels Good From One That Tells You Something
Vanity metrics feel good but cannot guide decisions. Learn a 3-part test to tell a useful number from a flattering one, backed by 2026 benchmarks.
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Send me the next articleMore business and academic insights
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How Long Before Marketing Works? Set a Threshold, Not a Deadline
Google’s real guidance is “a few weeks,” not four months to a year. How long each marketing channel…
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Where Do Your Best Customers Actually Come From? How to Track It Without Buying Anything
Find out where your customers come from without paying for attribution software. One question and a quarterly habit…
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Customer Lifetime Value: The 3:1 Rule Wasn’t Written for Service Companies
The 3:1 customer lifetime value rule assumes an 80% margin, so for service businesses it overstates a customer’s…
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How to Calculate Customer Acquisition Cost When You Are the Marketing Department
Most guides assume a marketing payroll. Here is how to calculate customer acquisition cost when you are the…
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What Is a Good Conversion Rate? Check What You Divide By
Conversion rate benchmarks run from 1.3% to 8.2% because they measure different things. See what each one divides…
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Are Your Leads Good? How to Track Qualified Leads and the Revenue They Generate
Learn how to track qualified leads with four numbers per channel: spend, inquiries, customers and revenue. No CRM,…
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Stop Guessing: How to Tell If Your Marketing Is Working
How to tell if your marketing is working: track five numbers (leads, conversion rate, CAC, CLV, source) in…
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What a Social Media Audit Actually Tells You (and What to Do About It)
A social media audit tells you which channels still earn their keep. The four numbers to pull, how…
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How to Identify Your Target Audience (Without Guessing)
Business How to Identify Your Target Audience (Without Guessing) A DIY audit for any stage of business. By…
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What is a Content Strategy? Why Your Business Needs One
Business What Is a Content Strategy? (Why Your Business Needs One) By Kristen McAvoyAugust 8, 202612 min read…
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Social Media Content Strategy: How to Build One That Works
Stop posting on instinct. Build a social media content strategy that gives your business direction, consistency, and content…
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Maximize Your Website’s Performance with SEO Audits
What a website SEO audit actually checks, which findings are worth acting on first, and how to run…
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