Two campaigns cost the same. One brought in twice as many leads. Before moving the budget, you need to know which enquiries turned into orders, how long the buyers have had to convert and how much you actually invoiced.
If your B2B sales involve calls or quotes, the ad account rarely holds the answer. You need a way to trace the campaign through the CRM deal to the invoice in your finance system.
More leads can produce fewer invoiced sales
Suppose you are reviewing leads acquired in March. Allow both campaigns the same observation window, here 90 days from each enquiry. For customers you can match, count invoices excluding VAT and deduct credits issued within the window.
| Outcome | Campaign A | Campaign B |
|---|---|---|
| Ad spend | SEK 20,000 | SEK 20,000 |
| Leads | 40 | 20 |
| Cost per lead | SEK 500 | SEK 1,000 |
| Matched net invoiced sales | SEK 60,000 | SEK 100,000 |
| Net invoiced sales per krona spent | SEK 3 | SEK 5 |
Follow one deal all the way to an invoice line
Pick a won deal whose origin the salesperson knows. Can you trace a campaign code from the enquiry form to the deal ID and then to the order reference on the invoice? The customer name alone is a poor key. The same organisation can buy more than once, from different salespeople and after different campaigns.
Agree how to allocate instalments, credit notes and invoices covering multiple orders. Linking one invoice line to two leads can count the same revenue twice. Reconcile attributed and unattributed amounts together against the finance system for the same invoice period. Payment, invoicing and revenue recognition can fall on different dates. Name the report for the measure you actually use.
What if the buyer took several routes to you?
A buyer might discover you through an ad, call reception and search for your brand before purchasing. Assigning the sale to the first recorded contact describes where known journeys began. Assigning it to the last recorded contact describes the channel preceding the enquiry. Pick a rule for the budget review and show the share of invoiced sales with no traceable source.
Allocated sales alone cannot establish how many extra sales advertising generated. For a major budget decision, consider a limited change measured against a suitable control group. For a first integration, take a completed quarter, trace a few examples by hand and establish whether the match quality is adequate for the decision.
Common questions
Can we do this with just an ad platform export?
The export can show spend and the conversions recorded by that platform. For invoiced amounts you also need invoice data and a reliable link between campaign and deal. Without that link you can present the totals side by side and explain what remains unknown.
When should we compare campaigns if sales take months?
Start with your typical time from enquiry to invoice. Use the same observation window for older and newer leads, and mark recent groups as provisional until they have had equal time to mature.