Guide 7 of 8 in Level 5: Grow

How to measure marketing effectiveness

To measure whether your marketing changes worked in Blackbox (blackbox.plus), click Track record in the left menu, or open a brand in the Inbox and click its Results tab. Every recommendation you approved gets a row: Our estimate, the weekly number its card showed with a likely range, beside Actual, week by week, for the four weeks after you approved it. A mark under Weeks shows how each week landed: ✓ inside the range, ↑ above it, ↓ below it, and • for this week so far. A week is checked a few days after it ends, once the ad platform has added late results, and a week where something else changed the same campaign is marked not counted. The tiles at the top add every week up: how often the actual landed inside the range, how often the change beat doing nothing, and the typical miss, shown once five weeks are measured.

You'll need
Time
About 3 minutes 7 steps Updated
You'll end with
What each approved change did, week by week, and how close the estimates came
Do it in Blackbox Open Track record, after you sign in
Example
One approved change, measured week by week against its estimate

How to measure marketing effectiveness in Blackbox

  1. Step 1:Open Track record

    Click Track record in the left menu.

    You'll see: Landed inside the range, Beat doing nothing, Typical miss and Not counted at the top.

    Open this in Blackbox

  2. Step 2:Find a change you approved

    Under Approved recommendations, find its row.

    You'll see: Our estimate for a week beside Actual, week by week.

  3. Step 3:Read the weeks

    Look at the four marks under Weeks, and point at one for its number.

    You'll see: Each week’s mark, explained under the table: ✓ inside the range, ↑ above the range, ↓ below the range.

  4. Step 4:Check a week that wasn’t counted

    Read the line under a row that has a – mark.

    You'll see: Why it wasn’t counted, such as another change made to the same campaign.

  5. Step 5:Show only some

    Click In progress or Done above the table.

    You'll see: Only the changes still being measured, or only those with all four weeks in.

  6. Step 6:See which kinds hold up

    Scroll to How our estimates hold up, by kind.

    You'll see: Budget changes, pauses and the other kinds, each with its own numbers.

  7. Step 7:Look at one brand

    Open the brand in the Inbox and click Results.

    You'll see: The same view for that brand only, with Track record for every brand at the top.

    Open this in Blackbox

Good to know

  • The estimate is the number on the card when you approved it. It never changes afterwards.
  • Each change is judged by one number: purchases or other results for a budget change, and the rest of the account’s results for a pause.
  • Week 1 starts the day after you approve. A blue arrow means better than expected; orange means worse.
  • Beat doing nothing compares what happened with what the card said would happen if you changed nothing.
  • Click a recommendation’s name to open its card in the Inbox.
  • Once there are enough weeks, new cards say how often estimates like theirs landed in range.
  • Members see the brands they are on. Admins see every brand in the workspace.

If something doesn't work

It says Nothing approved yet

Approve a card in the Inbox that shows numbers for the weeks ahead. Its row appears here, and its first week is checked a few days after that week ends — see Facebook ads optimization: act on budget and pause suggestions.

A week ended, but its mark is still a dot

Blackbox waits for late results before checking a week: up to 3 days for Meta Ads and Google Ads. Point at the mark: it says counting late results.

Typical miss shows a dash

It is shown once 5 weeks are measured, so a few lucky or unlucky weeks don’t decide it.

A week says not counted

Something else changed the same campaign that week, such as another approved change or an Undo, so the week can’t show what this change did. A week with missing data is not counted either.

A kind says too few to lean on

Fewer than 5 of its weeks are measured. Read its numbers as a first sign, not a verdict.

Stuck at any step? Send us a message and we'll do it with you on a call. All of Level 5: Grow