# How to measure marketing effectiveness URL: https://blackbox.plus/guides/measure-marketing-effectiveness Level 5: Grow (https://blackbox.plus/guides/grow) Updated: 2026-10-25 Time: about 3 minutes You'll end with: What each approved change did, week by week, and how close the estimates came Do it in Blackbox: https://blackbox.plus/app/results > Track record shows what every change you approved in Blackbox did, week by week, against the estimate on its card — and how far to trust the next one. ## Short answer 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 - **A suggestion approved.** Any Inbox card with numbers on it, such as a budget change. (Guide: https://blackbox.plus/guides/optimize-facebook-ads) - **A week or more since.** The first week is checked a few days after it ends. ## How to measure marketing effectiveness in Blackbox 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. Starts at: https://blackbox.plus/app/results ![The Track record page: Landed inside the range 7 of 9 weeks, Beat doing nothing 6 of 9, Typical miss ±7% and Not counted 2, ringed](https://blackbox.plus/guides/measure-marketing-effectiveness/01-tiles.png) 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**. ![Approved recommendations: the row Raise the daily budget on Beans by mail, ringed, with Our estimate of about 14 purchases a week, 12 to 17, and Actual, week by week, 15, 13, 19 and 16](https://blackbox.plus/guides/measure-marketing-effectiveness/02-row.png) 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**. ![The Beans by mail row’s four week marks, ringed — inside, inside, above, inside — and the legend under the table saying what each mark means](https://blackbox.plus/guides/measure-marketing-effectiveness/03-weeks.png) 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. ![The Cold brew — summer budget row with two weeks measured and two not counted, and the line under it, ringed: another change was made to this campaign](https://blackbox.plus/guides/measure-marketing-effectiveness/04-not-counted.png) 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. ![The All, In progress and Done buttons, ringed, with In progress picked and only the two changes still being measured listed](https://blackbox.plus/guides/measure-marketing-effectiveness/05-filter.png) 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. ![How our estimates hold up, by kind: Budget changes and Pauses, each with weeks inside the range, beat doing nothing and typical miss, and too few to lean on beside Pauses](https://blackbox.plus/guides/measure-marketing-effectiveness/06-by-kind.png) 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. Starts at: https://blackbox.plus/app/inbox ![The Inbox’s Results tab for Daybreak Coffee Co., ringed, with the link Track record for every brand and the same four tiles for this brand](https://blackbox.plus/guides/measure-marketing-effectiveness/07-results-tab.png) ## 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. ## Questions people ask **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](https://blackbox.plus/guides/optimize-facebook-ads). **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.