Instrument before we spend
No founding client campaign goes live until tracking, definitions and a baseline dashboard are in place. This is the non-negotiable goal.
Measurement & goals
How we measure success — and the 2026 goals we publish for ourselves
A new agency should not arrive with a wall of results it cannot prove. Here is the framework we use, the goals we have set for our own launch year, and the template we will use for case studies once the outcomes are real.
Why this page looks different
We publish a framework, not fabricated results
Topic Hatch launched in 2026. Every established agency has a wall of logos and a set of flattering numbers. Every new one that shows those things on day one is, in some way, inventing them. We are not going to do that.
Instead, this page does three honest things. It explains exactly how we measure B2B marketing. It publishes the goals we have set for our own agency in 2026, which you can hold us to. And it shares the template we will use for case studies, so you know what real, verifiable evidence from us will look like when it arrives.
If that feels less impressive than a page of slogans, we understand. We would rather be trusted than impressive, and we would rather earn the right to show results than borrow someone else's.
Measurement framework
How we measure B2B marketing
Good measurement is less about dashboards and more about definitions. Before we optimise anything, we sit down with sales and agree what counts — because a funnel that marketing and sales read differently cannot be improved, only argued about.
Three layers, one story
We work across three layers and connect them so a number on a report can always be traced back to its source.
- Layer 1 — Behaviour: sessions, engagement and page-level activity in GA4 and platform tools.
- Layer 2 — Response: form submissions, calls, chat and other conversions, deduplicated and de-spammed.
- Layer 3 — Revenue: CRM records showing which responses became qualified leads, opportunities and closed revenue.
Rules we apply
We are explicit about attribution limits, we report by source rather than a blended average that hides weak channels, and we keep a shared glossary so nobody has to guess what a metric means.
Definitions
The six numbers we will be judged on
Agreed with you before work starts, and reported consistently from that point on.
Qualified lead (QL)
A lead that meets agreed firmographic and intent criteria, defined with sales before campaigns launch.
Sales-accepted opportunity
An opportunity a human on the sales side has accepted as worth working, within an agreed SLA.
Cost per qualified lead
Total channel spend divided by qualified leads, tracked by source and campaign, not blended into one flattering average.
Lead-to-opportunity rate
The percentage of qualified leads that become accepted opportunities. This exposes funnel leaks the headline numbers hide.
Pipeline created
The value of opportunities sourced or influenced by marketing, reported alongside view-through and assisted conversions.
Organic & answer visibility
Search rankings plus how often the brand is cited by AI assistants and answer engines for priority questions.
2026 launch goals
Goals we are publishing for our own agency
These are commitments about how we operate this year. They are deliberately the kind of goal a startup can keep, and they are how we will measure ourselves before we can measure anyone else's success.
Publish, don't promise
Ship a steady stream of genuinely useful B2B guides and measurement notes in 2026, and never pad them with filler.
Earn retention, not lock-in
Keep every founding client on month-to-month terms and let the work speak. If we cannot keep a client, that is our signal to improve.
Publish our own numbers
Report Topic Hatch's own funnel — traffic, leads, cost per lead and pipeline — as openly as we would ask a client to report theirs.
Be fast and accessible
Keep this site and the pages we build fast, accessible and clean, targeting strong Lighthouse scores as a matter of craft.
Replace goals with evidence
The moment real, permissioned outcomes exist, replace the goals on this page with verified case studies, metric by metric.
Case-study template
What a Topic Hatch case study will contain
When we have permissioned, verified outcomes, each case study will follow this structure. Nothing goes in unless it is real and checkable.
Context
Who the client is
What they sell, who buys it, their market and their starting position — without inflating the size or glamour of the account.
Problem
What was actually wrong
The specific funnel or measurement problem, described plainly, including anything that made it hard.
Approach
What we did
Channels, pages, content, automation and the measurement plan — enough detail to be useful, not a padded list.
Outcome
What measurably changed
The metrics that moved, over a stated timeframe, with the baseline shown so the change is checkable.
Limitations
What we would do differently
An honest note on caveats, attribution gaps and what we would change. Real work always has these.
Proof
A client quote, with permission
A real quote from a named person who agreed to be referenced. No anonymous five-star reviews.
Our commitment
The line we will not cross
We will not buy reviews, invent metrics, borrow logos or describe a single client win as a repeatable pattern before it has repeated. When you see results on this page, they will be attributable, dated and permissioned.
In the meantime, the best evidence we can offer is a clear plan and a low-risk way to start. That is what the free growth plan and the live audit are for.
Results & evidence
Questions about our results and how we report them
Why this page is a framework today and will become a library of verified case studies later.
Because we launched in 2026 and we will not publish invented numbers. As soon as real client outcomes are measured and the client has given written permission, they will appear here — in the format set out on this page.
It can be, which is why we compensate with transparency: a written scope, agreed metrics, live dashboards and month-to-month terms. You are never locked in while you find out whether we deliver.
Context, the problem, what we did, what changed, the measured outcome with a clear timeframe, and honest limitations. Plus a client quote with written permission. If a metric is not verifiable, it does not go in.
They are our own operational goals for the year: build measurement-first engagements, publish useful depth content, and report openly. They are commitments about how we work, not borrowed performance claims.
We combine platform data, GA4 and CRM records, and we are explicit about where attribution is imperfect. We would rather show a range with caveats than a single number we cannot defend.
Low risk, high clarity
Start with a plan you can check
No lock-in and no invented promises. Just a written view of where we would focus first.