An Industry Claim Says Most Marketers Can't Prove Their Own ROI

A 2026 marketing roundup claims four in ten marketers can't prove their campaigns are working, though it doesn't say who counted or how. This includes practices like yours, if you've ever quietly wondered where your last three enquiries actually came from.

Page updated: 13 Aug 2026

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Practices that can't trace a lead back to the campaign that brought it in are, strictly speaking, marketing on faith, and this claim suggests they've got plenty of company.

Original Research	A marketing blog states that most marketers struggle to measure whether their activity actually works.
Source	https://biziq.com/blog/small-business-marketing-statistics/
Overview	The page is a general 2026 small business marketing statistics roundup published by an agency, and the ROI figure sits inside it with no traceable study behind it.
Year	2026
Publisher	Brand, BizIQ
Relevance to Wellbeing	The underlying worry, that you're spending on marketing without knowing what it's doing, is one most small wellbeing practices will recognise, even if this particular figure can't be checked.
Our Verdict	Too early to tell The stat sounds useful, but nobody can find where it came from, and a source page that won't even load isn't much of a paper trail.
Our Summary	It names a problem most practice owners already feel, which is not knowing what their marketing spend is actually achieving. The 40% figure has no named survey, no sample size, and nothing behind "CEO GPS 2026" beyond the label itself. The source page failed to load when checked, which is an odd look for a statistics roundup. As a prompt to check your own numbers, it's harmless, provided nobody repeats it as verified fact.
Our Geo View	Applies broadly to all countries, though the claim itself originates from a US-focused blog.

Abstract of wellbeing niches and revenue flow

Recognise how this might impact your practice

Why this might matter to you

Coaching: this matters because coaches often only track a full calendar, not where the bookings in it actually came from.
Therapy: this matters because therapists rarely ask new clients how they found them, then wonder why referrals seem to dry up on their own.
Training: this matters because a full class tells a trainer nothing about whether the marketing or the loyal regulars filled it.
Alternative Healing: this matters because word of mouth gets credited for everything in this practice type, including the paid advert nobody remembers clicking.
Clinical: this matters because clinical practices spend real money on lead generation and rarely check whether any of it converts.
Retreat/Centre: this matters because a fully booked season can still hide marketing spend that isn't pulling its weight.

Where this came from

A 2026 small business marketing roundup mentions, in passing, that four in ten marketers say they struggle to prove their return on investment.

BizIQ, a marketing agency blog, published the roundup for 2026. The page itself could not be retrieved when checked, and the ROI figure is attributed only to "CEO GPS 2026 data", with no publisher, author, or study named.

Credibility flags: no named survey, sample size not disclosed, methodology not disclosed. Publisher type: Brand (agency blog).

How we scored this

A relevance score out of 100, built from three things: how well it fits the six practice types, how recent it is, and how solid the methodology behind it is.

40%

Practice fit, 25How new, 100How solid, 0

It was marked down heavily on how solid the method is, since there isn't one anyone can point to, and marked down on practice fit too, given the claim concerns marketers in general rather than wellbeing businesses specifically; recency was scored as current purely on the strength of the stated 2026 date.

It's worth considering changes to your marketing practices

What this means for your marketing

Put a "how did you hear about us" field on your intake or booking form this week. It takes ten seconds and tells you more than any industry stat.
Say plainly, before a client raises it, that you're not entirely sure which of your ads bring people through the door either. Most practices aren't.
Brief whoever runs your socials to note, even roughly, which platform new enquiries mention.
Hold off quoting this particular 40% figure anywhere, since it currently traces back to nothing.
Set up one basic tracking sheet, spreadsheet is fine, before spending on anything new.

Who this is most useful for

Practice type	Relevance	Recommended action
Coaching	Medium	Add a source field to booking forms
Therapy	Low	Ask new clients how they found you, informally
Training	Medium	Track enrolments against marketing pushes
Alternative Healing	Low	Note referral sources during intake
Clinical	High	Build a basic acquisition tracking sheet
Retreat/Centre	Medium	Review booking sources at the end of each season

Best before

Best before: revisit if BizIQ or "CEO GPS" ever publish a traceable report behind this figure, or drop it from your talking points altogether. If you'd rather build proper tracking than quote a mystery percentage, Sunlight Creations can help with that instead.

Curiosity Got You This Far.

A good sign. Curious practitioners tend to love the discovery call - where our visual river, story garden and listening wind make beautiful sense, and your ambitions get the attention they're owed. Coffee while we talk. Oat milk?

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