It's budget planning season again.

You know the drill: Leadership wants to know which channels are working, which ones are burning cash, and where to invest next year.

But here's the problem most marketers face: They're building 2026 budgets on gut feelings instead of solid data.

Why? Because running a proper post-mortem takes time, and you're already stretched thin. You're juggling campaigns, reporting, and daily fires. The idea of pulling data from Google Ads, Meta, LinkedIn, GA4, and your CRM—then trying to make sense of it all—feels like another full-time job.

So you wing it. You copy last year's budget, make some small adjustments, and hope for the best.

Then 2026 arrives, and you repeat the same mistakes from 2025.

Sound familiar?

The reality is this: Without a clear system for analyzing what happened in 2025, you'll keep repeating the same mistakes in 2026. And with 59% of CMOs already saying they don't have enough budget, you can't afford to waste a dollar on channels that don't deliver.

This guide gives you the exact framework to run your 2025 marketing post-mortem—fast, thorough, and without the headache.

Why Most Post-Mortems Fail (And How to Fix It)

Most marketing teams treat post-mortems like checking a box. They pull a few reports, nod at the numbers, and call it done.

But a real post-mortem isn't about looking at data. It's about understanding what worked, what didn't, and why.

Here's what separates a useful post-mortem from a waste of time:

Bad post-mortem:

• Looks at vanity metrics (impressions, clicks)

• Compares channels in isolation

• Focuses on tactics, not outcomes

• Blames external factors ("the market was tough")

• Results in vague takeaways

Good post-mortem:

• Measures actual business impact (conversions, revenue, CAC)

• Compares performance across channels

• Connects tactics to results

• Identifies patterns and root causes

• Creates clear action items for next year

The difference? One leaves you guessing. The other helps you improve.

The 8-Step Marketing Post-Mortem Framework

This framework works whether you're a solo marketer or running a team. It's designed to be thorough without taking weeks to complete.

Time required: 4-6 hours (spread across a few days)

Step 1: Set Your Evaluation Criteria (Before You Pull Data)

Don't make the mistake of diving straight into reports. First, decide what actually matters.

Ask yourself:

• What were our business goals for 2025? (Revenue? Lead volume? Market share?)

• Which metrics tied directly to those goals?

• What does "success" look like for each channel?

Example criteria for a B2B SaaS company:

• Primary: Cost per SQL (Sales Qualified Lead)

• Secondary: SQL to Closed-Won conversion rate

• Tertiary: Total pipeline influenced

If you measure the wrong things, you'll optimize for the wrong outcomes.

Pro tip: Align this with your CFO or CEO before you start. Get their definition of ROI. This prevents the "but what about brand awareness?" conversation later.

Step 2: Pull Your Channel Performance Data (The Right Way)

Now it's time to gather data. But don't just export everything and hope to figure it out later.

Here's what to pull from each platform:

Paid Channels (Google Ads, Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads):

• Total spend

• Conversions (leads, demos, purchases)

• Cost per conversion

• ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)

• Click-through rate (CTR)

• Conversion rate

Time frame: Full 2025 (Jan 1 - Dec 31)
Comparison: Year-over-year (2024 vs 2025)

We've created detailed step-by-step guides for each platform:

• How to Export Your Google Ads Data →

• How to Pull Your Meta Ads Performance →

• How to Analyze LinkedIn Ads ROI →

Organic Channels (SEO, Content, Social):

• SEO: Organic traffic, rankings, conversions (from Google Search Console + GA4)

• Content: Page views, engagement time, conversions by content piece

• Social: Engagement rate, referral traffic, conversions attributed to social

The data gap you need to fix: Most platforms show conversions, but your CRM shows actual revenue. Export both and compare them. The gap is your attribution problem.

See: How to Pull Your 2025 SEO Data (GSC + GA4 Guide) →

CRM Data (HubSpot, Salesforce, etc.):

• Lead source attribution

• SQL conversion rate by channel

• Average deal size by channel

• Sales cycle length by channel

This is the data that matters most. Ad platforms will tell you they're driving conversions. Your CRM tells you which channels actually close deals.

Reality check: According to 2024 research, only 36% of B2B marketers can accurately measure ROI across channels. The reason? They trust platform-reported conversions instead of cross-checking with CRM data.

Step 3: Calculate True Channel ROI (Not What the Platforms Tell You)

Here's where most marketers get it wrong: They trust what Google Ads or Meta says about conversions.

But platforms have a vested interest in making their numbers look good. Meta's default attribution is aggressive (7-day click + 1-day view). Google Ads counts conversions that your sales team might reject as junk leads.

How to calculate TRUE ROI:

True Cost Per Acquisition (CAC) = Total Channel Spend ÷ Actual Customers (from CRM)

Not leads. Not MQLs. Customers.

Example:

Google Ads says:

• Spend: $50,000

• Conversions: 500

• Cost per conversion: $100

Your CRM says:

• Leads from Google Ads: 500

• SQLs: 150 (30% conversion)

• Closed-Won: 15 (10% SQL conversion)

• True CAC: $50,000 ÷ 15 = $3,333

That $100 cost per lead just became a $3,333 cost per customer.

Now compare this across ALL your channels:

Suddenly, you see where your money should go.

The hard truth: In 2024-2025, average SaaS CAC has surged 180% compared to pre-2020 levels. If you're not measuring true CAC, you don't know if you're growing or bleeding.

Step 4: Identify Your Winners, Losers, and Zombies

Now categorize each channel:

Winners: High ROI, efficient CAC, scalable

• Action: Increase budget, test new tactics within the channel

Losers: Low ROI, high CAC, declining performance

• Action: Cut budget or pause entirely (yes, really)

Zombies: Medium performance, not good or bad

• Action: Optimize before you scale (these are deceptive—they eat budget without delivering growth)

Example classifications:

Winners:

• SEO/Content: $1,667 CAC, 9:1 ROI → Scale content production

• LinkedIn Ads: $3,750 CAC, 4:1 ROI → Expand to new audience segments

Zombies:

• Google Ads: $3,333 CAC, 3:1 ROI → Audit campaign structure, improve conversion rate before scaling

Losers:

• Meta Ads: $5,000 CAC, 2:1 ROI → Reduce budget by 50%, test new creative

Most marketers refuse to kill losing channels. They think, "We need to be everywhere."

No, you don't. You need to be where your customers are and where your ROI is positive.

Step 5: Run the "Why" Analysis (Root Cause, Not Excuses)

Data tells you what happened. Analysis tells you why.

For each channel, ask:

For winners:

• What specifically drove the strong performance?

• Which campaigns, audiences, or content types worked best?

• Can we replicate this success elsewhere?

For losers:

• Was the targeting wrong?

• Was the offer weak?

• Was the landing page broken?

• Was attribution giving credit to the wrong touchpoint?

Example:

Meta Ads had a 2:1 ROI. Why?

After digging:

• 80% of spend went to cold audiences (expensive)

• Creative fatigue set in after 2 weeks (frequency > 5)

• Landing page conversion rate was 1.2% (industry avg: 2.5%)

Root cause: Poor audience strategy + stale creative + weak landing page

Fix: Shift budget to retargeting, refresh creative every 10 days, rebuild landing page

This is the difference between "Meta doesn't work for us" and "Our Meta strategy was broken, here's how we fix it."

Step 6: Analyze Multi-Touch Attribution (What Really Drives Conversions)

Here's the uncomfortable truth: Most conversions aren't single-touch.

In 2024, the average B2B buyer had 62 touchpoints across 3+ channels before converting.

That Google Ads "conversion" probably came from someone who:

1. Discovered you via organic search

2. Followed you on LinkedIn

3. Read 3 blog posts

4. Attended a webinar

5. Then clicked a Google Ad and converted

Google Ads gets the credit. But it wasn't the only driver.

How to understand true attribution:

1. First-touch attribution: What channel brought them in?

2. Last-touch attribution: What channel closed them?

3. Multi-touch attribution: What sequence of channels led to conversion?

Example multi-touch analysis:

Most common path to conversion:

1. First touch: Organic search (blog post)

2. Middle touches: LinkedIn (2 engagements), Email (opened 3 emails)

3. Last touch: Direct (came back directly to convert)

This tells you: SEO is your awareness driver, LinkedIn nurtures them, and they convert direct.

If you cut SEO to save budget, your LinkedIn and direct conversions will drop too.

The tool problem: GA4's built-in attribution is messy. Most analytics tools don't track multi-touch well. This is why 87% of B2B marketers say measuring long-term campaign impact is increasingly difficult.

Step 7: Document What Worked, What Didn't, and What You'll Change

Don't just do the analysis. Write it down.

Create a simple one-page summary:

2025 Marketing Post-Mortem: Key Findings

What worked:

• SEO content targeting bottom-funnel keywords (9:1 ROI)

• LinkedIn ads to VP-level decision-makers (4:1 ROI)

• Retargeting campaigns (3x better conversion than cold traffic)

What didn't work:

• Meta cold audience campaigns (2:1 ROI, unprofitable)

• Display ads (no measurable conversions)

• Broad-match Google keywords (high spend, low quality)

What we'll change in 2026:

1. Increase SEO budget by 50% (hire another writer)

2. Shift Meta budget to retargeting only

3. Pause display ads entirely

4. Tighten Google Ads keyword match types

Why this matters: Six months into 2026, when someone asks "Why did we cut display ads?" you'll have a clear, documented reason.

Step 8: Build Your 2026 Budget Based on Data, Not Opinions

Now you're ready to build next year's budget.

The framework:

1. Protect your winners: Allocate most of your budget here

2. Test and learn: Reserve 10-15% for experimentation

3. Fix or kill zombies: Don't increase budget until performance improves

4. Cut losers: Reallocate to winners

Example 2026 budget allocation:

2025 Spend: $125,000
2025 ROI: 3.8:1

2026 Budget: $150,000 (+20%)

Result: You're not just spending more. You're reallocating from low performers to high performers.

Expected 2026 ROI: 5.2:1 (up from 3.8:1)

This is how you actually grow.

Common Post-Mortem Mistakes to Avoid

1. Analyzing Impressions Instead of Revenue

Impressions don't pay the bills. Neither do clicks. Focus on conversions and revenue.

2. Comparing Channels Without Context

You can't compare SEO (long-term, compounding) to Google Ads (short-term, transactional) directly. They serve different purposes.

3. Ignoring Attribution Windows

B2B sales cycles average 379 days. If you only look at 30-day attribution, you're missing most of the story.

4. Trusting Platform-Reported Conversions

Always cross-check with your CRM. Platforms over-report.

5. Making Emotional Decisions

"But I love our Instagram content!" Doesn't matter if it's not driving results.

6. Not Accounting for External Factors

Market shifts, seasonality, competitive changes—these impact performance. Separate what you controlled from what you didn't.

How to Make This Easier (Without Spending Weeks on Spreadsheets)

Here's the reality: Pulling data from Google Ads, Meta, LinkedIn, GA4, Google Search Console, and your CRM—then trying to reconcile it all—is painful.

Most marketers spend 40% of their time on reporting instead of strategy.

Why? Tool sprawl.

In 2025, the average marketing team uses tools from 15,384 available options. But they only use 33% of their stack's capabilities. And these tools don't talk to each other.

So you export CSVs, copy-paste into spreadsheets, and manually build reports.

There's a better way.

DOJO AI connects all your marketing data in one place:

• Google Ads, Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads

• Google Analytics 4, Google Search Console

• Your CRM (HubSpot, Salesforce, etc.)

Then automatically:

• Calculates true CAC across channels

• Tracks multi-touch attribution

• Shows which content drives SQLs (not just leads)

• Compares channel performance in real-time

Instead of spending a week building your post-mortem, you get it in an afternoon.

See how DOJO AI automates your post-mortem →

Your Post-Mortem Checklist

Use this to make sure you didn't miss anything:

Before you start:

• ☐ Define what "success" means for each channel

• ☐ Set your evaluation time frame (full 2025)

• ☐ Get alignment with leadership on priorities

Data collection:

• ☐ Export paid channel data (Google, Meta, LinkedIn)

• ☐ Pull organic performance (SEO, content, social)

• ☐ Export CRM data (leads, SQLs, customers by source)

• ☐ Cross-check platform conversions vs. CRM conversions

Analysis:

• ☐ Calculate true CAC for each channel

• ☐ Categorize channels (winners, losers, zombies)

• ☐ Run "why" analysis for each channel

• ☐ Analyze multi-touch attribution paths

• ☐ Document findings in one-page summary

Budget planning:

• ☐ Reallocate budget from losers to winners

• ☐ Reserve 10-15% for testing

• ☐ Set clear KPIs for 2026

• ☐ Schedule quarterly check-ins to review performance

What Happens If You Skip This?

Let's be honest: Running a post-mortem takes time. You're busy. Can't you just skip it?

Sure. But here's what happens:

1. You repeat 2025's mistakes in 2026. Same underperforming channels, same wasted budget.

2. You can't defend your budget requests. When your CFO asks "Why do you need more money?" you won't have an answer.

3. Your competitors pull ahead. While you're guessing, they're optimizing based on data.

4. You burn out. You work harder instead of smarter, juggling the same channels that don't deliver.

The alternative? Spend 4-6 hours now to run a proper post-mortem. Then use that insight to build a budget that actually drives growth.

Ready to Run Your Post-Mortem?

Start with Step 1: Define your evaluation criteria.

Then work through each step systematically. Don't rush. The quality of your analysis determines the quality of your 2026 results.

Next steps:

1. Pull your channel data using our step-by-step guides:

• Google Ads Data Export Guide →

• Meta Ads Performance Analysis →

• LinkedIn Ads ROI Review →

• SEO + GA4 Performance Guide →

2. Use our templates to speed up the process:

• Download: 2025 Post-Mortem Workbook →

• Channel Performance Tracker Spreadsheet →

• Budget Allocation Framework →

3. Automate it with DOJO AI (if you want to skip the manual work):

• All your marketing data in one place

• Automatic CAC and ROI calculations

• Multi-touch attribution tracking

• Try DOJO AI free for 14 days →

One Last Thing

The best marketing teams don't just run post-mortems at year-end. They run mini-reviews quarterly.

Why? Because waiting 12 months to course-correct means you'll waste budget for months before realizing what's broken.

Recommendation: After you finish your 2025 post-mortem, schedule quarterly reviews for 2026. Same framework, shorter time period.

That's how you stay agile, fix problems fast, and consistently improve.

Now go build a budget that actually works.

About DOJO AI: We're the AI Marketing Operating System for challenger brands. We help marketing teams measure performance, identify what's working, and make smarter budget decisions—without drowning in spreadsheets. Learn more →