Is your marketing actually driving sales?

Marketing has never been noisier. Everywhere you look, food & drink brands are pushing out content, glossy Instagram posts, slick TikToks, and perfectly designed newsletters. On the surface, it all looks impressive. But here’s the uncomfortable truth – much of this activity has little to no impact on sales.

The distinction between noise and results is huge. Noise is activity for activity’s sake. Results come from marketing that’s built to do one thing… drive revenue!

We’ve seen both sides of the coin. We’ve worked with brands caught in the cycle of “posting more” without seeing results. And we’ve partnered with brands like Popcorn Kitchen and The Cornish Cheese Co to build strategies that turned ambitious goals into measurable growth.

Noise vs results in food & drink marketing

The difference between marketing that looks good and marketing that sells is stark. Noise means chasing likes and impressions, or launching campaigns without knowing if they’ll convert. Results-driven marketing means every channel is aligned with a revenue target, and performance is tracked so you know exactly what’s working.

For Popcorn Kitchen, that meant a joined-up Q4 campaign that grew revenue by 289%. For Cornish Cheese Co, it meant driving a 10x ROAS on ads while doubling email revenue. Both stories prove that when you stop chasing noise and start chasing numbers, the results can be transformative.

Want the full details? Read the Popcorn Kitchen Q4 case study or discover the Cornish Cheese Co case study.

The five biggest reasons food & drink brands waste marketing spend

So why do so many brands fall into the trap of “busy but not effective” marketing? Here are the five biggest culprits we see:

1. No clear strategy: Jumping on trends or posting for the sake of it, without aligning activity to sales goals.
2. Poor tracking: Not knowing which campaigns generate revenue makes it impossible to optimise.
3. Chasing vanity metrics: Measuring likes instead of conversions.
4. Underestimating email: Focusing on social but neglecting the channel that consistently drives the highest ROI.
5. Not optimising regularly: Campaigns are left running without weekly reviews, wasting budget on underperformers.

The good news? Each of these is fixable with the right structure in place.

How to build a simple system to measure ROI

Measuring ROI doesn’t need to be complex. At its simplest, you need three things:

1. Tracking set up correctly: Making sure your ads, emails, and website are integrated so every sale is attributed to the right channel.
2. Weekly reporting: Reviewing campaigns consistently so you know what’s working in real time.
3. Clear benchmarks: Setting targets for revenue, ROAS, and conversion rate so you know when to pivot.

When we worked with The Cornish Cheese Co, weekly reporting allowed us to double down on winning ads and cut underperformers quickly. That agility meant we hit a 10x ROAS without wasting budget. Popcorn Kitchen saw the same benefit – weekly pivots meant their biggest sales push landed exactly when it mattered.

Without a system like this, you’re essentially flying blind. With it, you can confidently say… this marketing is driving sales! We break this down further in our blog on how to grow D2C sales without hiring a big team.

What a realistic ROAS looks like in food & drink

One of the most common questions we’re asked is: what’s a “good” ROAS for food & drink brands?

The truth is, it varies by product, margin, and growth stage. A luxury cheese box with high AOV will behave differently from a £3 snack. But as a benchmark, we usually start with a 1.25 ROAS target when launching campaigns, with the aim to grow that figure steadily as the data builds.

The Cornish Cheese Co’s 10x ROAS during Q4 was outstanding, but it was the result of careful creative testing, segmentation, and constant optimisation. Most brands should expect ROAS to build over time, not overnight. We covered this in detail when looking at the top TikTok food trends for food brands and how to balance brand-building with sales-focused campaigns.

What matters is consistency and improvement, not chasing impossible figures.

Is your marketing driving sales?

If you’re not sure, ask yourself: do you know how much revenue comes from each channel? Are you confident in your ROAS? Can you point to the exact campaigns that brought in new customers last month? If the answers are unclear, you’re probably investing in noise, not results.

The good news is that shifting from noise to results doesn’t require starting from scratch. It requires a system, clear goals, and a focus on measurement. And when you get it right, the numbers speak for themselves.

Why trust us?

At KW Marketing, we specialise in results-driven marketing for food & drink brands. From 289% quarterly revenue growth with Popcorn Kitchen to a 10x ROAS with Cornish Cheese Co, our case studies prove what’s possible when strategy and execution are aligned.

Want to see how we turn email into revenue? Download The Email Playbook, featuring the exact strategy that delivered £56.7K in sales for one food brand. Or tune into the Fuelling Foodies Podcast for behind-the-scenes growth stories from leading brands.

Because marketing isn’t about making the most noise. It’s about driving the most sales. Ready to shift from noise to results? Get in touch with KW Marketing today to build a system that actually drives sales.

FAQs: Marketing that drives sales

• What’s a good ROAS for food & drink brands? We usually recommend starting with 1.25 as a benchmark. Over time, with optimisation, we expect ROAS to climb steadily. Exceptional cases, like Cornish Cheese Co, can achieve much higher, but that’s the result of precise strategy and constant refinement.
• How do I measure if my marketing is working? The simplest way is to track revenue by channel. Your email platform, ad manager, and website analytics should all link back to sales data. If you can’t clearly see the revenue from each campaign, you’re flying blind.
• Which marketing channel delivers the best ROI? For food & drink brands, email consistently outperforms other channels on ROI. Paid social and organic social are powerful when layered on top, but email remains the channel that sells “while you sleep.”
• What’s the biggest mistake brands make with marketing? Chasing activity instead of results. Posting daily or boosting ads without strategy creates noise but doesn’t drive sustainable sales. The key is clarity, measurement, and consistent optimisation.