What to Do When Your Marketing Tracking Is a Mess
Short answer
Start with the highest-leverage fixes: consistent UTM parameters, a clean order source of truth, and basic conversion tracking validation. Do not try to fix everything at once.
Priority order of fixes
- UTM & campaign naming hygiene — Enforce a simple, documented taxonomy.
- Shopify / order data integrity — Ensure source, discount, and customer fields are reliable.
- Pixel & Conversion API health — Verify Meta, Google, TikTok events are firing correctly and match order volume directionally.
- Refund and cancellation handling — Make sure revenue metrics reflect net numbers.
- Cross-domain and consent mode issues (if relevant).
- Only then move to advanced attribution or MMM readiness.
Quick audit checklist
- Do 90%+ of paid orders have clean UTMs?
- Does platform-reported conversion volume roughly track Shopify order volume?
- Can you calculate a trustworthy blended CAC from your own data?
Fix the foundation first. Fancy models on dirty data produce expensive confusion.
Tracking is messy? That’s normal — and fixable.
Every engagement starts with a data audit. I help DTC brands clean the foundation before building dashboards or models.
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