Decoding Growth

Before I look at a single ad, I check five things. This episode covers the diagnostics I run in the first ten minutes of a Google Ads audit: tracking, account settings, budgets and bidding, structure, and message-to-landing-page match. Measure twice, cut once, especially before you start changing campaigns.

In this episode of Decoding Growth, I delve into the crucial first 10 minutes of a HubSpot audit. I share my insights on what to prioritise when assessing a HubSpot account, starting with the importance of data properties. I discuss common pitfalls, such as duplicate properties and incorrect field types, which can compromise data integrity. I'll also explore how to effectively align data capture with business goals, ensuring your CRM is set up for meaningful insights. By focusing on automations, user-friendly pipelines, and tailored dashboards, I equip you with essential strategies for optimising your HubSpot usage. Tune in to learn how to build a robust foundation for sustainable growth in your business.

Most agency relationships go wrong before the first invoice. I share the questions I'd want a client to ask me, the ones that surface whether you're actually aligned, whether your provider will push back when they should, and whether you'll meet the person managing your account or just the one selling it. Inversion thinking, applied to hiring help.

Every business I audit has more tools than it needs and less clarity than it thinks. This episode is about why adding another platform won't fix what's actually broken: unclear processes. We cover tech stack bloat, the KISS principle, and why clarity has to come before tooling, not the other way around.

Most failed CRM migrations were doomed before a single record moved. I cover the four signals I look for before a migration begins: ownership, internal champions, clarity, and timeline pressure. If you're planning a HubSpot or Salesforce migration this year, listen to this before you sign the SOW.

Most CRM decisions get made off feature lists and pricing pages, and that's why most CRMs end up half-used. I walk through how to actually evaluate a CRM based on your business stage, your processes, and the teams who'll live inside it every day. The right CRM isn't the one with the most features, it's the one your team will actually use.

The lowest CPA isn't the goal. It's the trap. I unpack Goodhart's Law in a marketing context, what happens when CPA becomes the target instead of the measure, and why optimising too hard for "cheap leads" can quietly shrink your business. If your ad account looks efficient but your pipeline keeps slowing, this one's for you.

The trailer for Decoding Growth. I'm Aly from Gather 'n' Grow. Over the last ten years I've been inside businesses, their CRMs, their ad accounts, their team calls, and the real problem is almost never the one they think it is. This show takes the questions that keep coming up and answers them one at a time. Short episodes, 5 to 15 minutes, no theory, just what I've seen break and what I've seen work.