Larkspur Cycles monthly marketing review, September

A marketing team reviewing monthly results

Monthly review Larkspur Cycles Lantern Row Advisory

Owner: Ruth Adeyemi. Updated Oct 2, 2026.

Review at a glance

September 2026 Release Fri Oct 2, second working day 1 tracking question

What marketing delivered at Larkspur Cycles in September, read from one record against the agreed metric definitions, with one budget recommendation and one tracking question stated. Prepared by Ruth Adeyemi, fractional CMO at Lantern Row Advisory, for Tessa Lund, head of marketing. Marketing operations by Jamie Park. Status as of October 1, 2026.

Details
HeadlineWeb store orders rose 9 percent and dealer orders were flat. Paid social cost per order rose 22 percent, but the month cannot be compared cleanly.
Budget recommendationOne: move 15 percent of the paid social budget to dealer co-marketing. It does not rely on the September paid social trend.
Tracking questionPaid social conversions are counted differently after the tracking update on Sep 12. Open with Jamie Park.
SourcesWeb store, dealer orders, paid social and email, read against the metric definitions agreed with Tessa
Next reviewThe November review, due Tuesday, Nov 3, 2026, the second working day of November

Channel results

September against August, one line per channel. Movement badges show direction only; the reading says whether the movement can be trusted.

ChannelMeasureAugustSeptemberMovementReading
Web storeOrders412449Up 9%Orders are counted at checkout, so the tracking update does not touch them
Dealer ordersOrders reported by dealers138138FlatDealer reports arrive on a five-day lag, so late September may be understated
Paid socialCost per order$164$200Up 22% Tracking questionConversions are counted differently from Sep 12, so this is not a performance finding
EmailOrders within 7 days of a click96101Up 5%Small base; read as steady, not as growth

Figures are sample values.

Paid social is a tracking question, not a performance finding

The paid social conversion count changed after a tracking update on Sep 12, so September cannot be set against August. Ruth has kept the 22 percent rise in cost per order out of the budget recommendation. Jamie Park confirms the tracking change with the Larkspur web team by Friday, Oct 16, before the October review. Until then, no budget decision should lean on the paid social trend in either direction.

How far to trust each channel

Confidence is Ruth's rating of how safely the September reading can be used for a decision, from 1 (do not use) to 5 (use freely).

  • Web store: orders counted at checkout: 4 of 5
  • Email: small base, stable attribution: 4 of 5
  • Dealer orders: five-day reporting lag: 3 of 5
  • Paid social: tracking changed Sep 12: 1 of 5

Budget recommendation

Details
RecommendationMove 15 percent of the paid social budget to dealer co-marketing
SizePaid social runs at $40,000 a month (sample), so 15 percent is $6,000 a month, $12,000 across November and December
EvidenceDealer co-marketing produced orders at a lower cost in both spring tests: $118 and $127 per order against $155 and $171 for paid social over the same weeks (sample figures)
Left out on purposeThe September paid social trend, because of the tracking question
Prior decision attachedThe budget split agreed in the August review
Approvals neededTessa Lund and the Larkspur finance lead
Decision requested byFriday, Oct 9, 2026, so the shift can start on Nov 1

The recommendation covers November and December. Any extension into next year waits for dealer co-marketing results in the January review.

I would rather see the tracking question stated than a trend I have to defend to finance.

Tessa LundHead of marketing, Larkspur Cycles

Actions from earlier reviews

Eight actions were accepted in the August and September reviews, all owned by the Larkspur marketing team. Six are complete with evidence, one is in progress and one has not started. At the September review it was five complete and two in progress; the post-purchase email series finished on Sep 30.

Checklist
✓Move the cart abandonment email to one hour after exit
✓Add the dealer locator to every e-bike product page
✓Publish the commuter fit guide
✓Start a weekly dealer order report
✓Tag the spring test landing pages consistently
✓Rebuild the post-purchase email series (completed Sep 30)
Collect dealer stock feedback each month (in progress)
Send the dealer email sequence (not started after 24 days, waiting on product photos)

Dealer email sequence has not started after 24 days

The sequence is waiting on product photos the Larkspur team has not supplied. Ruth is not closing the action. Tessa reassigns the photo request to the Larkspur product team by Monday, Oct 5, and Ruth checks again on Thursday, Oct 8. If the photos are still missing, Ruth escalates to Tessa that day. While it waits, dealers get no sequence ahead of the spring launch.

What happens next month

StreamItemDates
DecisionsBudget shift decision by Tessa and finance leadOct 2 to Oct 9
TrackingConfirm tracking change with the web teamOct 5 to Oct 16
ActionsPhoto request moved to product teamOct 5 to Oct 8
ActionsDealer email check and escalationOct 8, 1 day
Spring launchBrief handed to the creative partnerOct 12, 1 day
November reviewDealer co-marketing set up if approvedOct 19 to Oct 30
November reviewMonth end data close and review assemblyOct 30 to Nov 3
Priorities for October
Tessa Lund and the Larkspur finance lead decide the budget shift by Oct 9
Jamie Park confirms the tracking change with the web team by Oct 16
Tessa Lund supplies the approved dealer terms for the spring brief by Oct 9
Ruth Adeyemi checks the dealer email sequence on Oct 8 and escalates if needed
Deliver this review to Tessa Lund on the second working day

Prepared and reviewed by

RARuth AdeyemiFractional CMO, Lantern Row Advisory, prepared this review
JPJamie ParkMarketing operations lead, Lantern Row Advisory, assembled the record
TLTessa LundHead of marketing, Larkspur Cycles, client reader

Metric definitions used in this review

MeasureDefinition
Web store ordersCompleted checkouts in the calendar month
Dealer ordersOrders reported by independent dealers in the weekly report, by order date
Paid social cost per orderPaid social spend divided by orders in the paid social conversion count; the count changed on Sep 12
Email ordersOrders placed within 7 days of an email click

If a definition changes mid-month, the review says so beside the number and does not draw a trend from it.

Demo client portal. Lantern Row Advisory, Larkspur Cycles, the people and every figure are fictional sample data. Built on FuseBase.