Add up the bookings that Meta, Google and TikTok each report for last month, and the total is higher than the number of bookings in your calendar. Nobody is lying. They're answering different questions.
The short answer: each platform counts a booking if the person interacted with its ad within its own time window, so several platforms can claim the same client. Use your own booking records for the truth about totals and revenue, a single tracking source that gives each booking to one channel for comparisons, and each platform's own numbers only for optimizing inside that platform.
Why the numbers don't add up
Take one client, Sara:
- Monday she sees your TikTok ad and doesn't click.
- Wednesday she clicks your Instagram ad and browses your services.
- Friday she searches your salon's name on Google, clicks your ad and books.
- TikTok may count it: she saw the ad within TikTok's view window.
- Meta may count it: she clicked within its click window.
- Google counts it: the last click before booking was theirs.
One booking, three claims. Each platform is telling the truth about its own part, which is why the total is bigger than reality.
Other reasons the numbers drift:
- Different time windows. Each platform has its own click and view windows, and they rarely match how you look at your calendar.
- Modeled conversions. When browsers block tracking, platforms estimate some conversions. The estimates can be reasonable, and they still aren't records.
- Missed bookings. The opposite problem: if a platform can't see bookings at all (see why your Facebook ads show 0 bookings with Boulevard), it under-reports.
- Different "conversion" events. One platform counts booking requests, another counts completed visits.
Three numbers, three jobs
| Number | Where it comes from | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Real bookings and revenue | Your booking software | The truth about totals |
| Bookings by channel | One tracking source that gives each booking to one channel | Comparing platforms, moving budget |
| Platform-reported results | Each ad platform | Optimizing campaigns inside that platform |
Your booking software: the truth
Your calendar and till don't double count. Total bookings, new clients and revenue come from here, every time.
One source of truth for channels
To compare platforms, you need a system that gives each booking to one channel. In our tracking setups, every booking is logged once, with the click it came from, in a dashboard: no booking appears twice. We explain the build in our Looker Studio dashboard article.
That system has to be right, though. Wrong matching is worse than none: ours once credited 35 of 43 bookings to the wrong channel, until we fixed it (the case study).
Platform numbers: for the platform
Keep using Meta's, Google's and TikTok's own reports to choose between ads, audiences and creatives inside each platform. Just don't add them together.
A simple honest metric: blended ROAS
If you only track one number, make it this one:
Blended ROAS = total revenue from all bookings ÷ total ad spend on all platforms
It can't tell you which platform worked. But it can't be inflated by double counting either, and if it goes up after a change, the change worked.
What to do this month
- Take total bookings and revenue from your booking software.
- Take total ad spend from all platforms together.
- Calculate blended ROAS and cost per new client.
- If you need per-platform answers, set up one tracking source that gives each booking to one channel, and test it with real bookings.
- Keep platform reports for optimizing inside each platform.
What to ask your agency
- Is the number in this report from our booking software, or from the ad platforms?
- If several platforms claim the same booking, how do you count it?
- What's our blended ROAS, all platforms together?
- Which attribution windows do these numbers use?
Related reading: pixel vs Conversions API: what salon owners need to know.
