There is a lot of advice out there on marketing performance reporting and there are many factors to consider when putting your reports together–from which data sets to include, to what performance metrics provide the most compelling data story. But what does an effective digital marketing performance client report actually look like?
The KPIs your marketing agency chooses to report on are dependent on many factors–most importantly, they should be driven by your client’s business goals. But a reporting framework helps communicate the value your agency brings to your client. If clients struggle to comprehend marketing effectiveness due to confusing data, a high-level approach to reporting can be impactful.
NinjaCat works with hundreds of agencies who have clients spanning many verticals: from healthcare and senior living to auto dealerships to multi-location retail. While the client businesses are all unique, excellent client reports that use effective data storytelling structures share some common elements. We’ve compiled some of the best examples from our agency customers at NinjaCat to help provide a framework you can use for your client reports.
For ready-to-use slides to help jumpstart your next client report, head to NinjaCat's Marketing Report Template Gallery for free downloads.
Effective Client Reporting Presentation Structure
Use this structure to outline your presentation. Below, you’ll find screenshots and additional thought starters on what to include in your reports to communicate an effective story with your analytics data.
• Start with a Marketing Performance Overview & Executive Summary
• Add on more detailed sections for tactical deep dives on individual channel performance such as:
º Paid Search
º SEO
º Social Media
º Website Analytics
• Round out the report with Next Steps and Recommendations to reinforce your insights and strategy.
Marketing Performance Overview & Executive Summary Slide Examples
Giving clients and stakeholders a snapshot of KPIs and ROI across channels is a great way to introduce your data story. Offer high level data points such as total leads captured through PPC, total reach and ad spend across channels, click through rates, and actual market qualified leads. The overview should reflect a preview of the channels and details you’ll walk your client through in the rest of the report.
An Executive Summary gives you the opportunity to highlight the 3-5 most important highlights in performance over the report time period. It can provide a short cut for busy clients to return to for the high level overview. It’s also a place to review the key insights and opportunities that you’ve identified for optimizations and improvements.
Paid Search Report Examples
This paid search overview report presents four KPIs: budget spent, total leads, cost per lead and conversion rate. This gives the client a snapshot of the most important results for the current period. Underneath, a trend graph shows budget fluctuations month to month overlaid with the CPL. This helps the client see the impact budget changes may have on cost to acquire each lead.
In the early stages of a client engagement for paid search, you may want to include a timeline or task list of important project milestones alongside the KPIs. This approach can reinforce the workstream your agency is undertaking to make improvements to the results over each reporting period.
SEO Performance Report Examples
Ranking for SEO can take weeks, if not months. Show the progress by focusing on the top 10-20 keywords that are critical to your content strategy. Report on impressions, clicks or website visits, comparing keywords to each other so your client can see at a glance which phrases are offering the most visibility.
Website Analytics Report Examples
Your client will want to know how website traffic is trending month to month, as well as how KPIs such as page views and bounce rate are trending (up or down) compared to the previous report.
For brands or businesses requiring marketing performance reports for multiple locations, it’s important to deliver reporting that is whitelabled and branded to match the design aesthetic of each property.
Download our free Google Analytics report template for a comprehensive set of slides for your next website analysis presentation.
Social Media Report Examples
This is a customizable social media report template, showcasing advertising stats, fan growth, and follower trends across Facebook.
Pull out highlights from each social channel onto a separate slide. In this Instagram advertising reporting example from NinjaCat, the best performing posts are featured along with key performance metrics, simply laid out to increase comprehension and decrease cognitive load.
When it comes to reporting on digital marketing performance, you are only as good as the data you have, and the story you tell with it. Focus on visuals and layouts that support your analysis and make the story clear to understand. Establishing reporting templates with reliable data allows for more time for qualitative analysis, enabling your agency to create more compelling client reports, at scale.
