The five things a monthly report should contain.
A useful monthly report contains five things: the cost of an outcome you actually sell, what was changed during the month and what happened after each change, where spend produced nothing, what is planned next with dates, and one question for you to answer. Impressions, clicks and click through rate belong in an appendix. If the first page does not let you decide something, the report is describing activity rather than reporting performance.
A report exists to support a decision
The test is simple. After reading it, can you decide whether to spend more, spend less, or change direction. If not, you have received a status update dressed as analysis.
That is why the order matters as much as the contents. The number at the top of page one is the number the report is really about, and in most reports it is the one that happens to look best.
One: the cost of something you sell
Cost per lead, cost per qualified lead, or cost per sale, depending on what you can measure. Not impressions. Not clicks. Not engagement.
Where possible it should be cost per qualified lead, because a cheap lead nobody can sell to is not cheap. If your sales process cannot yet feed that back, the report should say so plainly rather than quietly using the easier number.
Two: what changed, and what happened after
A list of the significant changes made during the month, each with the date and what happened afterwards. This is the part almost always missing, and it is the part that proves anybody was working.
It also builds something valuable over a year: a record of what worked in your account specifically, rather than in general. That record is worth more than any single month's numbers.
Three: where the money produced nothing
Every account has spend that returned nothing over a period long enough to judge. Naming it is uncomfortable and it is the most useful paragraph in the document.
A report that never contains bad news is not reporting. It is reassurance, and reassurance costs whatever the unexamined spend costs.
Four and five: what is next, and what you need to decide
Next month's plan should be specific enough to check: what will be changed, why, and when. Vague intentions to optimise and monitor are not a plan and cannot be held to.
Then one question for you. Which enquiries were any good. Whether the new service should get budget. Whether a slower month was expected in your business. The best reports are a conversation rather than a broadcast, because the person reading knows things the person writing cannot.
- Named changes with dates, not intentions.
- One decision or piece of information requested from you.
- Anything blocked and waiting on somebody, so it does not quietly stay blocked for a quarter.
Could you make a decision from last month's report
Open it and check. Is the first number one you sell against, does it say what changed and what happened, and does it name anything that did not work.
If it does not, ask for those things before concluding anything about the performance itself. And if you would like to see what a report that answers all five looks like, ask us for a sample through the enquiry form. It is the clearest way to judge whether anybody is actually working on your account.
Questions we get asked.
What should a monthly marketing report include?
- The cost of an outcome you sell, the changes made during the month and what followed each, the spend that produced nothing, next month's plan with dates, and one question for you. Impressions and clicks belong in an appendix rather than on page one.
Why does the order of a report matter?
- Because the number at the top is the number the report is really about. When impressions and click through rate lead, the presentation is following whichever metric looks best rather than whichever one you make decisions with.
Should a report ever contain bad news?
- Every month. Every account has spend that returned nothing over a judgeable period, and naming it is the most useful paragraph in the document. A report with no bad news in it is reassurance rather than reporting.
How long should a report be?
- One page that supports a decision, with the detail behind it available for anyone who wants it. Length is often used to imply effort, and a long report is easier to write than a clear one.
How often should I get one?
- Monthly for the decision document, with live access to the data whenever you want it. Weekly reporting on most accounts measures noise and encourages changes that undo each other.
