Once you have signed a client and their campaigns are up and running, the bulk of communication will be via client reporting.
Each client will have a different format and frequency for their reports, but it’s clear that client reporting is a great way to show value and keep clients coming back over time.
However, as you grow your agency, you will likely have to deal with something many agencies don’t experience: manual reports don’t scale.
The time required to generate client reports can add up quickly, making it a major bottleneck in growth.
Client reporting should be automated to the maximum extent possible:
This article will discuss how to automate client reporting from start to finish.
- What to include in Client Reports
- Data Storytelling in Client Reporting
- Report Automation: How to Streamline Your Agency
How to scale your agency with automated client reporting?
What should you include in client reports?
Each report’s content will vary depending on what type of marketing you are doing. However, there are some common elements that all reports should have.
Summary
Many clients don’t know the details of every marketing campaign. This makes the summary of the report extremely important. This section allows you to summarize your analysis and plan for the next month.
Google Analytics All Channels
The Google Analytics, All Channels section shows the campaign’s overall success, including visitor sources and KPIs like session duration, bounce rates, conversions, and KPIs. This section can help you plan your next month’s marketing strategy.
Google Analytics – Goals
Next is a section that tracks conversions (or Goals) which can be anything, from emails to purchases, in Google Analytics. This section gives clients an overview of their overall ROI and provides a detailed look at metrics related to goal completions, such as conversion rate and dollar value.
SEO Rankings
SEO rankings let you track and report search engine rankings on Google and Bing. It is possible to see how rankings change over time and identify keywords that need more attention in the future.
Social Media Overview
Your client’s social media overview will show them the most important metrics for each platform. This includes audience engagement metrics like total followers, engagement, reach, etc.
Overview
Next is an overview section that tracks pay-per-click campaigns across multiple platforms. This section includes total ad cost, cost-per click, conversions and impressions.
Email Overview
This section is for email marketing managers who manage campaigns for clients. It allows you to track key metrics like open rate, click through-rate (CTR), growth in subscribers over the month.
Data Storytelling in Client Reporting
Let’s now discuss what you should include in client reports. Now let’s talk about how to take your reporting one step further and tell compelling stories with your data.
Data storytelling is the art of turning raw data into a story that highlights key trends, patterns or changes. It is achieved by combining three core elements:
- Data:Data storytelling requires you to first collect and combine the data into one place. Reporting software has the advantage of automatically retrieving data from different sources using an API.
- Visualization The next step is to take the data and apply data visualization, so that anyone can understand it. This will allow you to turn raw data into actionable insights that reveal trends and patterns.
- Narrative Data storytelling should include a narrative that explains the significance of the data and highlights any important KPIs.
Report Automation: How to Streamline Your Agency
Automation is the last piece of client reporting. While the initial setup of client reporting can take some time, automation allows you to focus on the most important tasks like improving results or adding unique insights to each report.
Automating your business processes takes time. Automation is not something that can be done overnight. The following are the key steps to building an automated client reporting system.
- Centralizing your data
- Leveraging report & dashboard templates
- Creating best practices for client communication
- Assign data views & governance
- Giving your sales team the tools they need