The 5 Details to Consider When Reporting on Client Projects and Campaigns
Client reporting: you either love it or hate it (but, let’s be honest — you hate it!).
Client reporting is always a given if you’re managing clients. But just because it’s a given, doesn’t mean that every digital marketing agency owner has the right SOPs and philosophy in place to make it easier.
We’ve been doing client reporting for a loooong time. In that time, we’ve made some mistakes, had lots of successes, and lived to tell the tale. And we’re sharing with you!
If you’re an agency owner or a Client Account Manager, here’s what you need to know about campaign reporting.
Why Client Reporting Matters
Just because putting together a report might not sound like the most exciting task, don’t let that overshadow the importance of client reporting. Creating awesome, detailed, and transparent reports is one of the best and more direct ways to build up a relationship with your clients. And it’s that relationship that is going to lead to loyalty and, ultimately, referrals and long-term contracts.
So before we jump into our reporting best practices, we encourage you to reframe how you think about and approach reporting in the first place. This is your chance to check-in with clients, potentially educate them, and start a proactive dialog. So take reports off your ‘Get It Over With’ list and on to your ‘Awesome Opportunities’ one, pronto!
Like our client Bryan Starck, owner of 100 Celsius, reminds us, “communicating on a regular, pro-active basis is really key for retention and having your client understand the value you bring to them.”
We totally agree. And we believe client reporting has a big role to play here.
5 Important Considerations For Reporting On Client Projects and Campaigns
Good reporting on client projects and campaigns helps both you and your clients to stay accountable to each other, and to help ensure that everyone is on the same page. But of course, they can only live up to this potential if Account Managers are creating good reports.
So what’s a good report? Here are 5 critical factors to consider when making yours.
1. Client reports require time and SOPs
If you’re a larger agency (and maybe even if you’re not), you might be spending many hours a week on client reporting. And if an agency owner in particular is the one handling reports, then sooner or later they’ll have to consider whether that’s the best use of their time.
Two things can cut down on how much time you’re spending on reporting. First and foremost, this is the type of task that is often best passed over to your Client Account Manager. Assuming your CAM knows how often to send reports and to whom, they should be able to take this task off your hands completely.
But even if you do hire a CAM, you still won’t want all their time taken up with client reporting, either. That’s why the second aspect here is ensuring that you have email and reporting templates in place to make this process as quick and easy as possible. In other words, you don’t want your CAM to have to reinvent the wheel even time they have to send a new report.
Of course, client reporting is just one area of client management you should be optimizing in this way. Be sure to look at all areas of your agency to figure out where you automate processes to save yourself time, money, and headaches (downloading our Client Onboarding Checklist is a great place to start!).
2. Data always needs to be translated
If you’re like us, then you’re always looking for more ways to serve your clients better. So while other digital marketers might slap up some data and just get their reports done ASAP, you know that any time you’re interacting with your clients is an opportunity to provide unicorn-status service.
So when it comes to your reporting, remember that your clients likely don’t speak digital marketing language like you do. They’re not going to understand what metrics matter most, or how to interpret different data points. So it’s your job to do the translating.
Remember that your client will have access to all their ad accounts, just like you do. If they really wanted to, they could log in and see their CTR. But what’s a good CTR? Why does the CTR matter? How is it impacting other aspects of the campaign? Getting answers to these questions is ultimately a good part of what they’re paying you for.
So yes, fill your reports with pretty charts and graphs. But remember that the most important part of your report is the context that you provide.
3. Data metrics can change
Ah, the life of a digital marketer. Things move quickly in our space, and it seems like as soon as you develop best practices for one platform, that platform goes and changes the rules on you.
Like we’ve mentioned, you will ideally have some templates and SOPs in place for your reporting. But just as important, is to remember to continually review how you’re reporting, to keep pace with the rapid pace of digital marketing at large.
4. Campaigns have different stages
And speaking about things changing, keep in mind that campaigns will change too. In the beginning, your ad campaign might focus on testing and getting new audiences. But then once you’ve established that campaign, you might be more concerned with things like purchases and store revenue.
That means that as you think about creating templates and best practices for your reporting, it’s important to keep in mind that different stages in the campaign may require different data (and therefore different context and explanation, too).
5. Clients might have uncomfortable questions
Responding well to positive feedback is easy. But responding well to uncomfortable questions can be a bit more challenging, and it plays a big role in how long a client relationship lasts.
Some of the biggest, most uncomfortable questions you’re likely to field will likely come up around reporting time. This is when clients are going to want to see the value of the money they’re spending. Are they getting results? And are you worth it? (ouch!)
Of course, it’s important to set the right expectations around price at the outset of the relationship and/or campaign. But if you’re managing campaign spends of tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, then it’s fair to expect some questions. One of the most common is about the difference between return on ad spend versus return on investment. In other words, what are clients paying to run ads, and what are they paying you to run ads? And why?
Tough questions like this are where having a cool, calm, collected, and very well trained CAM can really help. They can be the front line in communicating your value to your clients, explaining not just where the money goes, but the why behind where it goes.
A good CAM is there to ensure your clients feel super confident in their results. Even when results aren’t so good, your client will understand why, and they’ll be excited about the strategy you’ve come up with to improve them. And they’ll understand that the knowledge and expertise you bring to the table is what they’re ultimately paying you for.
Want to learn more about how a CAM can help your digital marketing agency with client reporting—and lots more? Reach out!