My expertise has proven one easy fact: purchasers keep or go primarily based not on outcomes alone, however on the service they obtain.
This holds true for the overwhelming majority of purchasers we’ve labored with.
You possibly can ship wonderful outcomes, but when purchasers really feel underserved, they’re more likely to go away.
Purchasers aren’t at all times rational, and that’s precisely why each touchpoint issues – particularly reporting.
Reporting is commonly your fundamental reference to purchasers and may outline how they understand your service.
That makes it one of the crucial vital components of your corporation.
So, what makes a fantastic report?
This text tackles the important thing rules of constructing stories that stand out – full with examples of what works and what doesn’t.
Studies vs. dashboards
Earlier than we start, let’s shortly make clear the distinction between stories and dashboards.
Studies are detailed paperwork delivered at set intervals – usually month-to-month – in formal codecs akin to PDFs or slideshows.
They usually embrace extra commentary and are designed as one-off paperwork.
Dashboards, whereas they might show comparable charts and graphs, present real-time marketing campaign information with little commentary.
They’re normally accessed by on-line platforms like Looker Studio.
At this time, many companies use stories and dashboards interchangeably.
A month-to-month report may merely be a dashboard printout with added commentary.
Platforms like Looker Studio or Company Analytics even allow you to combine reporting parts into dashboards and export them as PDFs.
Due to this, the excellence between the 2 has blurred, and we frequently use “reporting” to cowl each.
No matter format, each nice report I’ve seen follows three key rules:
- Simplicity.
- Perception.
- Context.
Let’s break these down and see how they apply.
Simplicity
Nice communicators take complicated concepts and make them straightforward to know. Reporting is not any completely different.
With a lot information out there, a fantastic report simplifies data right into a type that’s helpful and insightful.
Simplicity ought to information each facet of report design – from the construction and order of pages to structure, graphs, and visuals.
The objective is at all times to make your report as clear as doable and keep away from what analytics skilled Avinash Kaushik calls “information puke” – overwhelming purchasers with an excessive amount of data.
Methods to attain simplicity embrace:
- Design for shopper wants: Report creators usually deal with what they suppose is vital reasonably than what the shopper wants. Perceive every shopper’s KPIs to maintain stories centered. A CEO might solely want top-level KPIs, whereas a regional gross sales supervisor might have viewers metrics.
- Deal with KPIs: For each new web page or graph, ask whether or not it helps present whether or not the KPI is being achieved. Present the minimal pages, graphs, and tables wanted to convey the purpose.
- Manage by idea: Construction pages round concepts – KPIs, platforms, campaigns, or areas. You possibly can cut up pages by KPI or by platform (Meta vs. Google).
- Embody a abstract web page: A number of pages are helpful, however purchasers are time-poor. A abstract web page centralizes insights so readers can get the large image shortly.
- Branding and credentials: Including your organization emblem (and the shopper emblem) makes the report look skilled and customized.
The instance from Information Studio Guru’s Full Display screen Dashboard displays these rules properly:
- Clear, centered information.
- Sidebar navigation separating dashboard sections.
- An outline web page.
- Sturdy deal with KPI metrics like transactions and income.
- Properly-spaced parts with good distinction.
(One limitation: there’s no commentary included, which is suitable for dashboards however not excellent for a last report.)
Michael Howe-Ely’s Final Adverts Dashboard is one other robust instance, that includes:
- A wonderful abstract web page combining all advert platforms aspect by aspect.
- In-depth platform pages for deeper dives.
- Sidebar navigation.
Dig deeper: ship PPC outcomes to executives: Get out of the weeds
Perception
The second guideline is perception.
Whereas the dashboards above don’t embrace commentary, a fantastic report should transcend presenting information to offering perception.
A robust report ought to embrace:
- Information: Current charts and tables in a transparent, simplified format.
- Remark: Summarize what occurred within the information.
- Interpretation: Clarify why it occurred.
- Motion: Suggest what to do subsequent primarily based on this understanding.
This development from information to motion is what makes insights actually actionable.
Every web page ought to deal with a single idea or KPI and embrace not more than three key insights that observe the four-step course of above.
AI may also help automate components of this, particularly producing observations, nevertheless it’s not but robust at interpretation.
Dig deeper: analyze PPC efficiency metrics
Get the e-newsletter search entrepreneurs depend on.
Context
The third guideline is context. With out it, information exists in a vacuum.
An incredible report should present context to make metrics significant. There are two key sorts of context to incorporate:
- Historic efficiency.
- Trade benchmarks.
Historic efficiency reveals whether or not outcomes are enhancing over time.
Present each month-over-month (MoM) and year-over-year (YoY) adjustments in your graphs.
YoY comparisons are particularly helpful for seasonal companies as a result of they evaluate efficiency to the identical time final yr.
Within the report beneath, KPIs present each MoM and YoY deltas to obviously sign adjustments over time:
Graphs on a timeline add much more element by exhibiting a number of time durations.
Within the graph beneath, the conversion metric is tracked over 12 months:
Evaluate two distinct time-period curves on one graph to make adjustments straightforward to identify.
For instance, the chart beneath reveals URL clicks on the blue curve vs. URL clicks from the earlier month on the sunshine blue curve:
Trade benchmarks add one other layer of context.
Purchasers might say it’s nice that conversions are growing or price per acquisition is lowering, however how does that evaluate to opponents? Dependable sources embrace:
- Google Key phrase CPC information: Evaluate key phrase CPCs with competitor CPCs utilizing Google’s key phrase instrument.
- Wordstream benchmarks: Wordstream aggregates and publishes key metrics akin to conversion charges throughout industries within the U.S.
Combining historic efficiency with business benchmarks provides purchasers a clearer, extra significant image of outcomes.
Dig deeper: produce a greater PPC QBR in your stakeholders
Your roadmap to efficient PPC reporting
Getting began with reporting is simpler than ever.
Many instruments and templates allow you to construct stories shortly.
Google’s Looker Studio is a powerful place to begin, with loads of plug-and-play templates out there from Google and third-party marketplaces like byMarketers.
These can get you up and working in minutes.
Regardless of which instruments or software program you select, anchor each report within the three key rules of simplicity, perception, and context.
Dig deeper: Company-grade PPC audits: flip stories into development roadmaps
Contributing authors are invited to create content material for Search Engine Land and are chosen for his or her experience and contribution to the search neighborhood. Our contributors work below the oversight of the editorial employees and contributions are checked for high quality and relevance to our readers. Search Engine Land is owned by Semrush. Contributor was not requested to make any direct or oblique mentions of Semrush. The opinions they specific are their very own.
