Episode 38: Marketing reports and dashboards
The structure of a marketing report, dashboard tools, and turning numbers into insight and action.
The agency sent Neha a 14-page PDF: 40 charts, 200 numbers.
Neha asked: “So… did it go well or badly? And what do we do now?” A report’s job isn’t to show numbers; it’s to answer these two questions.
The structure of a good report
The client reads the summary first. Often only that. It should contain everything: the result, the why, and what comes next.
Which numbers go in the report
Remember the Chapter 5 KPIs? They’re the backbone of the report:
| Level | Metric |
|---|---|
| Business | Orders, revenue, ROAS, CAC (Chapter 39) |
| Funnel | Reach → profile/site visits → leads → orders |
| Channel | Instagram, ads, Google, WhatsApp, partners: each one’s contribution |
| Health | Reply time, repeat rate, reviews |
Vanity metrics (Chapter 5) only for context, never in the headline.
Data → insight → action
| Data | Insight | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Retargeting CPA ₹150, cold ₹380 | Warm people convert cheaper | Retargeting budget ₹3k → ₹4k |
| People who view the size chart convert 2x | Size fear is the biggest blocker | Size chart below every product image |
| 11 orders from Riya’s code | Creators with a matching audience work | A 3-month deal with Riya |
The “So what?” test: after every number, ask “so what?”. If there’s no answer, remove it from the report.
Dashboard tools
- Google Sheets: the simplest, manual entry, enough for small clients
- Looker Studio (free): live dashboards from GA4, Google Ads and Sheets
- Platform dashboards: Meta Ads Manager, Shopify analytics
- Paid connectors can bring Meta data into Looker Studio too
Dashboard = for looking at daily/weekly. Report = for telling the story monthly.
Charts that explain
- Line charts for trends, bar charts for comparisons
- One chart, one message; write it in the title: “Orders went from 34 to 52”
- Show the goal as a line
- No 3D charts, 10 colours or pies with 8 slices
StyleStreet’s real problem
A screenshot dump every month
Every month Neha herself dropped 20 screenshots from Instagram, Meta Ads and Shopify into a WhatsApp group (for her partner and CA). Nobody could tell whether there was growth or not.
Practical example: StyleStreet monthly report: page 1
Orders 52 → 60 (goal: 60 ✅). The main reason for growth was retargeting and WhatsApp follow-up. Google Ads is still weak (CPA ₹420); next month we’ll tighten keywords.
| KPI | Last month | This month | Goal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orders | 52 | 60 | 60 |
| Revenue | ₹49,920 | ₹57,600 | ₹57,600 |
| Meta ROAS | 3.84x | 4.1x | 3x+ |
| Reply time | 45 min | 20 min | <60 min |
| Repeat rate | 30% | 35% | 35% |
Next month: (1) Retargeting +₹1,000 (2) Update Google negatives (3) Launch the Diwali office edit.
Your mission: Build a monthly report template
In Google Sheets/Docs or Looker Studio:
- Write the format of a 3-line summary
- Choose 6 KPIs for the goal vs actual table
- A section with 3 points each for “what worked / what didn’t”
- Fill 3 rows of a data → insight → action table
- Choose 2 charts and write their message-style titles
- Write the difference between a weekly dashboard and a monthly report
Quiz
-
The most important part of a report?
- A. All the charts
- B. The summary at the top: result, why, what next
- C. The appendix
- D. The logo
Show answer
Correct answer: B. The summary at the top: result, why, what next
A busy client reads only the summary.
-
What does the “So what?” test mean?
- A. After every number, ask what decision it leads to
- B. Argue with the client
- C. Show only positives
- D. Hide numbers
Show answer
Correct answer: A. After every number, ask what decision it leads to
A number that suggests no action is noise.
-
A free tool that builds live dashboards from GA4?
- A. Looker Studio
- B. Canva
- C. Photoshop
- D. Notepad
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Looker Studio
Looker Studio is Google’s free dashboard tool.
-
What should a chart’s title be like?
- A. “Chart 1”
- B. A message: “Orders went from 34 to 52”
- C. Empty
- D. Just the metric name
Show answer
Correct answer: B. A message: “Orders went from 34 to 52”
When the title is the takeaway, readers don’t have to think.
Output for the client project
Your project file now has a Reporting Kit:
- Monthly report template
- 6 core KPIs
- Insight → action table
- Weekly dashboard (Sheets/Looker Studio)
- Month 3 report: 60 orders, goal achieved ✅
Golden rule: A report isn’t a pile of numbers; it’s a story: what happened, why, and what to do now. Understandable in 2 minutes.