How to Create a Monthly Marketing Report That Drives Results

Creating a comprehensive monthly marketing report may seem like a daunting task, but it’s an incredibly useful exercise that allows you to track your progress and make data-driven decisions. With some planning and organization, you can develop a monthly report that provides insights into what’s working well and where there’s room for improvement.

In this article, we’ll walk through the key steps for creating a monthly marketing report that delivers value.

Identify Your Goals

Before you start compiling data and metrics, take some time to identify the goals of your marketing report. Consider the following:

• What questions do you want the report to answer? Do you want to track lead generation, revenue, web traffic, social media engagement or something else?

• Who is the intended audience? Are you creating this for your own reference or to share with stakeholders. executives or clients?

• How will the insights be used? Is the goal to adjust strategy, inform budget decisions or showcase progress?

Once you identify the purpose of the report, it becomes much easier to determine which metrics and data points to include. The goals you outline in this planning stage will dictate the framework and focus of your monthly report.

Establish Reliable Metrics

The next step is choosing which metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) to track consistently. Useful metrics to consider include:

• Website traffic Page views unique visitors bounce rate

• Lead generation: New leads generated, lead quality score, cost per lead

• Sales: Number of sales, average order value, revenue generated

• Email marketing: Open rate, click-through rate, unsubscribe rate

• Social media: Follower growth, engagement rate, clicks/traffic from social

• Paid advertising: Impressions, click-through-rate, cost per click

Avoid the temptation to track every metric possible. Select only the KPIs that are most relevant to your goals. For each metric you choose, determine what data source you’ll use and how you’ll collect the data on a monthly basis.

Choose a Format

Marketing reports can take many forms, including simple tables, visual dashboards, slide presentations and more. Consider your audience and goals, and then determine the most effective format.

For internal teams, interactive dashboards and visualizations can work well, allowing you to dig deeper into the data.

For stakeholders and clients, consider a PowerPoint presentation with highlights, insights and recommendations.

For your own reference, a nicely formatted Word or Google Doc may be all you need to compile your findings in an organized way.

Select formats that allow you to present data clearly and concisely. Only use complex charts and graphs if they communicate insights effectively.

Organize Your Inclusions

With your metrics established and format selected, it’s time to structure the contents of your monthly report. Use sections and headlines to organize related data points and make the report easy to navigate.

For example:

• Executive Summary: High-level overview of top metrics and critical insights.

• Traffic and Leads: Website traffic stats, lead generation numbers, lead quality trends.

• Digital Marketing Performance: Highlights from email, paid ads and social media. Provide key stats and takeaways.

• Opportunities and Recommendations: Summary of areas for improvement and strategies to test.

You may also want to include call-out boxes to highlight key wins, losses or recommendations. Breaking up blocks of text and data with visuals makes the reports more scannable and engaging.

Add a Section for Comments

As part of your monthly marketing report format, include a section where team members or stakeholders can provide feedback and input. This allows readers to ask questions, surface issues and suggest recommendations. Be sure to review comments each month and incorporate that feedback into future reports.

Share Your Report

Determining how and when to share your marketing report is an important consideration. For internal teams, you may want to go over the report in a monthly meeting. For clients and leadership, you may share a PDF via email.

Regardless of how you share the document, include a summary of key takeaways and insights to avoid readers missing critical information. Highlight the most important points and metrics so stakeholders know where to focus.

Improve Your Process

Your first monthly marketing report likely won’t be perfect. That’s okay! The goal is to get something organized and start tracking key data points. As you compile these reports each month, look for ways to optimize and enhance the process.

Consider the following tips for improving your marketing reporting over time:

• Eliminate clutter. If certain metrics or sections provide little value, remove them from future reports. Only focus on the most important KPIs.

• Automate data collection. Use templates and reporting tools so you’re not manually compiling all the data. Automated dashboards save time.

• Enhance visuals. Look for ways to turn tables into charts or add graphics to make insights pop.

• Customize for your audience. Tweak the report format and style to align with what your readers need most. Ask for feedback.

• Share recommendations. Don’t just present data – provide suggested actions based on what the data indicates.

With a sound process and continuous improvement, your marketing reports will quickly become an invaluable asset. By tracking key metrics and distilling insights each month, you gain visibility into what’s working so you can amplify winning strategies.

Key Takeaways for Creating Monthly Marketing Reports

• Identify your goals and determine which metrics align. Avoid tracking vanity metrics that don’t tie to objectives.

• Select metrics you can reliably track on a consistent basis. Identify your data sources.

• Choose a format that fits your audience and allows you to communicate data effectively. Consider dashboards, presentations and more.

• Organize sections and content so readers can easily find information. Use headlines, call-outs and visuals.

• Add a comments section to collect feedback and input from readers. Incorporate insights into future reports.

• Share reports through meetings, email and other channels. Highlight key takeaways and recommendations.

• Continuously optimize your reporting process. Eliminate fluff, automate where possible and enhance visuals.

By following these steps and best practices, you can create comprehensive monthly marketing reports that drive more informed strategy decisions and better results over time. The effort required to compile these reports pays dividends across all of your marketing and growth initiatives.