What We're Talking About...Create a Marketing Report That Doesn't Suck

The start of a new year is an excellent time to clean out your desk, organize your computer files, and revamp your processes and procedures. One thing I've decided to revisit was my monthly marketing reports. I spent quite a bit of time researching and I am sharing the best resources I found with you.

So if you're ready to spend less time creating more effective marketing reports, here's what we're talking about...

Articles

Marketing Reporting 101 via Christopher Penn

“When we talk to our stakeholders and fellow marketers, very few people love the reporting they receive or generate."

In this four part series, Chris Penn tackles the basics of marketing reporting, from what good reporting is to how to construct a simple report with the time-honored 6W framework in mind (who, what, when, why, where, how). The aim is for you to learn to produce reports that provide the data, analysis, insights, and strategic recommendations your stakeholders care about most.

• Part 1: Introduction
• Part 2: Who We Build Reports For
• Part 3: How to Build a Relevant Report
• Part 4: Reporting Cadence

Should Sales Report to Marketing? Or Marketing Report to Sales? via BlogMutt

“You can often tell when a company has marketing reporting to sales. That's a company that has a giant "Buy now!!!!" button on the top of the home page and every other page. And when sales reports to marketing, inbound inquiries go for days without a response while people are crafting just the right message.”

This short opinion piece touches on an age old question: who should report to who? The blog tells the story of BlogMutt confronting this decision for themselves and covers arguments for both sides. What did they ultimately decide? You'll have to read it to find out.

DOWNLOAD OUR 30 GREATEST LEAD GENERATION LESSONS IN THIS FREE GUIDE.

Review

Top 6 Marketing Analytics Dashboard Tools via SEMRush

“...digital marketing analytics dashboards are awesome time savers and avenues to better insights and results.”

SEMRush may be a bit biased in their review, which includes their own platform, but it was the best one I could find. Their review of 6 analytics platforms includes what the benefits are of each and who it is best suited for.

Infographic

Your Essential Marketing Metrics via Campaign Creators

“As marketers, we work tirelessly to move the needle on what often seems like a laundry list of metrics. But, when it comes to marketing metrics that matter to your execs the 6 featured below should cover it. “

While you may care a lot about your email click through rates for the last month, your CEO probably doesn't. This handy infographic breaks down the six metrics that your boss actually cares about (hello CAC and LTV), including what each is, why it matters and the formula for its calculation.

Templates

How To Build A Marketing Report Quickly (Free Template) via CoSchedule

This post walks you through building a marketing report using a free flexible and editable template. The great part about this template - they understand marketers have different tool sets and workflows so they demonstrate how and where to find the data from free sources. You can of course replace those tools with your own paid alternatives when available.

Monthly Marketing Reporting Templates via HubSpot

Can't afford fancy reporting software? This set of free templates includes an Excel spreadsheet and PowerPoint deck to help you measure the key metrics that your team impacts and communicate them back to your team, CEO and boss. Geared toward digital marketing activities covers key metrics like reach, website visits, leads generated, and conversion rates. You simply plug your data into the excel spreadsheet, and the equations and graphs automatically update. You can then use these graphics as visual support in the presentation deck.

6 Google Analytics Report Templates Every Marketer Needs via Track Maven

These six Google Analytics reports are free, ungated, and editable, so you can customize them for your needs. When you click on the link for each report you are taken directly to that report in your own Google Analytics account - pretty nifty! The six reports cover content performance, traffic acquisition, search performance, campaign performance, website health and eCommerce performance.

I hope you found these resources helpful in making your more effective and efficient in your marketing reporting. If you are ready to improve some of those metrics, like cost per lead, get your copy of our 30 Greatest Lead Generation Tips, Tricks and Ideas guide.

This blog is a part of the Definitive Guide to Marketing Automation blog series.