Client reports are frequently written to reassure rather than inform, which is why so few are read carefully. A disciplined agency campaign reporting workflow reports the same things every period, including the uncomfortable ones.
Report delivery first
Start with what was promised and what shipped. It is the part the client is paying for, it is entirely within your control, and reporting it openly builds more trust than any performance figure.
Agencies often lead with reach and bury delivery, which invites the suspicion that delivery is the weak part. Leading with it, including when a shortfall occurred and why, tends to produce a far more constructive conversation.
The structure
- Summary: three sentences — what happened, why, what changes.
- Delivered against planned, with reasons for any gap.
- Fixed metric set over an identical window each period.
- Best and weakest items, with a sentence of diagnosis each.
- What was learned, including anything contradicting last period.
- Decisions for next period, with owners on both sides.
- Anything blocked and waiting on the client.
- Limitations: what these figures cannot show.
The blocked section is worth keeping permanently. Most delays in agency work involve approvals or assets waiting on the client, and a standing line makes that visible without it becoming an accusation.
Commentary, not decoration
Numbers without interpretation push the analysis onto a reader with less context than you. Two sentences explaining a movement is worth more than another chart, and where you do not know the cause, saying so protects your credibility for the times you do.
Never present a metric as evidence for something it cannot support. Reach does not demonstrate sales, and implying it does works only until someone checks. The internal routine sits in the campaign performance review workflow, and formats in the monthly marketing report workflow.
Common questions
How long should a client report be?
One or two pages, with detail attached for anyone who wants it. Long reports get skimmed.
How often should reports go out?
Monthly for most retainers. Weekly reporting mostly reports variance and consumes time better spent producing.
Should bad periods be reported plainly?
Yes, with the cause and the response. Reports that are always positive stop being believed.
Should paid and organic be separated?
Always. Combined figures hide which effort produced which result.
Who should present the report?
Someone who can explain the numbers, not only read them aloud. See about.
Should reports include recommendations?
Yes, as decisions with owners rather than as suggestions. A recommendation nobody is accountable for is rarely acted on.
What if the client only wants headline numbers?
Give them the summary and attach the rest. Removing the detail entirely leaves nothing to check a claim against later.