The marketing report you should demand from your agency
The monthly report is any agency's moment of truth. And yet, most reports out there are a 30-page PDF designed not to be read: vanity metrics, platform screenshots and zero answers to the only question that matters: is this growing my business?
The signs of a bad report
- It talks impressions, reach and likes before sales.
- It shows platform ROAS without crossing it with your store's real sales.
- It arrives the last week of the following month, when it no longer helps decisions.
- It has no "what's next" section: all past, no plan.
What a serious report must include
Net channel sales against the same month last year. Real growth, no makeup. Total spend and channel ROAS. What came in versus what went out, from all sources. CPA against target. With context: a high CPA in a launch month can be a good sign. A reading of the data, not just figures. What worked, what did not and why. Concrete next steps. What will be done differently next month.
The standard we set for ourselves
Our reports are generated by AI agents that cross the store, GA4, Meta and Google, and we deliver them in the first days of the month. When the goal is beaten at 120 percent, it shows. When something failed, it also shows, with the plan to fix it. That transparency makes some agencies uncomfortable. It renews our contracts.
If you need a dictionary to read your report, the problem is not you.
Take your last report and run it through this list. If it fails on two or more points, you know what to discuss in your next meeting.
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