Whether you’re a marketing manager or have taken the lead on a specific campaign, there are many reasons why you should write regular reports on marketing performance.
Firstly, this allows you to put important performance data in one place, ensuring that your campaigns are performing as desired and earning you a positive ROI. It also provides you with valuable insight into marketing trends, so that you can incorporate them into your latest strategy.
Beyond this, they can also be useful when it comes to pushing for a raise or promotion at work, as you have tangible evidence in place relating to your performance and the value you bring to the team.
With that in mind, here are some top tips for writing effective marketing reports.
Think carefully about your audience. When it comes to writing an effective report, you need to think carefully about your intended audience. For example, if you are sharing this with other members of the marketing department, you can feel free to use marketing-related terminology and keywords without needing to contextualize them. If you’re sharing it with other departments or senior managers without the same kind of experience, this may not be the case.
Start by writing a brief summary. While you can dive into a little more detail in the body of the report itself, it is best to open with a detailed summary that outlines your findings. This will make a longer report a little more digestible and easier to follow, while also bringing up potential pain points ahead of time. Just make sure that you understand the difference between paraphrasing and summarizing ahead of time.
Split your reports into separate sections. In order to make your report as easy to follow as possible, you should split the report into separate sections. For example, you may want to write a section for an easy KPI you are focusing on, or for each social media page you manage. This will also make it a little easier to write the report itself, as you have a framework to follow.
When it comes to structuring your report, you may want to find pre-existing templates online that you can use as a guide, especially if it has been some time since you last wrote anything of this length.
Incorporate visuals. Incorporating visuals into your report is also useful. For example, graphs and figures relating to campaign performance help contextualize and back up what you are saying. When referencing a specific campaign, sharing the final product can also be useful here. After all, those reading the report may not be as familiar with the campaign as you are, given that they have not spent the same amount of time on it.
Don’t rush the process. While you may be juggling multiple tasks at once, make sure that you dedicate an appropriate amount of time to writing the report itself. Rushing through the process could mean that you omit important information or make several errors along the way.
Use tools to enhance the quality of your report. There are plenty of digital tools that you can use to increase the quality of your report. For example, you could provide AI chatbots with performance data, asking them to assess which of your campaigns were successful based on specific metrics, meaning that you no longer have to assess this manually.
Alternatively, you can use these tools to ensure that there are no spelling or grammar mistakes in your reports.
Write about future goals and how you can achieve them. The point of a marketing report is not simply to assess your current performance, but also to carve a clear way forward. This means that you should make sure to include a section that discusses future goals or plans. For example, if you noticed great success when using the latest trending sounds in your TikToks or Instagram reels, it could be that you want to continue doing so moving forward. This means that your team should regularly check out the trending audios on the relevant platforms, so that they can release content that uses this as quickly as possible.
If you’re going to be requesting extra funding or hiring new marketing personnel, make sure that you provide them with ample evidence why this is necessary, using data to back up your points. Try to be as clear and concise as possible, as this will then leave little room for arguments moving forward.
Ask a colleague to look over your report. Asking a colleague to look over your report ahead of time can also be useful. This is because it can help ensure that you have covered all bases without accidentally skipping over a key conversation point or topic. If they are a little more experienced when it comes to writing reports, they may also be able to provide you with insight into ways in which you can improve the quality of your writing. This means that you’ll find it much easier to write similar reports moving forward.
Final thoughts. Being tasked with writing a marketing report can be a little daunting. After all, it’s a little different from the day-to-day tasks you complete as a marketing professional. However, there are plenty of steps that you can take to ensure your report is as effective as possible. This includes:
- Thinking carefully about your audience (Marketers, non-marketing professionals, investors)
- Writing a brief summary as an opener.
- Splitting the report into several sections to allow for easy reading and coherency.
- Incorporating visuals that back up what you are saying and break down walls of text.
- Ensuring that you are not rushing the process, giving the task the time it needs.
- Using tools to enhance the quality of your writing and the content of the report.
- Writing about future goals as opposed to your current performance alone.
- Asking a colleague for advice and feedback during the writing process.
Following the advice above will allow you to construct a report that is detailed, accurate and effective.
