A useful marketing report helps someone decide what to do next. It connects activity to a business objective, explains what the evidence supports and identifies where judgment or approval is needed.
Start with the decision
At AWS Legal, my responsibilities included market analysis, client surveys and regular marketing reports to the partnership board. That required explaining the work in terms relevant to the firm, alongside the channel measures used to manage it.
Different businesses need different measures. A retailer may need to understand orders and margin; an equipment business may need to understand the quality and progress of inquiries. A channel dashboard alone cannot answer every commercial question.
Four questions I use to structure a review
- What were we trying to achieve? State the business objective and the period being reviewed.
- What happened? Show the relevant result, comparison and source.
- What can we reasonably conclude? Explain attribution limits, missing information and other factors.
- What should we do next? Recommend an action, its trade-offs and any approval required.
Name the measure accurately
At Porter Group, I reported Google Ads on the value of the inquiries it generated: a 3.5x return in inquiry value. Calling that revenue would have been easier and wrong, and the difference matters when someone is deciding whether to change a budget.
Raise problems while there is time to respond
If work underperforms, I aim to explain the evidence early and bring a recommendation. I also carry business constraints back into the brief so the team understands why the plan is changing. Reporting works best when it supports that conversation in both directions.