A marketing agency guide to client reporting dashboards

What to take away

Fix the questions and the definitions first

A dashboard for a marketing agency client is a decision tool, not a wall of numbers. Start with the questions the client asks in every update call. If the client wants to know which channel pays back, the dashboard needs cost, conversion and revenue in one view.

Write the client question before the metric

Write each question on one line, then list the metrics that answer it and nothing more. For example, a client paying £2,000 a month for paid search may only need cost per acquisition and lead quality score. Extra metrics add maintenance and invite arguments about numbers nobody uses.

For the wider reporting cycle, our guide to measurement and reporting for marketing agencies sets out how measurement fits each stage of a client relationship. Use it when you rewrite your own reporting pack.

Keep one definitions sheet for every metric

Two teams can report the same word with different sums. A definitions sheet fixes what counts, which date range applies and who owns the number. A single row might read:

Where a client asks how the method stands up, point to a written rule. The UK Statistics Authority publishes the standards and codes of practice that credible statistical reporting follows. Use its Code of Practice as the checklist for your own definitions.

Set the refresh cycle from the slowest source

A dashboard is only as good as its refresh. Decide where each number comes from and who checks it before the client sees it. Build the views in Looker Studio or a shared spreadsheet template so the client opens one link.

Choose sources you can refresh on a known cycle

Ad platforms, CRM and finance systems each run to their own timetable. Match the dashboard cycle to the slowest source. If a channel reports weekly, do not promise a daily figure for it. Typical cadences look like this:

To put a client's size in context, the ONS non-financial business economy statistics publish UK business counts, turnover and employment by industry. Use it to size a client's market before you set a target.

Split the refresh from the review

Refresh runs on a machine schedule; the review is a conversation. Keep them apart, and fix a broken formula before the meeting rather than during it.

Attribution rules deserve the same treatment, and marketing agencies attribution methods in England explains how the model you choose changes the story a channel tells. Pick the model before you build the chart.

Write a two line action under each chart

The client sees one page, not the build. Lead with the outcome, then the drivers behind it.

Put commentary next to the chart

A chart shows what moved; a sentence says what to do about it. Keep each comment to two lines: the change, then the next action. One pattern that works: name the movement in the first line, then the decision in the second, as in 'cost per acquisition rose after the budget moved' followed by 'pause the weakest ad groups and move that spend back to brand'. Print the data date under every headline figure so nobody reads a two week lag as current performance.

Prune the dashboard each quarter

The dashboard owner asks the client which charts they used last quarter, then removes the rest. Record the answer in the definitions sheet so a retired chart does not come back. Twenty tiles usually hide the three that matter.

Media clients can compare delivery with published benchmarks: the ISBA and mediasense report on UK digital retail media networks sets out a capability baseline for that market. Use it when a retail media client asks what good looks like.

Glossary

Common questions

How many metrics should a client dashboard carry?

Most clients need five to seven headline metrics, with the rest on a working page. Anything without a decision attached belongs in an appendix.

Who should own the dashboard?

One named person owns the refresh, another owns the client conversation.

How often should the reporting set be reviewed?

Every quarter, and again when a client changes scope or channel mix. A metric that made sense on a retainer of, say, £3,000 a month may be pointless after the client moves that budget elsewhere.