Business • Tech

Introduction The Top 5 Data Points You Need in a Marketing Report

by Janet Granger
3 years ago
4 min read
Written by Janet Granger
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Working with clients who have worked with other agencies or teams in the past, I’m constantly bewildered by the marketing reports they’ve received in the past.

The data is impossible to decipher or make sense of, it often doesn’t cover all the marketing tactics, and – most important of all – it doesn’t measure the results they (the client) want or need.

Whether you’re working with an outside agency or an internal team, they need to focus on the most important metrics to you. Here’s a quick guide to the top 5 data points every marketing team should be showing you, as the client.

1) What results did the emails/newsletter deliver?

If you’re doing a range of tactics, you want to see the results from each tactic. For example, if you’re sending emails, you want to see how the email(s) delivered.

The important metrics for emails are Open Rates and Click-Through-Rates (CTR). Open Rates show you how good the subject line was and if your target market recognized who the email came from.

Click-Through Rates (CTR) reflect how valuable the content was in the email.

Always keep in mind that emails sent from a third-party provider (such as Constant Contact) may be filtered into a different folder or place (in Gmail, it will probably to go to Promotions, for example). This influences the Open Rate and CTR.

2) What results did social media deliver?

Here’s the secret no one is paying attention to: social media should be driving traffic to sales pages or the website. Or making people call you. Those are the most important metrics!

Yes, it’s exciting to have a video go viral. To get LOTS of likes and shares. That’s wonderful for your brand. Is that what you want? Is that what you’re paying for?

If yes, you’re getting your money’s worth! If not – if you need sales, or website traffic, or other “conversion” rates – then you need to ask for those figures, too.

3) What results did SEO deliver?

The point of SEO is to increase your Google Authority. This is done through a wide variety of tactics – both on your website and pulling traffic to your website.

The concrete result for good SEO is the amount of ORGANIC traffic coming to your website. If you’re not seeing this data – organic traffic vs. direct traffic, for example, or other traffic sources (such as referral traffic, social media, etc.) then you’re not looking at the right data. (I see this happen ALL the time.)

If you look at the pie chart that I’ve used as the image for this post – that’s what you should be seeing in your reports. Or something similar. If you’re not seeing this, they’re not doing their job (as far as I’m concerned).

4) What did ad buying deliver?

Whether you’re buying ads on social media (such as Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn), or Google Ads, the whole point of the ads is to get the final result – traffic to your website or landing/sales page If you’re not seeing this increase when you buy these, then it’s time to rethink your media ad spend.

5) What about your website traffic? Or leads? Or foot traffic/calls?

At the end of the day, almost all organizations do marketing to increase their revenues. I think that marketers sometimes forget this. Or they don’t want to be held accountable when it comes to what they’re actually delivering to the client.

In marketing, the final delivery isn’t the marketing report.

What marketers should deliver is results – either more website traffic, more leads or calls, more foot traffic, etc.  Many organizations get fed up with marketing because they’re missing this important metric.

What about you? Are you seeing the marketing reports you need? Do you understand the reports you’re receiving? Is someone reviewing these reports with you?

If not, email me and let’s talk – I’m happy to help you figure out what your marketing is actually doing for you!

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Janet Granger

Janet Granger is the VP of Marketing at the Meeting Pool, getting the word out about Virtual Events and Meetings, talking about the 160 online events we managed during COVID-19. Our expertise in this area is unparalleled and Janet is focusing on hybrid events in 2021. There will always be a place for hybrid and Janet’s goal is to “get the word out” that the Meeting Pool covers more territory and has greater expertise than any other organization. In addition to her role at the Meeting Pool, Janet writes and speaks about digital strategy, inclusive marketing, and the inter-generational divide in the workplace. With over 25 years of marketing and strategy experience, she published "OK Boomer! Revelations of a Baby Boomer Working With Millennials" in 2020 (Amazon) to follow up "Digital Influence for Baby Boomers: Why you should care and yes, you can do this!" (Amazon) in 2016. Janet has an MBA in Marketing and Management from Columbia University and lives in Fort Lauderdale, FL. She is Chair of the Branding Council for the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce, also serving on the Board of Directors.
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