One of the clearest signs that a marketing report is working is when a client can take it to the owners and explain the results without me in the room.
That happened with a Bay Area commercial paving contractor we work with. We started with weekly check-ins while relaunching their campaigns. There was plenty to work through.
Over the following months, the conversation changed. Inquiries increased. Their schedule filled six to eight weeks ahead. They were declining same-day site visits because their team was already stretched.
Then their marketing contact presented our recap directly to the owners.
The report was doing its job. I offered to move our meetings to every other week or once a month.
What should a marketing report include?
For a service business, I want a monthly report to answer a few practical questions:
- How many inquiries came through tracked phone calls and forms?
- Where did those inquiries come from?
- Which became estimates, booked jobs or sales?
- What needs our attention next?
Whether you're investing in SEO or Google Ads, those answers connect the marketing work to the business. Our HVAC marketing case study shows how leads and attributed revenue can be presented together by channel.
Put the work in business terms
A commercial paving job can represent a substantial amount of work. Understanding what a job is worth gives the owner a useful way to think about their marketing investment.
That's the standard I want our reporting to meet: clear enough to share, specific enough to be useful, and connected to the decisions the business needs to make.
Adapted from Aaron's original post.