Client reports for marketing agencies: what to include and how to save time

Client reports take agencies more time than almost anything else that doesn't change results: pulling numbers from Google Ads, Search Console and Analytics, pasting them into slides, and writing what happened. Here's what a good monthly report contains, what to leave out, and how to get the time down.

What clients actually read

Most clients read the first page and the totals. Put the answer first:

1. What happened this month, in three sentences. "Leads were up 12% at a lower cost. Organic traffic fell on two service pages; we've updated both. Next month we're moving budget from X to Y."
2. The handful of numbers that match their goal. For a lead business: leads, cost per lead, spend, and where leads came from. Not impressions, not CTR.
3. What went well, what needs fixing, what you'll do next. This is the part they pay for.

Everything else (campaign tables, search terms, keyword lists, traffic channels) goes after, for the client who wants to dig.

What to leave out

• Metrics without a decision behind them. If a number going up or down wouldn't change anything you do, it's noise.
• Every campaign in a long table. Show the three that moved and summarise the rest.
• Unexplained drops. A falling chart with no explanation creates a worried email. Explain it or don't show it.

Use the same dates everywhere

Search Console runs two or three days behind Google Ads and Analytics. If the ads section covers to the 31st and the search section to the 28th, numbers won't add up and the client will notice. End every section on the last day all the sources have complete.

The usual ways to build reports

Approach	Good for	Watch out for
Slides or spreadsheets by hand	Full control, any format	Hours per client each month, copy-paste mistakes
Looker Studio	Free dashboards from Google's data	Connectors for non-Google sources often cost extra; dashboards show numbers but don't explain them; charts break when accounts change
Reporting suites (AgencyAnalytics, DashThis and others)	Many integrations, white-label templates	Priced per client or per dashboard; check what each plan includes
Monitoring tools that also report	Reports that come with what changed and why	Fewer integrations than the big suites

There's no single right answer: it depends on how many clients you have, which platforms they use, and whether the report or the commentary takes you longer.

Cut the time with a monthly routine

• Keep one template per client type, not per client.
• Write the commentary while you work, not at the end of the month. A note when you change a budget is a sentence for the report.
• Set alerts for the big moves, so the report explains what you already handled instead of surprising you.

MetricDeck builds a client report from each client's Google Ads, ChatGPT ads, Search Console, Analytics and website over one period that every source has complete, opens with the open alerts and an AI summary of what went well, what needs fixing and what to do next (every number worked out by code, editable before you send), and shares it as a link or a PDF with your logo. See a sample report in the demo, no sign-up.