# Reporting Templates — Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly

## Reporting Philosophy

Reports exist to drive decisions, not to display data. Every section of every report should answer one of three questions: What happened? Why did it happen? What should we do about it?

### Report Design Principles

| Principle | Application |
|-----------|-------------|
| **Lead with the answer** | Start with the headline insight, not the methodology |
| **Compare to something** | Every number needs context — prior period, target, or benchmark |
| **Separate signal from noise** | Only flag metrics that moved beyond normal variance |
| **End with action** | Every report closes with recommended next steps |
| **Match the audience** | Executives get summaries; operators get detail |

---

## Weekly Performance Report Template

**Purpose:** Surface what changed this week, why it matters, and what to do next week.
**Audience:** Marketing team, department leads.
**Delivery:** Every Monday by 10am.

### Section 1: Executive Summary (3-5 sentences)

Write a brief narrative covering:
- Overall performance vs. target (on track / off track / ahead)
- The single most important thing that happened this week
- The single most important action for next week

### Section 2: Scorecard

| Metric | This Week | Last Week | WoW Change | Target | vs Target |
|--------|-----------|-----------|------------|--------|-----------|
| Revenue | $X | $X | +X% | $X | +/-X% |
| Sessions | X | X | +X% | X | +/-X% |
| Leads / Conversions | X | X | +X% | X | +/-X% |
| CAC / CPA | $X | $X | +X% | $X | +/-X% |
| ROAS (Blended) | X.Xx | X.Xx | +X% | X.Xx | +/-X% |
| Email Revenue | $X | $X | +X% | $X | +/-X% |

**Color coding convention:**
- Green: > 5% above target
- Yellow: Within 5% of target
- Red: > 5% below target

### Section 3: Channel Performance Snapshot

| Channel | Spend | Revenue | ROAS | CPA | Sessions | CVR | Notes |
|---------|-------|---------|------|-----|----------|-----|-------|
| Paid Search | | | | | | | |
| Paid Social | | | | | | | |
| Organic Search | — | | — | — | | | |
| Email / SMS | — | | — | — | | | |
| Direct | — | | — | — | | | |
| Referral | — | | — | — | | | |

### Section 4: Alerts & Anomalies

For each anomaly detected:
1. **What:** Which metric moved and by how much
2. **Why:** Root cause (confirmed or hypothesized)
3. **So what:** Impact if left unaddressed
4. **Now what:** Recommended action

### Section 5: This Week's Tests & Experiments

| Test Name | Status | Channel | Hypothesis | Preliminary Results | Decision |
|-----------|--------|---------|------------|--------------------|---------|
| | Running / Complete | | | | Continue / Stop / Scale |

### Section 6: Next Week Priorities

- [ ] Priority 1: [Action] — Owner — Due date
- [ ] Priority 2: [Action] — Owner — Due date
- [ ] Priority 3: [Action] — Owner — Due date

---

## Monthly Performance Report Template

**Purpose:** Full performance review with trend analysis and strategic implications.
**Audience:** Marketing leadership, cross-functional stakeholders, finance.
**Delivery:** By the 5th business day of the following month.

### Section 1: Executive Summary

| Item | Detail |
|------|--------|
| **Month** | [Month Year] |
| **Revenue vs Target** | $X vs $X target (+/-X%) |
| **Spend vs Budget** | $X vs $X budget (+/-X%) |
| **Efficiency Trend** | Blended ROAS / CAC trend direction and magnitude |
| **Headline Win** | Single biggest positive outcome |
| **Headline Risk** | Single biggest concern requiring attention |
| **Key Decision Needed** | What leadership needs to decide based on this data |

### Section 2: Revenue & Conversion Funnel

| Funnel Stage | This Month | Last Month | MoM Change | YoY Change | Target |
|-------------|------------|------------|------------|------------|--------|
| Impressions / Reach | | | | | |
| Sessions / Traffic | | | | | |
| Leads / Add-to-Cart | | | | | |
| MQLs / Checkout Initiated | | | | | |
| Customers / Orders | | | | | |
| Revenue | | | | | |

**Stage-by-stage conversion rates:**

| Transition | Rate | MoM Change | Benchmark |
|-----------|------|------------|-----------|
| Session → Lead | X% | | |
| Lead → MQL | X% | | |
| MQL → Customer | X% | | |
| Overall (Session → Customer) | X% | | |

### Section 3: Channel Deep-Dive

For each active channel, report:

**Paid Search**
- Spend: $X (vs $X budget)
- Revenue attributed: $X
- ROAS: X.Xx
- Top performing campaigns (top 3 by revenue)
- Underperforming campaigns flagged
- Keyword-level insights (new winners, rising CPCs)

**Paid Social**
- Spend: $X (vs $X budget)
- Revenue attributed: $X
- ROAS: X.Xx
- Creative performance summary (top 3 ads by ROAS, creative fatigue alerts)
- Audience insights (best segments, saturation signals)

**SEO / Organic**
- Sessions: X (MoM trend)
- Keyword rankings: Movement summary
- Content performance: Top pages by traffic and conversion
- Technical health: Core Web Vitals, crawl errors

**Email / SMS**
- Revenue: $X
- Revenue as % of total: X%
- List growth: +X net new subscribers
- Campaign performance: Open rate, CTR, revenue per send
- Flow performance: Revenue from automated flows

**Referral / Affiliate / Partnerships**
- Revenue: $X
- Top referral sources
- Partner performance

### Section 4: Cohort & Retention Analysis (if applicable)

| Acquisition Month | Month 0 | Month 1 | Month 2 | Month 3 | Month 6 | Month 12 |
|-------------------|---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|----------|
| [3 months ago] | 100% | X% | X% | X% | | |
| [2 months ago] | 100% | X% | X% | | | |
| [1 month ago] | 100% | X% | | | | |
| [This month] | 100% | | | | | |

### Section 5: Budget Reconciliation

| Channel | Budget | Actual Spend | Variance | Efficiency (ROAS/CPA) | Recommendation |
|---------|--------|-------------|----------|----------------------|----------------|
| | | | | | Increase / Maintain / Decrease |

### Section 6: Experiment Results

| Test | Channel | Hypothesis | Result | Stat. Sig? | Impact Estimate | Next Step |
|------|---------|------------|--------|-----------|-----------------|-----------|
| | | | Win / Loss / Inconclusive | Yes / No | $X/month | Scale / Iterate / Kill |

### Section 7: Next Month Plan

- Top 3 priorities with owners and success criteria
- Budget allocation changes (if any)
- Planned experiments
- Known risks or dependencies

---

## Quarterly Business Review (QBR) Template

**Purpose:** Strategic review connecting marketing performance to business outcomes.
**Audience:** Executive team, board (if applicable).
**Delivery:** Within 10 business days of quarter end.

### QBR Structure

1. **Quarter Summary** (1 slide / section)
   - Revenue vs target, spend vs budget, key efficiency metrics
   - 3 headline wins, 1 headline miss

2. **Goal Scorecard** (1 slide / section)

   | Q[X] Goal | Target | Actual | Status | Commentary |
   |-----------|--------|--------|--------|------------|
   | Revenue | $X | $X | On/Off Track | |
   | New Customers | X | X | | |
   | CAC | $X | $X | | |
   | LTV:CAC | X:1 | X:1 | | |
   | Brand Metric | X | X | | |

3. **Channel Portfolio Review** (1 slide per channel)
   - Quarterly performance, trend vs prior quarters, efficiency, saturation signals

4. **Customer Insights** (1 slide / section)
   - Acquisition channel mix shift, retention trends, segment-level performance

5. **Competitive Landscape** (1 slide / section)
   - Market share movement, competitor activity, share of voice

6. **Experiment Learnings** (1 slide / section)
   - All tests run in quarter, results, cumulative impact

7. **Next Quarter Strategy** (2-3 slides / sections)
   - Goals, budget request, channel strategy, key bets, risk mitigation

8. **Appendix**
   - Detailed data tables, methodology notes, glossary

---

## Campaign Report Template

**Purpose:** Evaluate a specific campaign's performance against its objectives.
**Use:** Post-campaign (within 5 business days of campaign end).

### Campaign Overview

| Field | Detail |
|-------|--------|
| Campaign Name | |
| Objective | Awareness / Consideration / Conversion |
| Flight Dates | Start — End |
| Total Budget | $X |
| Total Spend | $X |
| Target Audience | |
| Channels Used | |

### Performance vs Objectives

| Objective Metric | Target | Actual | % of Target | Verdict |
|-----------------|--------|--------|------------|---------|
| | | | | Met / Missed / Exceeded |

### Creative Performance

| Creative Variant | Impressions | CTR | CPA | ROAS | Engagement Rate |
|-----------------|-------------|-----|-----|------|----------------|
| | | | | | |

### Audience Performance

| Segment | Spend Share | Revenue Share | CPA | ROAS |
|---------|------------|---------------|-----|------|
| | | | | |

### Key Learnings

1. What worked and should be repeated
2. What underperformed and why
3. What should be tested next time

---

## Data Visualization Best Practices

| Chart Type | Best For | Avoid When |
|-----------|----------|------------|
| Line chart | Trends over time | Fewer than 4 data points |
| Bar chart | Comparing categories | More than 10 categories |
| Stacked bar | Part-to-whole over time | More than 5 segments |
| Pie chart | Simple share (2-4 segments max) | More than 4 segments (use bar) |
| Scatter plot | Correlation between two metrics | Small datasets |
| Table | Precise values matter | Audience needs pattern recognition |
| Sparkline | Inline trend in a scorecard | When detail is needed |

### Formatting Rules for Executive Dashboards

- [ ] No more than 6-8 metrics visible without scrolling
- [ ] Every metric has comparison context (vs target, vs prior period)
- [ ] Color is used for status, not decoration (red/yellow/green only)
- [ ] Titles are insights, not labels ("Revenue up 12% MoM" not "Revenue Chart")
- [ ] Filters default to the most common view (last 30 days, all channels)
- [ ] Mobile-readable if stakeholders access on phone
- [ ] Data refreshes automatically — no manual updates required

---

## Stakeholder Formatting Guide

| Audience | Format | Length | Focus | Update Cadence |
|----------|--------|--------|-------|----------------|
| CEO / Board | Slide deck or 1-pager | 3-5 slides | Business impact, strategic decisions | Quarterly |
| VP Marketing | Dashboard + narrative | 2-3 pages | Performance vs goals, resource allocation | Monthly |
| Channel Managers | Detailed tables + analysis | 3-5 pages | Tactical optimization, test results | Weekly |
| Cross-functional (Sales, Product) | Shared dashboard | 1 page | Shared metrics, pipeline, attribution | Monthly |
| Finance | Spreadsheet + summary | Budget reconciliation | Spend vs budget, ROI, forecasts | Monthly |

---

## Checklist: Before Sending Any Report

- [ ] Every metric has comparison context (prior period, target, or benchmark)
- [ ] Anomalies are explained, not just flagged
- [ ] The executive summary can stand alone without reading the full report
- [ ] Action items have owners and deadlines
- [ ] Data has been validated against source of truth
- [ ] Visualization choices match the message (trend = line, comparison = bar)
- [ ] Report was reviewed by at least one other team member
- [ ] Sent on schedule (never late — set expectations if data is delayed)
