Quick answer: A good monthly ads report leads with spend, real leads, cost per lead and customers won, then explains what changed and what happens next.
A monthly ads report should answer one question clearly: did the money we spent bring in enough of the right customers? Many reports bury that under pages of charts about impressions, reach and click-through rates. Here’s what a useful report contains.
The one-page summary
At the top, in plain language:
- Total ad spend (by platform)
- Total leads (forms, calls, messages), checked against your CRM or inbox
- Cost per lead (by platform and campaign)
- Qualified leads and jobs won, if you share that data
- Cost per customer, where available
- Comparison with last month and the same month last year
- Three to five sentences on what happened and why
If you only read this section, you should know whether the month was good.
What changed and why
- What was changed in the account (new ads, budget shifts, keywords added, negatives, landing page tests)
- What was learned (which offer or ad worked, which didn’t)
- Anything outside the account that affected results (seasonality, a website outage, staff shortages, a competitor promotion)
Platform detail
Google Ads
- Spend, clicks, conversions and cost per conversion by campaign
- Top search terms producing leads, and terms added as negatives
- Impression share and lost impression share (budget vs rank)
- Call volume and call length
Meta ads
- Spend, results and cost per result by campaign
- Best and worst performing ads, with thumbnails
- Frequency and signs of fatigue
- Lead form quality notes
Next month’s plan
- What will be tested or changed
- Any budget recommendations, with the reasoning
- What’s needed from you (photos, testimonials, offer details, feedback on lead quality)
Metrics that shouldn’t lead the report
Impressions, reach, clicks, CTR, CPM and engagement are useful diagnostics, but they aren’t results. If a report leads with them and buries leads, ask why.
What you can do to make reports better
Give your marketer feedback on lead quality. Even a simple monthly note (“20 leads, 12 real, 4 quoted, 2 won”) transforms what they can optimise for. Better still, connect your CRM so outcomes flow back automatically. See enhanced conversions for leads and sending Facebook leads to your CRM.
Live dashboards vs monthly reports
A live dashboard (Looker Studio or a CRM report) is handy for checking numbers any time. It doesn’t replace a written monthly summary that explains what happened and what’s next. You want both: the numbers, and the thinking.
Sources and further reading
- Looker Studio – Google’s free reporting dashboard tool
- See also: Cost per lead explained and why ad numbers don’t match
Written by Gregory
20 years building websites and running lead generation, mostly with my own money on the line. Based in Sydney, working with clients worldwide. How I work →