Showerthought: I just spent 3 days trying to explain a simple analytics report to a client

I had this client, a local bakery in Denver, who kept asking for 'the numbers' on their social ads. I sent over the usual report with clicks, reach, and cost per result. They came back totally confused, asking what any of it meant for their actual sales. I realized I was just dumping data, not telling a story. So I spent the next three days remaking the whole thing. I turned it into a simple one-pager that linked ad spend directly to estimated foot traffic and pie sales, using plain language and a couple of charts. It took way longer than the hour I'd planned, but they finally got it. Has anyone else had to completely rebuild how they report data to make it stick for a small business owner?

2 comments

2 Comments

kim_hart722d ago

Oh man, that's the worst part of the job!

adams.harper22d ago

Actually @kim_hart7, the worst part is when you finish a huge task and then the client changes the whole plan. Like spending a week on a design they approved, only for them to say they want it totally different on Friday afternoon. That "start over from zero" feeling is way worse than any boring paperwork, lol.