5 reporting mistakes holding you back—and what to change to win stakeholders over

Whether or not you’re reporting social media efficiency weekly or month-to-month, to a boss or shopper, one factor is for certain: reporting can simply turn out to be a ‘go-through-the-motions’ activity.

There’s a set format you observe, metrics you report on, a template you employ—and a rush to finish it.

However let’s reframe our pondering for a second: what if, by going via the motions, you’re lacking a serious alternative?

Reporting is your constant likelihood to show the worth of your work. It’s a strong alternative to say, “Look how strategic and efficient we’re.” It’s about displaying stakeholders your influence, which may translate into extra finances, affect, or further workforce members.

So, what errors may very well be holding you again from turning your most boring activity into your strongest instrument?

1. Shedding focus of your technique.

The day-to-day rush of social media means we’re all the time targeted on the micro efficiency of particular person posts. So by specializing in general month-to-month outcomes like, “Engagement is up 2.4%,” it might mistakenly really feel like we’re doing a very good job of ‘seeing the larger image’. In actuality, monitoring month-on-month progress alone doesn’t do sufficient to align your outcomes with enterprise targets.

As an alternative: Use your report as a month-to-month likelihood to floor your leads to technique.

Don’t simply present progress or decline in isolation. Remind the reader of how your outcomes match into a much bigger enterprise image. A rise in engagement can point out a strengthening group; a lower in click-throughs would possibly show that Instagram isn’t the perfect conversion instrument. Tying outcomes to long-term targets paints a much bigger image and demonstrates strategic pondering.

2. Overloading the reader with info.

It’s straightforward to fall into the behavior of making a fill-in-the-blanks report that repeats the identical numbers each time: engagement price, follower progress, attain, prime posts, clicks—maybe for each single submit that’s gone out. But there’s a excessive likelihood your reader is glazing over the metrics, and nothing is sinking in.

As an alternative: Spotlight what issues most.

By slimming your report, or pairing it with a abstract that spotlights what to deal with, your stakeholder is extra more likely to acknowledge the worth in your work. For instance, if model consciousness amongst shoppers is your focus, emphasize metrics like shares or attain on consumer-heavy channels like Instagram and TikTok. If LinkedIn isn’t contributing to your model consciousness purpose, does it deserve as a lot consideration in your report? Think about the important thing takeaway you need your stakeholder to achieve, and reduce out info that doesn’t add to that story.

3. Assuming senior leaders perceive jargon.

A time period like ‘engagement price’ or ‘VTR’—whereas apparent to you—may be much less acquainted to senior stakeholders. These phrases can act as an ‘off’ change for a non-technical viewers’s consideration.

As an alternative: Spell out precisely what the metrics imply, and why they matter.

As an example, as an alternative of merely saying, “Our engagement price elevated by 12.4%,” translate this right into a tangible takeaway: “This primarily got here from a rise in saves on academic content material which signifies our viewers is discovering worth on this strategy.” By increasing on technical phrases utilizing on a regular basis language, you’re not dumbing down the info—you’re making certain your insights resonate throughout all stakeholders.

4. Sending equivalent studies to all stakeholders.

A one-size-fits-all strategy doesn’t all the time work for studies. Most CEOs will respect top-level insights, whereas content material administrators might be eager to dive into the nitty-gritty.

As an alternative: Construct completely different studies for various audiences.

For senior stakeholders, deal with high-level outcomes and their enterprise influence. For advertising groups, dive deeper into the metrics​ and particular person submit efficiency. Use instruments that streamline this course of, permitting you to regulate studies based mostly on the reader with out rising your workload.

5. Solely speaking about what’s already occurred.

Reviewing the numbers for the earlier month with out linking them to future actions could make studies really feel reactive reasonably than strategic. Stakeholders wish to understand how the info informs future plans, not simply what occurred final month.

As an alternative: Clarify what’s arising—even when nothing’s altering.

Even when your plan is to provide extra of the identical, it’s important to display thoughtfulness in your subsequent steps. For instance: “We’ll proceed this strategy to construct consistency subsequent month.” Ahead-looking insights present that you just’re not simply monitoring efficiency, however actively utilizing metrics and outcomes to information it. This is a crucial step in direction of positioning your self as a subject professional, and constructing affect inside your group.

And to make that course of sooner and smoother, having the correct instruments is essential. With Sked Social’s new Customized Stories characteristic, you may simply create polished PDF studies that combine natural and paid metrics from all of your social channels. Save time with AI-powered insights, customizable studies for various stakeholders, and scheduled supply, making certain your workforce or purchasers all the time keep up to date—and also you maximize the chance that reporting presents. Begin leveraging your studies right this moment and drive much more impactful conversations together with your stakeholders.