May 20, 2024

Simplifying Analytics for Clients

By Megalytic Staff - September 24, 2015

A great many Megalytic customers are digital marketing agencies. These agencies typically need to create monthly marketing campaign performance reports for their clients.
Why do they use Megalytic? Because Megalytic simplifies analytics for clients . The importance of the concept of simplification struck me as I was reading this blog post written by one of our awesome agency customers, Highline Ideas . The post talks about how important it is to simplify analytics for clients, and how they use Megalytic to do it.
If you work for an agency, you probably struggle with this problem as well. You've got data in Google Analytics, Google AdWords, and Google Search Console (formerly Webmaster Tools) - packed with insights that you need to share with clients. But, those tools are too complex for your end users, right? They just need a simple report that shows them what happened with their website and campaigns.
So, what can you do? Maybe cut and paste images from those tools into PowerPoint, Word, or Google Docs? Sure, many people go that route, but there are two big problems with that approach.
  1. The charts and tables can still be complex and confusing. Can your customers look at the screens from Google Analytics, AdWords, and Search Console and understand the importance of the data they are looking at? Probably some can, but many will struggle. You need to simplify the data to address just the issues that your client cares about.
  2. It is a lot of time-consuming grunt work to build reports through manual cut-and-paste. And even if you do it, you are going to have to do it again next month, and the month after, etc., etc. Wouldn't it be better to simply set up the report once and have it generated automatically each month?
Megalytic solves both these problems for you. First, using connections to your Google Analytics, Google AdWords, or Search Console (formerly Webmaster Tools), Megalytic automatically pulls in the data you need and displays it in simple charts or tables, that you can easily customize to suite the needs of your clients. Secondly, Megalytic keeps your reports up to date, so that once you have set up a report they way that you want it, the report will always be populated with the latest monthly data. No more re-inventing the wheel each month!
This blog post takes you through the steps of setting up your first Megalytic report. If you have questions or comments, please contact us by submitting a help request .

Simplify with Megalytic

Step 0 - Download the Sample Report

As you learn to create a Megalytic report, it is important to know what you are shooting for. So, click to download this Megalytic Sample Report that shows how analytics can be presented to clients in a simple way that can be understood and appreciated.

You can refer back to that report as you go through these steps, and it will help you remember what you are shooting to produce for your own clients.

Step 1 - Creating a Megalytic Trial Account

Megalytic provides a free 14-day, full featured trial account. The account gives you access to all Megalytic features. If you need to extend your trial beyond 14 days, just let us know by submitting a help request .

It is easy to create a trial account. Just register here , and follow the prompts to create your first report.

You can also watch this video , that walks you through the steps of creating a trial account and producing your first report.

Step 2 - Editing the Sample Report

When you created your account, you also created a sample report, which was generated from one of Megalytic's built-in templates .

The next step in learning to use Megalytic, is learning how to edit a report to produce exactly what your clients need to see. Editing in Megalytic is easy. And to get you started, this video shows exactly how to start editing the sample report in your Megalytic account.

Step 3 - Include your Client's KPIs

Now that you know how to edit a Megalytic report to give your client exactly the data they need, its time to add some key performance indicators (KPIs) to your report. These KPIs are the critical numbers your client cares about, like Revenue, Unique Visits, Leads, etc.

Learn to use Megalytic's KPI Widgets to display this information at the top of your report. Lead of with the KPIs and then follow up by drilling down on the details that show what trends are driving the top line KPIs.

Step 4 - Include Data about Goals that are Important to Your Client

The key to any simple, effective report is showing the client some data that relates specifically to the goals of their campaigns or website. Whether it be eCommerce sales, or lead generation forms, your client is always going to want to know exactly how they are doing.

In Megalytic, it is easy to report on Goals using the Goal Conversion widgets. This blog post shows how to create and customize goals conversion charts and tables .

Step 5 - Add Text to Your Report to Tell a Story

At this point, you've pulled together the data that needs to be in the report. Now, it is time to tie it all together with text that explains the data to your client.

A great report should tell a story with data . For doing this, you can use the Megalytic Notes Widget to add and format text in your report.

Step 6 - Add Your Logo and a Covet Page

Your Megalytic report can and should reflect your brand identity. Megalytic gives you the tools that you need to brand your analytics report. You can add a company logo that appears on all reports. Or you have a different logo - maybe the client's logo - on each report .

You can also create a cover page , where you can include both your branding and your client's logo. The cover page is also a great place to include a summary paragraph describing the major insights contained in the report.

Conclusion

With Megalytic, you can simplify analytics for your clients. Create reports for them that show just the data that they care about. Focus in on the simple insights that will help them drive their business. It is not hard to get started with Megalytic. Just follow the steps outlined above, and if you need a reference, have a look at this Megalytic Sample Report .