As an agency we get that you’re all about making data-driven decisions to improve campaign performance and drive business growth for your client. Working with so many channels, tools and campaigns for multiple clients means handling a lot of data. And more often than not, the one common tool for bringing all of this data together is Excel.
While Excel spreadsheets can be a useful tool for storing and organizing data, they may not be the best choice for real-time analysis and collaboration. This is where a data analytics platform comes in, providing you with report dashboards that will impress your clients & save you time.
Here’s just a few reasons why marketing agencies should consider using a data analytics platform laid out with some scenarios, that, let’s face it, you’ve probably lived through…
1. Increase your efficiency with a data analytics platform
Scenario:
It’s the summer and a client emails you urgently needing a report in an hour. Most of your staff are on holiday and you need to work on an important pitch. To keep your client happy, you need to export data from multiple platforms, format it and input it into your standard report format. All of this takes time that you don’t have.
A data analytics platform automates many of the tasks that would otherwise have to be done manually in Excel. For example, they can automatically refresh data, help users identify trends and generate reports.
In this scenario, if you were using a data analytics platform, you would have a pre-built client report dashboard which connects multiple data sources. This means the data refreshes at set times and provides a live view of performance. Your client would already have the shareable link to this report, taking away the time and effort needed for manual reporting.
2. Provide enhanced visualisations with report dashboards
Scenario:
It’s time for your monthly client meeting to review campaign reports with five stakeholders. You’ve spent a lot of time extracting the report information from multiple excel spreadsheets and adding it into your custom report template. Unfortunately, the agenda is bulldozed. They’re not happy with the report format. Kyle can’t see the connection between campaigns. Jenny is struggling to see the value in the metrics. Sarah can’t see the relationship between her business goals and these campaign metrics. You spend 45 minutes discussing how to make report improvements, leaving only 15 minutes to focus on the campaigns. The meeting has been derailed, the clients aren’t happy, and there’s no progress. It’s back to the drawing board – how can you combine these excel files into a report that satisfies all parties?
A data analytics platform offers a range of visualisation options via report dashboard which pull in the data from multiple sources.

With this tool you can present the data in an easy-to-understand format that will help you and your clients make quick and actionable data driven decisions. Plus, if they’re not happy with it you can easily make the changes without having to mess around with your Excel spreadsheets. By using a data analytics platform you’ll have time to dig deeper into the data insights available in the report dashboard and optimise campaigns. Below is a report dashboard example where you can see how easy it is to display the data and connect the meaning.

3. A data analytics platform gives you improved accuracy
Scenario
You are formatting multiple Excel sheets to prepare the data for a report. It took a while and a lot of concentration but it’s finally ready as one file to turn into the client report. Once your client receives the report they come back with a lot of questions, the report doesn’t seem to make sense. Unfortunately, when you accidentally used the wrong formula in one file, and forgot to export two key pieces of data in another. The report is wrong and your client relationship has been slightly damaged.
A data analytics platform connects your data and uses algorithms to analyse it. These platforms can also detect errors and inconsistencies in the data that might go unnoticed in Excel. In this scenario, using a data analytics platform would remove the manual element, reducing errors and giving you more time to focus on optimising the campaigns.
Supercharge your clients’ campaigns with ClicData
Being able to work more efficiently with reduced errors is a huge advantage. You could increase your billable hours, improve client relationships and supercharge your campaign results. The ClicData data analytics platform also allows you to white-label the tool and customise the appearance just like you do with your manual reports – and even better.
The benefits of using a data analytics platform are pretty clear, but we get that it can be daunting to move away from the familiarity of Excel. This is why we offer a free trial which comes with access to our support team who will help get you started, along with a library of 100’s of free marketing report dashboard templates.
Click here to start your free trial and supercharge your campaigns!