The top client reporting tools of 2024

You spent weeks developing a market campaign that hits all your client's key concerns. Now, it's time to present the results. Maybe you're sitting at a conference table. Maybe you're presenting remotely. Regardless, you probably feel a bit nervous.

A lot rides on this moment!

You know you've put a lot of hard work into making the campaign successful, but everyone at your marketing agency has experienced the challenges of creating client reports that include:

• Information from multiple data sources, including email marketing and social media platforms

• E-commerce with automated reporting tools you don't always trust

• Performance metrics from data reporting dashboards that won't let you create custom metrics

• Analysis from a business intelligence platform your marketing team didn't choose

With multiple tools playing any number of roles, it's hard to feel confident reporting to clients.

So, what would reliable marketing reporting tools do? For starters, they'd help you:

• Break down data silos

• Pull data from multiple marketing channels to give you a single source of truth

• Integrate with your preferred business intelligence and data visualization tools

• Give you more control over your report templates so you can impress clients

The right client reporting tools can give you flexibility, improve the accuracy of cross-channel reporting, and grow with your marketing agency.

With the best client reporting tools on your side, you can feel more confident going into your meetings. Sure, you might still feel a little nervous, but you won't need to worry that your marketing reporting tools will fail you during a critical moment.

Today, we'll cover some of the top client reporting tools so you can focus on tasks that really matter instead of worrying that a piece of software will make you look unprofessional. With the right technology behind you, you're going to nail that next meeting.

Software and tools to automate the process

When you start comparing reporting software and tools, look for automation that can streamline your processes. 

For example, you might want a tool that automatically pings data sources to ask for new information. If the source has new data to offer, it will send it to your preferred destination immediately. Once you set the automation, it does most of the work for you.

While automation is great for some tasks, you don't want software to make critical decisions for you. It's best to let automation handle low-level tasks. That way, you can focus on refining your marketing strategy.

Top 7 tools for client reporting:

Your client reporting software should make it as easy as possible to collect the data you need, analyze it, and turn it into a visually appealing report that demonstrates the value of your work.

We like these reporting tools more than others we've tried. If you choose one of them, you should find that you can create marketing reports that make you feel confident when you enter a client meeting.

1. Funnel

Naturally, we're going to start with our platform. After all, we've developed it to fit the unique needs of marketing professionals who understand the power of data-driven strategies.

Funnel is the perfect tool for agencies because it:

• Scales easily, so you can add new customers and data sources as your business grows

• Has a massive library of connectors that can automatically pull data from over 500 sources

• Gives you access to two years of historical data, so you can track long-term trends

• Provides a central hub for storing your data

• Uses built-in and custom data transformation for deeper insights into multi-channel campaigns

• Offers a straightforward client reporting dashboard tool with drag-and-drop functionality

Also, Funnel is extremely flexible. It offers the option to share data with different reporting software and tools, like Looker Studio (previously called Google Data Studio), but it also has built-in dashboards. You can choose to generate reports from within Funnel or use the solution to improve the data you send to other marketing reporting tools.

Potential challenges with Funnel

While we would love to solve every challenge, we are designed to address the needs of marketing teams. This means a no-code approach that specializes in helping our customers work more effectively with their marketing data.

More advanced users, like expert data scientists or business intelligence professionals, may find Funnel's features a bit limited, which is fair. That's by design. However, marketers can easily share all of their performance data from Funnel with these more advanced teams without affecting any transformations or data explorations they may have been working on.

2. Agency Analytics

Agency Analytics has an excellent user interface that makes creating custom reports easy. Slide-out menus give you immediate access to options you can add to reports. For example, you can click a menu to see all your social media data sources. From there, drag and drop functionality lets you add the items you want to your report.

You can also customize colors and charts for improved branding and communication.

Potential challenges with Agency Analytics

The biggest problem with Agency Analytics is that it doesn't give you a single source of truth. It works well as a client reporting tool, but you don't get strong data storage or analytics features. Instead, you end up relying on finicky APIs or paying for other tools that fill in the gaps.

3. Adverity

Adverity uses generative AI to write custom code that enhances or transforms data automatically. That's great for marketers who don't work with data professionals or software developers.

The platform also comes with plenty of no-code enrichments that users can set up within their dashboards.

Adverity has an impressive library of connectors for data sources and destinations. It's unlikely that you use a tool that won't integrate with Adverity's platform. Just click the connector you want to use and drag it onto your dashboard.

Potential challenges with Adverity

Adverity has the potential to leverage big data analytics for greater marketing success. Unfortunately, some users say the platform can get overwhelmed when connected to too many sources. When that happens, the application can crash.

While Adverity doesn't seem to crash during client presentations, it can create problems when generating complex reports. There are definitely good reasons to choose Adverity, but some marketers will prefer more stable client reporting tools that save time and provide more documentation.

4. DashThis

DashThis is interesting because it has unique dashboards for how you plan to use it. Currently, you can choose solutions that target the needs of:

• Freelancer marketers

• Marketing teams

• Marketing agencies

• Small businesses

• Executives

• Franchises

Other advantages include:

• Native integrations with top analytics tools like Google Ads and Google Analytics 4

• Customizable dashboards that automatically update as new data becomes available

• White label report templates that improve branding

Potential challenges with DashThis

Overall, DashThis is a straightforward client reporting tool with a simple user interface. Some of its features have steep learning curves, though. Expect to undergo quite a bit of training before you generate complex reports for clients.

The dashboard tool can also feel a bit cumbersome. While you can customize your dashboards, you have to move individual widgets to get the results you seek. Unfortunately, DashThis doesn't come with many templates that automate the customization process.

5. Tableau

Tableau is one of our favorite data visualization tools because it:

• Can connect to most data sources

• Offers role-based licensing that accommodates the technical skills of diverse users

• Lets you visualize business intelligence insights in ways that make trends obvious

Potential challenges with Tableau

While Tableau is a top data visualization tool, it doesn't provide all the features you need for effective digital marketing reporting. It works best in coordination with other platforms that can transform, clean, and store data.

If you only need analytics and visualization, Tableau wins. If you want client reporting tools that do it all, you have better options.

6. Geckoboard

Geckoboard's platform focuses on creating custom dashboards where marketers can access the KPIs that matter most to them. It integrates easily with leading platforms in the marketing industry, including HubSpot and Google Analytics.

Potential challenges with Geckoboard

Overall, we like that this flexible solution can collect data from diverse sources. Real-time metrics also help your team stay ahead of trends that could influence your campaign's success.

The downside is that Geckoboard wasn't built specifically for marketing professionals, so it might not appeal to the niche needs of marketers. The platform comes with several dashboards designed for marketing, but the company also targets professionals outside of marketing, like sales and HR, which could mean you don't get the latest integrations and features you'd expect from top reporting software. 

Right now, it's a good option. You'll want to pay close attention to how Geckoboard evolves, though, to make sure it meets your needs as a marketer.

7. NinjaCat

NinjaCat is a platform built to help digital marketing agencies collect data from more than 150 sources. The data reporting tool was specifically designed to serve media companies, multi-location brands, and marketing agencies in:

• Automotive

• Healthcare

• Franchise

• Property management

Many people like this marketing reporting software because it uses AI-driven analytics to automate tasks.

NinjaCat can also collect call data and analytics from your CRM, so it's a useful option for marketing campaigns that rely on calling leads.

Potential challenges with NinjaCat

Some NinjaCat users complain that the dashboard only supports 10 to 20 accounts, which can become a problem as your agency grows or you find clients who want marketing data from diverse, independent sources.

NinjaCat also doesn't notify users when reports experience problems, such as failing to autogenerate for clients. Imagine sending custom reports to a client who can't open the document. That's an embarrassing situation that could put your relationship at risk. Always make sure your automated marketing reporting tool has the stability you need to impress clients.

What to look for in client reporting tools

While we think any of these client reporting tools can work well for most departments and agencies, it's important to know what to look for before choosing an option.

Remember that software changes over time. The digital marketing reporting tool you loved a few years ago might fall short of your expectations today.

Keep these three functionalities in mind as you learn more about your current options.

Ease of use

Marketing reporting software should make your job easier. If it adds stress to your day, it probably isn't the right tool for you. Every hour you spend learning how to use a new feature – or potentially worse, trying to figure out whether a feature even exists – is time you could devote to planning a more creative, successful campaign.

Drag-and-drop interfaces are important, especially for marketers without technical data and coding skills. Ideally, you can build data pipelines that connect all your sources to a central hub.

These pipelines should be able to transform data types, making them more useful in your reports. If you can't transform data, you'll likely end up with a bunch of silos that limit your insights and make it difficult for you to communicate success stories to clients.

Don't assume all ETL (extract, transform, load) solutions were designed with marketing data in mind. Take a closer look to be sure you pick a tool developed for the unique needs of marketers.

Related reading: ETL limitation and ETL alternatives for marketers

Scalability

You want a tool that can scale easily when you want to add new clients that need reports. If the client reporting software limits the number of dashboards and reports you can generate, you'll eventually run into issues.

Imagine you've just convinced a major corporation to take a chance on your small marketing agency. After weeks of work, you want to present the results and secure them as a long-term client.

Then, you discover that your reporting tool won't let you add a new client or dashboard. What do you do? Faced with this impossible situation, you'd either need to delete an existing client or delay your meeting while you look for an alternative reporting tool.

Don't take that risk. Ensure you have a scalable solution now so you never run into surprises.

Just as important, you need client reporting tools that let you add new data source connections at any time. Marketing trends will always evolve, so you can expect to rely on new sources at some point.

A decade ago, you couldn't have known that TikTok would play a critical role in reaching young audiences. Without scalability that lets you add new sources, you give clients a negative impression that suggests you don't know how to grow with the times. No one wants to hire a marketing agency that can't pivot as quickly as consumers.

Reliability

All three of these factors – ease of use, scalability, and reliability – are critical. But nothing can create embarrassment like poor reliability.

An unreliable tool can bring nightmare scenarios to life. You stroll into a meeting feeling really proud of your work. You take out your laptop and connect it to the client's display. You start your presentation... and the whole thing falls apart. Either the report doesn't load, behaves erratically, or moves so slowly that you can see your audience getting more annoyed by the second.

You need a tool you trust completely. If it ever lets you down, you'll enter every meeting worried that a technical difficulty will undermine your presentation.

Other notable marketing reporting tools

The following tools can play an important role in creating effective marketing reports. On their own, they don't make the list of our favorite solutions. You should, however, look for marketing reporting software that can integrate with these critical data sources.

Google Analytics

Over 70% of businesses maintain some type of online presence. In today's internet-driven world, you almost have to have a website and social media profile to connect with customers. And that means you need a way to track your website's performance.

Google Analytics dominates the industry. Sure, you can use the dashboard that comes with most website building and hosting companies, like Squarespace and WordPress. When you need a professional digital marketing reporting tool, though, rely on Google Analytics.

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) became the default version in 2023. Some of the digital marketing reporting features that make it appealing include its ability to:

• Collect data from mobile apps as well as websites

• Integrate with other applications, including social media apps, to get a full view of your marketing campaign's success

• Identify marketing assets that drive the most conversions

• Gather information from third-party lead-generation sites

Google Search Console

Google Search Console is a good tool for marketers because it gives you access to your website data and lets you control which users are authorized to work within the account.

Some important metrics tracked by Google Search Console include:

• Impressions (the number of times a URL appears in Google search results)

• Click-through rate (CTR)

• Average position for optimized keywords

You can also use Google Search Console to add a sitemap and take advantage of other features that could boost your site's rank.

Semrush

You probably know about Semrush's search engine optimization (SEO) features, like keyword research and backlink ranking. It also has some market research features to consider.

With Semrush, you can:

• Measure the traffic of any website, including those competitors own

• Find gaps in your keyword and backlink strategies

• Discover promotional strategies competitors use

Connect Semrush with your favorite client reporting tool to demonstrate the effectiveness of your digital marketing.

Alternatives to Semrush include:

• Moz

• Ahrefs

• Surfer

Which marketing reporting tool works best for you?

You work hard to attract, impress, and retain clients. An effective, reliable reporting tool takes a lot of the effort out of managing those relationships.

If you want to see how agencies like yours can benefit from top reporting tools, schedule a demo with Funnel or start a conversation with a member of our team.

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