The essentials
- The principle: reporting belongs to the client, not to the provider; it measures the objectives set in the contract, from a neutral source, with commentary that leads to an action.
- What to demand: a permanent online dashboard, a commented monthly report of 2 to 4 pages, a quarterly review with recommendations, alerts within 48 hours.
- Access: accounts in the company's name, read access to every platform, history export at any time.
- 2026 clauses: quantified objectives, metrics and definitions, reporting format and deadlines, data ownership, handover at the end of the contract.
Steering a digital service relies on data, and the data arrives through the provider's reporting. Too often, that reporting is decided by the provider alone: chosen metrics, imposed format, figures taken from the platforms, sent without a meeting. The client must set out what they expect before signing. This article describes the minimum contents to demand, the format and frequency, data access, contract clauses and the refusals that should raise a flag. The list of metrics themselves is in the metrics to ask for in a marketing report, and the full set of deliverables in the key deliverables of a marketing data provider.
The minimum contents
| Element | Requirement | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Contract objectives | Restated on the first page with the month's value, the target and the gap | The report measures what was promised |
| Results from a neutral source | Leads, sales or revenue read in GA4 or the CRM, not in the platform | Platforms overstate by 30 to 80% |
| Full cost per result | Media plus fees, by channel | The only figure that allows an arbitration |
| Brand share | Results on the company name isolated | Avoids presenting brand traffic as new business |
| Comment | Cause of each gap, proposed action, owner, date | A figure without an action is useless |
| Past actions | Result of the previous month's actions | Closes the loop |
| Reliability of the measurement | Anomalies, share of consented traffic, tag changes | A wrong figure is worth less than no figure |
The format and frequency
- The online dashboard: accessible at any time, updated at least daily, in the company's name, with the leadership, channel and measurement pages. It is the source; the report is a commentary on that source.
- The monthly report: 2 to 4 pages, delivered within 5 working days after the end of the month, presented in a 30-minute meeting. No 30-page PDF of screenshots.
- The quarterly review: results vs objectives, cost per result by channel, prioritised and quantified recommendations, a reallocation proposal.
- Alerts: a drop in conversions, abnormal spend, a tracking failure, flagged within 48 hours with the action taken.
- The annual review: lasting value left with the company, trends, objectives for the following year.
Data access
Three non-negotiable requirements. The GA4, Google Ads, Tag Manager, Meta Business, LinkedIn Campaign Manager, Search Console and Google Business Profile accounts are created in the company's name, and the provider is invited to them with a revocable role. The company has read access to every platform and can check any figure in the report itself. The data and campaign history is exportable at any time, and the dashboard (or its connectors) is transferable at the end of the contract. The questions to ask on this point before signing are in KPIs and dashboards: 12 questions to ask.
Adapting the requirements to the channel
| Service | Specific reporting to demand | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| SEA | Cost per conversion from a neutral source by campaign, impression share, brand share, excluded terms, tests under way | Weekly through alerts, monthly |
| SEO and GEO | Organic non-brand traffic and leads, positions on commercial queries, citations by AI, pages delivered, technical fixes | Monthly, quarterly review |
| SMA | Cost per result on the click, frequency, share of new customers, creatives tested | Monthly |
| SMO | Posts, reach, engagement by format, traffic and leads from social; see the key deliverables of an SMO provider | Monthly |
| Analytics | State of the measurement, anomalies, decisions taken on the figures; see the key deliverables of a GA4 provider | Monthly |
| Site and conversion | Conversion rate by step, A/B tests and results, speed | Monthly |
The clauses to write into the contract
- Objectives: three quantified and dated result metrics, from a neutral source, with brand share isolated.
- Definitions: a glossary appended to the contract (formula, source, period for each metric).
- Reporting: format, minimum contents, delivery deadline, monthly meeting, alerts within 48 hours.
- Ownership and access: accounts in the company's name, permanent read access, history export.
- Presentation: documentation, access and dashboard handed over at the end of the contract, free of charge, within 15 days.
- Revision: objectives and metrics reviewed each quarter, in writing.
The refusals that should raise a flag
A serious provider accepts these requirements without difficulty, because they already work that way. Three refusals should raise a flag: refusing the neutral source (« our figures come from the platform, it is more accurate »), refusing account ownership (« it is simpler for us to manage everything on our side ») and refusing written commentary (« we will talk about it in the meeting »). A fourth signal is a report whose structure changes every month: it puts forward whichever metric is going up. The framework for assessing a provider's value over time is in assessing the real value of your provider.
How GreenRed helps
Rather than juggling several tools, GreenRed's overview brings these metrics together in a single dashboard, compares them over time and tells you which actions come first. You can try it free, with no card, from the Pricing.
Frequently asked questions
Which reporting should you demand from a digital marketing provider?
A permanent online dashboard in the company's name, a commented monthly report of 2 to 4 pages delivered within 5 working days and presented in a meeting, a quarterly review with quantified recommendations, and alerts within 48 hours in the event of an anomaly. The contents measure the contract objectives from a neutral source.
How often should a provider report back?
Every month through a report and a 30-minute meeting, every quarter through a review with reallocation, continuously through the dashboard and the alerts. A full weekly report is pointless; weekly alerts on spend and conversions are enough.
Should you accept platform figures in the reporting?
For internal optimisation, yes; for results and cost per result, no. Google Ads, Meta and LinkedIn each count their own conversions with their own windows, and their sum exceeds reality by 30 to 80%. Results are read in GA4 or the CRM.
What should the contract contain about reporting?
Three quantified objectives from a neutral source, a glossary of the metrics, the reporting format and deadlines, the monthly meeting, the alerts, ownership of the accounts in the company's name, permanent read access, history export and a full handover at the end of the contract within 15 days.
Which refusals from a provider should raise a flag?
Refusing the neutral source, refusing to create the accounts in the company's name, refusing written commentary with actions, and a report whose structure changes every month to put forward whichever metric is going up. These refusals create a dependency and hide the real results.