As a PR agency that’s helped numerous clients showcase the ROI of their programs, we know that reporting results upwards isn’t just a mundane task, it’s a critical aspect of your program. Whether you’re reporting to your CEO or to the board, it’s your chance to demonstrate how PR and marketing efforts directly contribute to business success. And collaborating with your agency can transform this process, turning seemingly boring data into a compelling narrative that resonates at the top level.
You don’t need us to spell out the importance of reporting upwards, you already understand that getting it right will reap a multitude of benefits, from ensuring continued buy-in and resources for future initiatives to achieving better long-term results and building internal credibility for yourself and your team.
Here’s how we believe your PR agency should be helping you to craft impactful reports that speak your boss’s language:
1. Share a strategic perspective to align results with business goals
A good PR agency doesn’t just execute campaigns—they understand the bigger picture. To tap into their expertise and align PR and marketing outcomes with your company’s strategic objectives, you need to share these objectives openly and regularly with them. Whether it’s expanding into new markets, increasing brand authority, or driving demand, your agency can then help frame results to show how they support these goals.
For example: “This quarter’s PR efforts positioned us as thought leaders in [industry], resulting in a 30% increase in inbound leads from decision-makers in key accounts.”
2. Harness their data and market expertise to focus on what matters
Your boss doesn’t want a long list of unintelligible metrics, they want insights that tie to business impact. Work with your agency to identify the KPIs that matter most, like how PR coverage drove qualified leads or how digital marketing efforts contributed to pipeline growth.
Your PR agency can also provide context, comparing your results against industry benchmarks or competitor activity. This external perspective gives your report more weight and credibility.
3. Collaborate on storytelling
Agencies are experts at storytelling, and they can help you craft a narrative that resonates. Instead of presenting raw numbers, your agency can help weave them into a story:
- Start with the “why”: What were you trying to achieve?
- Showcase the impact: How did your efforts support business goals?
- Outline the next steps: What’s the plan for building on this success?
By collaborating with your agency, you ensure your report is more than a data dump, it’s a strategic narrative that keeps the boss engaged. Plus, if you let them in on your tricky siloes, they can help to resolve these by creating feedback that speaks to different teams within your business. Whether it’s marketing, sales or investors, each group might need information in a different way — or different information altogether!
4. Rely on their credibility
Sometimes, having an external voice in the room can elevate the conversation. If your boss needs reassurance about PR’s value, invite your agency to join the conversation. They can provide insights from other clients, share industry trends and validate the strategies you’re implementing. This third-party perspective often carries more weight than internal reporting alone, and hey — why not physically get them in the same room too? In-person interactions are not a myth!
5. Tap into their creative solutions for challenges
When reporting challenges, whether it’s a campaign that underperformed or an unexpected shift in the market, your agency can help craft a proactive narrative. They’ll work with you to demonstrate agility, highlighting lessons learned and the steps you’re taking to adapt.
For example: “While X campaign didn’t achieve the anticipated media coverage, it revealed opportunities to refine our messaging, which we’re now testing in Y market with promising early results.”
6. Simplify reporting with tools and dashboards
You may have worked from the same excel spreadsheet for the last ten years, but it might be time to question the value in that method. Many PR agencies offer sophisticated dashboards or reporting tools that distil complex data into clear, digestible insights. Use these tools to create visual reports that highlight trends, showcase wins, and provide a concise overview for those higher-up.
Get in touch
Reporting results upwards is about more than metrics. By making the most of your PR agency’s expertise, storytelling ability, and external credibility, you can craft reports that not only demonstrate ROI but also build trust and secure ongoing support for your initiatives.
If you’re looking to partner with an agency that is just as invested in your end of quarter reports as you are, get in touch with us today to talk about how we can help you.
