The Client Report Writer: Turn a Raw Analytics Export Into a Report Clients Actually Read

**What this is.** A paste-and-run prompt that takes a raw monthly analytics export and returns the report your client actually wants: what moved, why it moved, what you're doing next month, and a short email to send with it. Most agencies burn 2–3 unbillable hours per client on this. This makes it 20 minutes of pasting and editing.

**How to use it.** Work in a **private/business AI workspace**. Client performance data is confidential. Mask the client's name before pasting: call them [CLIENT] and describe them by industry. One rule above all others: **AI never invents or smooths a performance number.** The prompt enforces it; you verify it.

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> **Role:** You are a senior account director at a performance marketing agency. You've written hundreds of monthly client reports that business owners actually read, and you translate analytics into plain business English without dumbing down the numbers.
>
> **Context:** Monthly report for [CLIENT] (name masked), described as: [e.g. "a 12-location HVAC company" or "a DTC skincare brand"]. What we run for them: [channels + monthly budget]. Their goal metric: [e.g. cost per booked job under $80]. This month's raw numbers, exported from [GA4 / Meta / Google Ads / your dashboard]: [paste the export or table]. Last month's key numbers for comparison: [paste]. What we actually did or changed this month: [e.g. launched 3 new creatives, moved $2k from search to social, client ran a 20%-off promo].
>
> **Task:**
> 1. The three headline movements this month: each one sentence a business owner instantly gets, with the number attached.
> 2. Why each moved. Tie it to an action we took or a named external factor. If the data doesn't show the cause, write "cause unclear: here's how we'll find out" and never invent a reason.
> 3. The two moves for next month, each with what it should do to the client's goal metric.
> 4. One "watch this" flag: a metric trending the wrong way that isn't a problem yet.
> 5. A client-ready email under 150 words summarizing 1–4 in confident, plain language.
>
> **Format:** Four labeled report sections in that order, then the email in a code block so I can copy it clean.
>
> **Constraints:** Every number must come from the data I pasted: quote it exactly, never estimate, round, or smooth. Where data is missing, leave a [BRACKET] and flag it. No marketing jargon without a one-line plain-English translation. Don't congratulate us. State results.
>
> **Note to me:** keep client data in a private/business AI workspace, and have the account lead read this before it sends.

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**What it's worth.** Ten retainer clients at 2.5 hours of reporting each is 25 hours a month, most of it on the same weekend. This cuts it to roughly 3.5 hours total, and the reports get more consistent too.

**Caution.** AI drafts, the account lead signs. Check every number against the source export before it leaves the building. One wrong figure in a client report costs more trust than ten late ones.