Build & measure
The monthly report: what we did, what moved, what's next.
A monthly marketing report for a local service business should answer four questions: what was done, what moved against the day-one baseline, what was learned, and what happens next month. Kojo Growth's report is a short PDF that covers your Google Maps ranking, calls from your Google profile, reviews, clicks from Google search, leads from your site and calls, cost per lead on any ads, and booked jobs where you share your job data.
- Every number next to last month's and the same number from day one
- Leads and booked jobs first, ahead of the vanity numbers
- What we did, what we learned and next month's plan, in plain English
- Strategy reviews on the schedule set in your plan
By the Kojo Growth teamPublished Last updated
Free audit: see what's working and what isn't.
- Your Google Maps ranking across town
- Your reviews against the top three
- Your website on a phone
- Who you're up against
- How many people search for what you do
- The three fixes that matter first
Why it matters
Most marketing reports are a dashboard screenshot. You can't tell if it's working.
An agency report usually arrives as a login to a dashboard, or a PDF packed with charts and “impressions” at the top. It doesn't say what was done, doesn't compare with where you started, and never says what didn't work. So owners read page one, see something went up, and go back to work, still unsure whether the money is doing anything. A report should be short, honest, measured against day one, and clear enough to show your accountant.
- 1
No baseline, so no proof
If nobody recorded where you were before the work started, every number after that is just a number. We take a day-one baseline before anything changes, and every report compares with it.
- 2
Vanity numbers up front
Impressions, followers, page views. They move easily and mean little. What matters is calls, forms, booked jobs and what each one cost. Those go first; the rest is context.
- 3
Nothing about what didn't work
Some things we try won't move the number, and a report that only shows wins hides that. Ours says what we tried, what moved, what didn't and what we'll change, because that's how the plan gets better.
An example
What page one of the report looks like
The numbers that matter first, each with the same number from last month and from day one, then what we did this month and what's planned for the next. Every number in a client's report comes from an account you own: your Google profile, Google's free search and tracking tools, your ad accounts and your job software.
Here's what changed this month.
- Calls & form leads
- 64+13 vs last month
- Maps: top-3 share
- 38%Day one: 24%
- Search clicks
- 412+18% vs last month
- Cost per lead
- Down12% lower, spend on budget
What we did
- New posts on your Google profile
- Replied to new reviews
- Built two new service-area pages
- Paused three wasted ad searches
What’s next
- A page for drain cleaning
- Spring tune-up reminder to past customers
- Test a second ad for water heaters
What's included
What you get with monthly reporting.
Everything below is written into the plan before any work starts, and reported on every month.
A day-one baseline
Before any work starts we record where you are: your Maps ranking across town, your profile's calls and directions for the last three months, review count and pace, clicks from Google search, tracked leads, ad cost per lead and booked jobs. Every report measures against it.
A short PDF every month
A report of a few pages that covers the previous month in full, written to be read in one sitting and shared with your spouse or your accountant.
Leads first
Calls, form submissions and quote requests tracked from your site and your Google profile, with where each came from. Booked jobs too, when you share your job data. These lead the report because they're why you hired us.
Where you rank across town
Your average rank and your share of top-three spots on the Google Maps scan for your main keywords, with the competitors who hold the rest, compared with last month and day one.
Profile, reviews and search
Google Business Profile calls, direction requests and website clicks; new reviews, reply rate and how fast new reviews come in against the top three; clicks and impressions from Google search on your service and town searches.
Ads, if you run them
Spend, leads and cost per lead by channel, what we changed in the account and the wasted spend we cut. Ad checks are summarized here; the detail stays in your account, which you own.
What we did, learned and plan next
The work completed this month in short, clear sentences, what moved and what didn't, and the specific list for next month. If something isn't working, it says so and says what we're changing.
Strategy reviews
On the schedule set in your plan, a call to look at the whole picture: what the recent reports say, what to add, what to stop, and whether the plan still fits where the business is going.
How we do it
How we do it.
Three steps to get going, then the work and a report every month.
- Step 1
Set the baseline
Before anything is changed we take the day-one numbers from the accounts you give us access to. If tracking doesn't exist yet, the baseline says “no data” and setting up tracking becomes the first job, so the next report has actual numbers.
- Recorded before any change
- Read from your own accounts
- Tracking set up where it's missing
- Step 2
Agree the handful of numbers
Your plan names the few numbers it is meant to move: for most businesses that's leads, your Maps ranking, profile actions, reviews and clicks from Google search; with ads, cost per lead too. The report tracks those every month instead of a wall of charts.
- Written into your plan
- Leads and booked jobs first
- The same numbers every month
- Step 3
Report, review, adjust
Every month the report lands in your inbox. At each strategy review we sit down with the recent reports and decide what changes. Anything that stays flat gets replaced.
- Every month, in your inbox
- Strategy reviews on your plan's schedule
- Flat work gets changed, not repeated
What you get each month
Numbers from your accounts
Everything is read from accounts in your name, so you can check any figure yourself at any time.
Next month's plan
The specific work for the coming month, so you know what's happening before it happens.
Flat numbers flagged early
If a number is clearly stuck, the report says so and proposes a change instead of waiting for the next review.
A strategy review
On the schedule set in your plan, a call on the whole picture and the decisions that follow from it.
Works with
Part of one system.
Every service runs on the same plan, by the same team, in the same monthly report.
- Get found
Google Maps & local SEO
Be easier to find on Google Maps across your area
See the service - Get called
Google Ads
Be there when people search for what you do
See the service - Get found
SEO & AI search
Get found on Google and in AI answers
See the service - Follow up
Sales systems
A pipeline from new lead to booked job
See the service
Industries
Trades where this matters most.
Every trade gets found a little differently. These are the ones where this service tends to do the most.
- PlumbingA burst pipe at 2 a.m. goes to the plumber who looks open, close by and trusted.
- HVACNo heat in January means a quick search and a call to the first business that looks trustworthy.
- RoofingAfter a storm, homeowners compare reviews and project photos before they call anyone.
- ElectricalPeople want licensed and nearby, and they read the reviews to be sure.
Three promises
No surprises, in writing.
The same three promises on every plan, for every client.
The audit is free, no strings
You get the findings and the three fixes either way. If we're not the right fit, the audit is still yours.
You own your accounts
Your domain, content, Google Business Profile, analytics and accounts are always yours and stay in your name. If we part ways, any site we built is handed over or bought out on terms set in writing.
Terms in writing first
The plan, the price and the term are written down before any work starts. Term length depends on the work, and it's always on paper.
FAQ
Straight answers, up front.
What owners ask about monthly reporting before they start.
What should a monthly marketing report include?
Four things: what was done, what moved against the day-one baseline, what was learned, and what happens next month. For a local service business the numbers that matter are leads (calls, forms, booked jobs), where you rank on Google Maps, Google profile actions, reviews, clicks from search and, if you run ads, cost per lead by channel. Everything else is context.
How do I know if my marketing agency is working?
Ask for the baseline and compare. If the agency can't show you where you started, it can't show you progress. Then look at leads and booked jobs, not impressions. And ask what didn't work last month; a straight answer to that is the best sign you've got a good one.
Which numbers matter most for a local service business?
Tracked leads from calls and forms, and booked jobs if you share your job data. Then the things that feed them: how much of your town you show up in the top three on Google Maps, profile calls and direction requests, new reviews and how many get a reply, clicks from Google search on your service and town searches, and cost per lead by ad channel. A handful of numbers, the same ones every month.
What is a day-one baseline?
The set of numbers recorded before any work starts: your first Maps ranking scan, your profile's calls and directions for the last three months, review count and pace, search clicks, tracked leads, ad cost per lead and booked jobs. Every report after that compares with it, so you can see what changed and whether it was worth it.
How do you track calls and booked jobs back to a channel?
Calls and forms from your website are counted as leads in Google's free tracking tools (Google Analytics and Tag Manager), on accounts you own. Calls from ads use Google's forwarding numbers. Call tracking with its own local numbers and recordings needs a third-party tool that you pay for; we set it up and read from it. Booked jobs come from your job software, when you share it.
Can I see an example report?
The example on this page shows the shape of page one: the lead numbers, your Maps share, search clicks and cost per lead, each against last month and day one, then what we did and what's next. The numbers there are illustrative. Your own report uses your accounts and the numbers named in your plan.
How often do we review strategy?
On the schedule set in your plan. Each review is a call with the recent reports in front of us, where we decide what to add, what to stop and whether the plan still fits. If a number is clearly stuck between reviews, the monthly report flags it and proposes the change, so a change can come sooner.
The free audit
See where you stand. Then decide.
Tell us your business name or website and the main city you serve. We'll look at what's working and what isn't, and send you the three fixes that matter first.
- Your Google Maps ranking across town
- Your reviews against the top three
- Your website on a phone
- Who you're up against
- How many people search for what you do
- The three fixes that matter first