Inside Starlight Digital: How we built the best client reporting
When you sign up to be a client of Starlight Digital – once we’ve onboarded your campaigns – you are instantly able to see your reports – we are THAT transparent. This blog explains why we put together our reports in Funnel IO and Google Looker Studio and what value our clients get from this. We deliver the smart strategies and explosive growth, but if our clients can’t see for themselves where their budget is going and what’s performing with a new campaign for example, then the results don’t carry as much success.
Steven Explains How We Deliver Our Reports
When I set up the business, I wanted us to stand out and deliver exceptional results but also, I wanted our clients to still feel in control of the process and of their company’s campaigns. No hidden log-ins. No secret passwords. Just completely open for them to see, because a client’s experience of working with us needs to be easy and frictionless.
It all starts with our smart campaign naming conventions – every campaign across every platform follows a consistent structure, which then flows beautifully into Funnel.io. Thanks to our reporting and data wizard Darren, the data is centralised and cleaned. The next step is pushing the data into Google Data Studio at scale. When choosing which reporting program to use for our clients, we figured the biggest tech company in the world was worth a try – and Google’s Data Studio works for us because of its reliability, its ability to scale, and the flexibility it gives us to customise dashboards exactly the way our clients need them.
What Our Clients Get
We deliver the following:
- Real-time dashboards – these dashboards reflect the goals of each campaign, showing how conversions, clicks, impressions and ROI are tracking against targets. Whilst many clients may share common measurements of success, such as Return on Ad Spend or CPA, some clients have very unique ways of measuring performance. Our dashboards can be tailored to exactly what each client requires.
- 24/7 access – clients don’t have to wait for an end-of-month email to know how things are performing. They can log in at any time and see the numbers in front of them.
- Multi-platform visibility – a recent innovation, but one we know is absolutely essential. Cross-channel monitoring and reporting is crucial to understand where content is performing best and where spend is most effective. Our dashboards pull in performance from Google, Bing, Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, Amazon and more – so clients get the full picture without having to click in and out of endless native platforms.
- Custom-built reports – Every client is different. We don’t believe in cookie-cutter templates. Reports are built fast and built specifically for each client’s needs. For instance, a luxury ecommerce brand may measure the initial revenue and ROAS generated by ad spend, whilst a subscription-based business may look at the life-time value of a subscriber rather than the initial acquisition CPA.
In short: our reporting is built to be clear, custom, and always connected, giving every client full visibility of what’s working, where spend is driving the best returns, and how to keep improving, day after day.
Why Reporting Is A Differentiator
Too often in this industry, reporting is an afterthought. Agencies will work on campaigns in the background, then deliver a generic PDF or a one-size-fits-all deck at the end of the month. That approach doesn’t work for us.
By opening up reporting from day one, we give clients complete visibility. They can literally watch us working on their campaigns and see improvements happening in real time. This builds trust, cuts down on back-and-forth, and makes it easier for their own internal teams to take our data and use it in wider business conversations.
For lifestyle brands in particular, where marketing budgets are often spread across multiple platforms and campaigns, this clarity is invaluable. It ensures brand managers, e-commerce leads and finance directors can all see how spend is being allocated and what’s driving the strongest results.
Setting A New Standard
Our aim is simple: to make reporting as easy, transparent, and useful as possible. It’s not just about pretty charts – it’s about making sure every client feels confident in where their money is going and what results it’s driving.
That’s why we say our reporting is the best in the business. It’s not a bolt-on, it’s not a gimmick, and it’s not locked behind jargon. It’s clear, it’s open, and it’s designed to give clients complete control over their campaigns.
And behind the scenes, huge credit goes to Darren, who continues to push what’s possible with data. His work means our reports aren’t just functional – they’re powerful tools that keep our clients informed and empowered.
Reporting may never be the “sexiest” part of digital advertising, but done right, it’s the part that keeps everything else connected. And at Starlight Digital, we believe it’s one of the reasons brands choose us as their PPC agency – because they can see the value we’re adding, every single day.
