Why is effective reporting important to you?
“From the client’s point of view, we need to justify their return on investment - and do so in a way which is easily understandable and makes us accountable to them.
From our point of view, the more people we can reach within a client's sphere, the stronger the relationship with that client. That is very important to us. And it can best be achieved through effective reporting.”
What formats were you using prior to Releasd?
“It was a blend really. We used a mix of Excel spreadsheets for the more statistical analysis, the quantitative part of the pie. We also used fairly lengthy PDF documents for clippings. They were pretty extensive; 20, 25 pages or so.”
What challenges did those formats present?
“From a team point of view, it was quite an inefficient way of doing things. The were very time consuming, particularity the monthly reports. They were also, I guess, very targeted at one particular contact within the client, generally the PR person that we had the relationship with. Our reporting didn't tend to have much reach beyond them.
Because of their length and the complexity, we were almost going through the motions, and clients weren't reading them or forwarding them. We found out from our regular client satisfaction audits that they came across as unwieldy. It was quite hard to showcase the benefits of our work.”
What first drove you to explore Releasd?
“We were having a general look at all of our evaluation methodologies and campaign planning. It was a drive to simplify that, and give clients the information they wanted in a format that would be easily digestible and understandable.
The other aim was also to spread our net within the clients as well. It was a desire because our PR contacts within clients may move on, and then you've almost lost that relationship with the client.
We also wanted to reduce the admin. We want to spend our time on actually generating results for clients, less so on justifying our existence!”
“It's shareable and we can showcase the results in a much more engaging way.”
What have you used Releasd for?
“Each of our clients have a monthly report. It allows us to extend beyond just media clippings and to add in video, social media feeds, etc.
It's very useful, we find, for trade shows and events; just to update the portal from anywhere. When our teams are manic on the ground out in Vegas, or Barcelona, or wherever, it's very quick for teams either on-site or back at the ranch to be able to update coverage and share that with clients as it happens, who can then share with their executives too. So everyone gets a pat on the back at trade shows!
We started using it for our internal comms as well, for our newsletter, because we've got offices in Boston, LA and London. It’s a great way of engaging the teams over there as well, and to get everybody more integrated.
We have used it to share creds too. It's nice when you're just sending across a link to prospects and can follow up with an in-person presentation using PowerPoint after that.”
What impact has Releasd had in terms of reporting?
“It's very, very easy for our clients to look at. Releasd allows us to broaden the reach of our relationships within client organisations, because it's shareable and we can showcase the results in a much more engaging way.
It's great to give our teams the discipline of regular reporting, so that they know what's expected of them, which in turn makes it easier to manage their performance as well.
It has actually saved admin time. Rather than spending an hourly rate for AEs, the rate where they're spending a lot of the time doing reporting, they can be generating results, which is far more profitable and healthy for the client relationship as well.”