how to write a good data analysis report

How to Write Data Analysis Reports in 9 Easy Steps

how to write a good data analysis report

Imagine a bunch of bricks. They don’t have a purpose until you put them together into a house, do they?

In business intelligence, data is your building material, and a quality data analysis report is what you want to see as the result.

But if you’ve ever tried to use the collected data and assemble it into an insightful report, you know it’s not an easy job to do. Data is supposed to tell a story about your performance, but there’s a long way from unprocessed, raw data to a meaningful narrative that you can use to create an actionable plan for making steady progress towards your goals.

This article will help you improve the quality of your data analysis reports and build them effortlessly and fast. Let’s jump right in.

What Is a Data Analysis Report?

Why is data analysis reporting important, how to write a data analysis report 9 simple steps, data analysis report examples.

marketing_overview_hubspot_ga_dashboard_databox

A data analysis report is a type of business report in which you present quantitative and qualitative data to evaluate your strategies and performance. Based on this data, you give recommendations for further steps and business decisions while using the data as evidence that backs up your evaluation.

Today, data analysis is one of the most important elements of business intelligence strategies as companies have realized the potential of having data-driven insights at hand to help them make data-driven decisions.

Just like you’ll look at your car’s dashboard if something’s wrong, you’ll pull your data to see what’s causing drops in website traffic, conversions, or sales – or any other business metric you may be following. This unprocessed data still doesn’t give you a diagnosis – it’s the first step towards a quality analysis. Once you’ve extracted and organized your data, it’s important to use graphs and charts to visualize it and make it easier to draw conclusions.

Once you add meaning to your data and create suggestions based on it, you have a data analysis report.

A vital detail everyone should know about data analysis reports is their accessibility for everyone in your team, and the ability to innovate. Your analysis report will contain your vital KPIs, so you can see where you’re reaching your targets and achieving goals, and where you need to speed up your activities or optimize your strategy. If you can uncover trends or patterns in your data, you can use it to innovate and stand out by offering even more valuable content, services, or products to your audience.

Data analysis is vital for companies for several reasons.

A reliable source of information

Trusting your intuition is fine, but relying on data is safer. When you can base your action plan on data that clearly shows that something is working or failing, you won’t only justify your decisions in front of the management, clients, or investors, but you’ll also be sure that you’ve taken appropriate steps to fix an issue or seize an important opportunity.

A better understanding of your business

Data analysis makes it easier to understand your business as a whole, and each aspect individually. You can see how different departments analyze their workflow and how each step impacts their results in the end, by following their KPIs over time. Then, you can easily conclude what your business needs to grow – to boost your sales strategy, optimize your finances, or up your SEO game, for example.

An additional way to understand your business better is to compare your most important metrics and KPIs against companies that are just like yours. With Databox Benchmarks , you will need only one spot to see how all of your teams stack up against your peers and competitors.

Instantly and Anonymously Benchmark Your Company’s Performance Against Others Just Like You

If you ever asked yourself:

Databox Benchmark Groups can finally help you answer these questions and discover how your company measures up against similar companies based on your KPIs.

When you join Benchmark Groups, you will:

When it comes to showing you how your performance compares to others, here is what it might look like for the metric Average Session Duration:

how to write a good data analysis report

And here is an example of an open group you could join:

how to write a good data analysis report

And this is just a fraction of what you’ll get. With Databox Benchmarks, you will need only one spot to see how all of your teams stack up — marketing, sales, customer service, product development, finance, and more.

Sounds like something you want to try out? Join a Databox Benchmark Group today!

It makes data accessible to everyone

Data doesn’t represent a magical creature reserved for data scientists only anymore. Now that you have streamlined and easy-to-follow data visualizations and tools that automatically show the latest figures, you can include everyone in the decision-making process as they’ll understand what means what in the charts and tables. The data may be complex, but it becomes easy to read when combined with proper illustrations. And when your teams gain such useful and accessible insight, they will feel motivated to act on it immediately.

Better collaboration

Data analysis reports help teams collaborate better, as well. You can apply the SMART technique to your KPIs and goals, because your KPIs become assignable. When they’re easy to interpret for your whole team, you can assign each person with one or multiple KPIs that they’ll be in charge of. That means taking a lot off a team leader’s plate so they can focus more on making other improvements in the business. At the same time, removing inaccurate data from your day-to-day operations will improve friction between different departments, like marketing and sales, for instance.

More productivity

You can also expect increased productivity, since you’ll be saving time you’d otherwise spend on waiting for specialists to translate data for other departments, etc. This means your internal procedures will also be on a top level.

Want to give value with your data analysis report? It’s critical to master the skill of writing a quality data analytics report. Want to know how to report on data efficiently? We’ll share our secret in the following section.

Start with an Outline

Make a selection of vital kpis, pick the right charts for appealing design, use a narrative, organize the information, include a summary, careful with your recommendations, double-check everything, use interactive dashboards.

If you start writing without having a clear idea of what your data analysis report is going to include, it may get messy. Important insights may slip through your fingers, and you may stray away too far from the main topic. To avoid this, start the report by writing an outline first. Plan the structure and contents of each section first to make sure you’ve covered everything, and only then start crafting the report.

Don’t overwhelm the audience by including every single metric there is. You can discuss your whole dashboard in a meeting with your team, but if you’re creating data analytics reports for other departments or the executives, it’s best to focus on the most relevant KPIs that demonstrate the data important for the overall business performance.

PRO TIP: How Well Are Your Marketing KPIs Performing?

Like most marketers and marketing managers, you want to know how well your efforts are translating into results each month. How much traffic and new contact conversions do you get? How many new contacts do you get from organic sessions? How are your email campaigns performing? How well are your landing pages converting? You might have to scramble to put all of this together in a single report, but now you can have it all at your fingertips in a single Databox dashboard.

Our Marketing Overview Dashboard includes data from Google Analytics and HubSpot Marketing with key performance metrics like:

Now you can benefit from the experience of our Google Analytics and HubSpot Marketing experts, who have put together a plug-and-play Databox template that contains all the essential metrics for monitoring your leads. It’s simple to implement and start using as a standalone dashboard or in marketing reports, and best of all, it’s free!

marketing_overview_hubspot_ga_dashboard_preview

You can easily set it up in just a few clicks – no coding required.

To set up the dashboard, follow these 3 simple steps:

Step 1: Get the template

Step 2: Connect your HubSpot and Google Analytics accounts with Databox.

Step 3: Watch your dashboard populate in seconds.

If you’re showing historical data – for instance, how you’ve performed now compared to last month – it’s best to use timelines or graphs. For other data, pie charts or tables may be more suitable. Make sure you use the right data visualization to display your data accurately and in an easy-to-understand manner.

Just exporting your data into a spreadsheet isn’t a data analytics report. The fact that you’re dealing with data may sound too technical, but actually, your report should tell a story about your performance. What happened on a specific day? Did your organic traffic increase or suddenly drop? Why? And more. There are a lot of questions to answer and you can put all the responses together in a coherent, understandable narrative.

Before you start writing or building your dashboard, choose how you’re going to organize your data. Are you going to talk about the most relevant and general ones first? It may be the best way to start the report – the best practices typically involve starting with more general information and then diving into details if necessary.

Some people in your audience won’t have the time to read the whole report, but they’ll want to know about your findings. Besides, a summary at the beginning of your data analytics report will help the reader get familiar with the topic and the goal of the report. And a quick note: although the summary should be placed at the beginning, you usually write it when you’re done with the report. When you have the whole picture, it’s easier to extract the key points that you’ll include in the summary.

Your communication skills may be critical in data analytics reports. Know that some of the results probably won’t be satisfactory, which means that someone’s strategy failed. Make sure you’re objective in your recommendations and that you’re not looking for someone to blame. Don’t criticize, but give suggestions on how things can be improved. Being solution-oriented is much more important and helpful for the business.

The whole point of using data analytics tools and data, in general, is to achieve as much accuracy as possible. Avoid manual mistakes by proofreading your report when you finish, and if possible, give it to another person so they can confirm everything’s in place.

Using the right tools is just as important as the contents of your data analysis. The way you present it can make or break a good report, regardless of how valuable the data is. That said, choose a great reporting tool that can automatically update your data and display it in a visually appealing manner. Make sure it offers a streamlined dashboard that you can also customize depending on the purpose of the report.

To wrap up the guide, we decided to share nine excellent examples of what awesome data analysis reports can look like. You’ll learn what metrics you should include and how to organize them in logical sections to make your report beautiful and effective.

Marketing Data Analysis Report Example

SEO Data Analysis Report Example

Sales data analysis report example.

Customer Support Data Analysis Report Example

Help Desk Data Analysis Report Example

Ecommerce data analysis report example, project management data analysis report example, social media data analysis report example, financial kpi data analysis report example, marketing data report example.

If you need an intuitive dashboard that allows you to track your website performance effortlessly and monitor all the relevant metrics such as website sessions, pageviews, or CTA engagement, you’ll love this free HubSpot Marketing Website Overview dashboard template .

Marketing Data Report Example

Tracking the performance of your SEO efforts is important. You can easily monitor relevant SEO KPIs like clicks by device, goal completions, or sessions by channel by downloading this SEO Campaign Performance dashboard template .

SEO Data Analysis Report Example

How successful is your sales team? It’s easy to analyze their performance and predict future growth if you choose this HubSpot CRM Sales Analytics Overview dashboard template and track metrics such as average time to close the deal, new deals amount, or average revenue per new client.

Sales Data Analysis Report Example

Customer Support Analysis Data Report Example

Customer support is one of the essential factors that impact your business growth. You can use this streamlined, customizable Customer Success dashboard template . In a single dashboard, you can monitor metrics such as customer satisfaction score, new MRR, or time to first response time.

Customer Support Analysis Data Report Example

Other than being free and intuitive, this HelpScout for Customer Support dashboard template is also customizable and enables you to track the most vital metrics that indicate your customer support agents’ performance: handle time, happiness score, interactions per resolution, and more.

Help Desk Data Analysis Report Example

Is your online store improving or failing? You can easily collect relevant data about your funnel and monitor the most important metrics like average order value, revenue by channel, or ecommerce conversion rate by downloading this Ecommerce Full Funnel dashboard template .

Ecommerce Data Analysis Report Example

Does your IT department need feedback on their project management performance? Download this Jira dashboard template to track vital metrics such as issues created or resolved, issues by status, etc. Jira enables you to gain valuable insights into your teams’ productivity.

Project Management Data Analysis Report Example

Need to know if your social media strategy is successful? You can find that out by using this easy-to-understand Social Media Awareness & Engagement dashboard template . Here you can monitor and analyze metrics like sessions by social source, track the number of likes and followers, and measure the traffic from each source.

Social Media Data Analysis Report Example

Tracking your finances is critical for keeping your business profitable. If you want to monitor metrics such as the number of open invoices, open deals amount by stage by pipeline, or closed-won deals, use this free QuickBooks + HubSpot CRM Financial Performance dashboard template .

Financial KPI Data Analysis Report Example

Rely on Accurate Data with Databox

“I don’t have time to build custom reports from scratch.”

“It takes too long and becomes daunting very soon.”

“I’m not sure how to organize the data to make it effective and prove the value of my work.”

Does this sound like you?

Well, it’s something we all said at some point – creating data analytics reports can be time-consuming and tiring. And you’re still not sure if the report is compelling and understandable enough when you’re done.

That’s why we decided to create Databox dashboards – a world-class solution for saving your money and time. We build streamlined and easy-to-follow dashboards that include all the metrics that you may need and allow you to create custom ones if necessary. That way, you can use templates and adjust them to any new project or client without having to build a report from scratch.

You can skip the setup and get your first dashboard for free in just 24 hours, with our fantastic customer support team on the line to assist you with the metrics you should track and the structure you should use.

Enjoy crafting brilliant data analysis reports that will improve your business – it’s never been faster and more effortless. Sign up today and get your free dashboard in no time.

how to write a good data analysis report

Get practical strategies that drive consistent growth

How to Automate Google Ads Reports for Your Agency Clients

This is how you automate google ads reports for your agency clients. your clients will never be grumpy about metrics again..

Reporting | Mar 17

How to Write a Business Report: A Step By Step Guide with Examples

Why are business reports so important read our comprehensive, step-by-step guide on how to create an effective business report and get inspired by the examples we’ve shared..

Reporting | Mar 16

How to Write a Great Business Report Conclusion: Everything You Need to Know

Having a hard time with writing the conclusion of your business report this guide will teach you everything you need to know..

Latest from our blog

Popular Blog Posts

POPULAR DASHBOARD EXAMPLES & TEMPLATES

Dashboard Software

The Community

Modern analyst blog, community blog.

Member Profiles

Networking Opportunities

Community spotlight, business analysis glossary, articles listing, business analyst humor, self assessment.

Let Us Help Your Business

Advertise with us, rss feeds & syndication, privacy policy.

Business Analyst Community & Resources | Modern Analyst

Writing a Good Data Analysis Report: 7 Steps

As a data analyst, you feel most comfortable when you’re alone with all the numbers and data. You’re able to analyze them with confidence and reach the results you were asked to find. But, this is not the end of the road for you. You still need to write a data analysis report explaining your findings to the laymen - your clients or coworkers.

That means you need to think about your target audience, that is the people who’ll be reading your report.

They don’t have nearly as much knowledge about data analysis as you do. So, your report needs to be straightforward and informative. The article below will help you learn how to do it. Let’s take a look at some practical tips you can apply to your data analysis report writing and the benefits of doing so.

Writing a Good Data Analysis Report: 7 Steps

Data Analysis Report Writing: 7 Steps

The process of writing a data analysis report is far from simple, but you can master it quickly, with the right guidance and examples of similar reports .

This is why we've prepared a step-by-step guide that will cover everything you need to know about this process, as simply as possible. Let’s get to it.

Consider Your Audience

You are writing your report for a certain target audience, and you need to keep them in mind while writing. Depending on their level of expertise, you’ll need to adjust your report and ensure it speaks to them. So, before you go any further, ask yourself:

Who will be reading this report? How well do they understand the subject?

Let’s say you’re explaining the methodology you used to reach your conclusions and find the data in question. If the reader isn’t familiar with these tools and software, you’ll have to simplify it for them and provide additional explanations.

So, you won't be writing the same type of report for a coworker who's been on your team for years or a client who's seeing data analysis for the first time. Based on this determining factor, you'll think about:

the language and vocabulary you’re using

abbreviations and level of technicality

the depth you’ll go into to explain something

the type of visuals you’ll add

Your readers’ expertise dictates the tone of your report and you need to consider it before writing even a single word.

Draft Out the Sections

The next thing you need to do is create a draft of your data analysis report. This is just a skeleton of what your report will be once you finish. But, you need a starting point.

So, think about the sections you'll include and what each section is going to cover. Typically, your report should be divided into the following sections:

Body (Data, Methods, Analysis, Results)

For each section, write down several short bullet points regarding the content to cover. Below, we'll discuss each section more elaborately.

Develop The Body

The body of your report is the most important section. You need to organize it into subsections and present all the information your readers will be interested in.

We suggest the following subsections.

Explain what data you used to conduct your analysis. Be specific and explain how you gathered the data, what your sample was, what tools and resources you’ve used, and how you’ve organized your data. This will give the reader a deeper understanding of your data sample and make your report more solid.

Also, explain why you choose the specific data for your sample. For instance, you may say “ The sample only includes data of the customers acquired during 2021, in the peak of the pandemic.”

Next, you need to explain what methods you’ve used to analyze the data. This simply means you need to explain why and how you choose specific methods. You also need to explain why these methods are the best fit for the goals you’ve set and the results you’re trying to reach.

Back up your methodology section with background information on each method or tool used. Explain how these resources are typically used in data analysis.

After you've explained the data and methods you've used, this next section brings those two together. The analysis section shows how you've analyzed the specific data using the specific methods.

This means you’ll show your calculations, charts, and analyses, step by step. Add descriptions and explain each of the steps. Try making it as simple as possible so that even the most inexperienced of your readers understand every word.

This final section of the body can be considered the most important section of your report. Most of your clients will skim the rest of the report to reach this section.

Because it’ll answer the questions you’ve all raised. It shares the results that were reached and gives the reader new findings, facts, and evidence.

So, explain and describe the results using numbers. Then, add a written description of what each of the numbers stands for and what it means for the entire analysis. Summarize your results and finalize the report on a strong note.

Write the Introduction

Yes, it may seem strange to write the introduction section at the end, but it’s the smartest way to do it. This section briefly explains what the report will cover. That’s why you should write it after you’ve finished writing the Body.

In your introduction, explain:

the question you’ve raised and answered with the analysis

context of the analysis and background information

short outline of the report

Simply put, you’re telling your audience what to expect.

Add a Short Conclusion

Finally, the last section of your paper is a brief conclusion. It only repeats what you described in the Body, but only points out the most important details.

It should be less than a page long and use straightforward language to deliver the most important findings. It should also include a paragraph about the implications and importance of those findings for the client, customer, business, or company that hired you.

Include Data Visualization Elements

You have all the data and numbers in your mind and find it easy to understand what the data is saying. But, to a layman or someone less experienced than yourself, it can be quite a puzzle. All the information that your data analysis has found can create a mess in the head of your reader.

So, you should simplify it by using data visualization elements.

Firstly, let’s define what are the most common and useful data visualization elements you can use in your report:

There are subcategories to each of the elements and you should explore them all to decide what will do the best job for your specific case. For instance, you'll find different types of charts including, pie charts, bar charts, area charts, or spider charts.

For each data visualization element, add a brief description to tell the readers what information it contains. You can also add a title to each element and create a table of contents for visual elements only.

Proofread & Edit Before Submission

All the hard work you’ve invested in writing a good data analysis report might go to waste if you don’t edit and proofread. Proofreading and editing will help you eliminate potential mistakes, but also take another objective look at your report.

First, do the editing part. It includes:

reading the whole report objectively, like you’re seeing it for the first time

leaving an open mind for changes

adding or removing information

rearranging sections

finding better words to say something

You should repeat the editing phase a couple of times until you're completely happy with the result. Once you're certain the content is all tidied up, you can move on to the proofreading stage. It includes:

finding and removing grammar and spelling mistakes

rethinking vocabulary choices

improving clarity

improving readability

You can use an online proofreading tool to make things faster. If you really want professional help, Grab My Essay is a great choice. Their professional writers can edit and rewrite your entire report, to make sure it’s impeccable before submission.

Whatever you choose to do, proofread yourself or get some help with it, make sure your report is well-organized and completely error-free.

Benefits of Writing Well-Structured Data Analysis Reports

Yes, writing a good data analysis report is a lot of hard work. But, if you understand the benefits of writing it, you’ll be more motivated and willing to invest the time and effort. After knowing how it can help you in different segments of your professional journey, you’ll be more willing to learn how to do it.

Below are the main benefits a data analysis report brings to the table.

Improved Collaboration

When you’re writing a data analysis report, you need to be aware more than one end user is going to use it. Whether it’s your employer, customer, or coworker - you need to make sure they’re all on the same page. And when you write a data analysis report that is easy to understand and learn from, you’re creating a bridge between all these people.

Simply, all of them are given accurate data they can rely on and you’re thus removing the potential misunderstandings that can happen in communication. This improves the overall collaboration level and makes everyone more open and helpful.

Increased Efficiency

People who are reading your data analysis report need the information it contains for some reason. They might use it to do their part of the job, to make decisions, or report further to someone else. Either way, the better your report, the more efficient it'll be. And, if you rely on those people as well, you'll benefit from this increased productivity as well.

Data tells a story about a business, project, or venture. It's able to show how well you've performed, what turned out to be a great move, and what needs to be reimagined. This means that a data analysis report provides valuable insight and measurable KPIs (key performance indicators) that you’re able to use to grow and develop.

Clear Communication

Information is key regardless of the industry you're in or the type of business you're doing. Data analysis finds that information and proves its accuracy and importance. But, if those findings and the information itself aren't communicated clearly, it's like you haven't even found them.

This is why a data analysis report is crucial. It will present the information less technically and bring it closer to the readers.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, it takes some skill and a bit more practice to write a good data analysis report. But, all the effort you invest in writing it will be worth it once the results kick in. You’ll improve the communication between you and your clients, employers, or coworkers. People will be able to understand, rely on, and use the analysis you’ve conducted.

So, don’t be afraid and start writing your first data analysis report. Just follow the 7 steps we’ve listed and use a tool such as ProWebScraper to help you with website data analysis. You’ll be surprised when you see the result of your hard work.

Jessica Fender is a business analyst and a blogger. She writes about business and data analysis, networking in this sector, and acquiring new skills. Her goal is to provide fresh and accurate information that readers can apply instantly.

Related Articles

Record Navigation Fields

Article/Paper Categories

Upcoming live webinars, ace the interview.

hit counter html code

Roles and Titles

Career Resources

Community Resources

Project Members

Advertising Opportunities | Contact Us | Privacy Policy

Data analysis write-ups

What should a data-analysis write-up look like.

Writing up the results of a data analysis is not a skill that anyone is born with. It requires practice and, at least in the beginning, a bit of guidance.

Organization

When writing your report, organization will set you free. A good outline is: 1) overview of the problem, 2) your data and modeling approach, 3) the results of your data analysis (plots, numbers, etc), and 4) your substantive conclusions.

1) Overview Describe the problem. What substantive question are you trying to address? This needn’t be long, but it should be clear.

2) Data and model What data did you use to address the question, and how did you do it? When describing your approach, be specific. For example:

Sometimes your Data and Model section will contain plots or tables, and sometimes it won’t. If you feel that a plot helps the reader understand the problem or data set itself—as opposed to your results—then go ahead and include it. A great example here is Tables 1 and 2 in the main paper on the PREDIMED study . These tables help the reader understand some important properties of the data and approach, but not the results of the study itself.

3) Results In your results section, include any figures and tables necessary to make your case. Label them (Figure 1, 2, etc), give them informative captions, and refer to them in the text by their numbered labels where you discuss them. Typical things to include here may include: pictures of the data; pictures and tables that show the fitted model; tables of model coefficients and summaries.

4) Conclusion What did you learn from the analysis? What is the answer, if any, to the question you set out to address?

General advice

Make the sections as short or long as they need to be. For example, a conclusions section is often pretty short, while a results section is usually a bit longer.

It’s OK to use the first person to avoid awkward or bizarre sentence constructions, but try to do so sparingly.

Do not include computer code unless explicitly called for. Note: model outputs do not count as computer code. Outputs should be used as evidence in your results section (ideally formatted in a nice way). By code, I mean the sequence of commands you used to process the data and produce the outputs.

When in doubt, use shorter words and sentences.

A very common way for reports to go wrong is when the writer simply narrates the thought process he or she followed: :First I did this, but it didn’t work. Then I did something else, and I found A, B, and C. I wasn’t really sure what to make of B, but C was interesting, so I followed up with D and E. Then having done this…” Do not do this. The desire for specificity is admirable, but the overall effect is one of amateurism. Follow the recommended outline above.

Here’s a good example of a write-up for an analysis of a few relatively simple problems. Because the problems are so straightforward, there’s not much of a need for an outline of the kind described above. Nonetheless, the spirit of these guidelines is clearly in evidence. Notice the clear exposition, the labeled figures and tables that are referred to in the text, and the careful integration of visual and numerical evidence into the overall argument. This is one worth emulating.

How to Write the Best Analytical Report (+ 6 Examples!)

Creating an analytical report from scratch doesn’t need to be a time-consuming process. In this guide, you’ll learn how to present data in a report that excites clients to read.

What is an Analytical Report?

How to write an analytical report, analytical report examples.

Create Your Analytical Report On DashThis Today

An analytical report is a business report for stakeholders to determine the best course of action.

For instance, a CMO might review a business executive analytical report to identify a specific issue caused by the pandemic before adapting an existing marketing strategy.

Marketers often use business intelligence tools to create these informational reports.

In terms of layout, these types of business reports could range from text-heavy documents (e.g., Google Docs with screenshots, Excel spreadsheets) to visual presentations.

Go on, do a quick search on Google. You’ll see that many marketers create these text-heavy documents with a formal writing style. It’s also common to see a table of contents on the first page.

In some cases, like this analytical report example below, it’s a spreadsheet chock-full of numbers and screenshots.

how to write a good data analysis report

On the flip side, we have the visual-driven analysis report that wows clients at first glance.

how to write a good data analysis report

Grab this ecommerce sales analytical report template with your own data!

What you see here is an ecommerce sales report template created from data visualization tools like DashThis.

Instead of a rush of text that competes for attention, your clients see a collection of beautiful graphs that transform their historical data into actionable insights.

This is made possible by integration and automation. DashThis gathers all your marketing data in one automated report, saving you hours of work. Start your 15-day FREE trial today to create reports in the blink of an eye.

We’re here to squash your worries:

As a marketer, you don’t need to master every research method on the planet to learn how to create a marketing report .

That business analysis methodology book you’ve been reading? Go ahead and put it back on the bookshelf. Heck, you don’t even need to learn report writing. Let’s leave predictive analysis and whatnot to the data scientist!

It takes only a few minutes to create an analytical report on DashThis :

how to write a good data analysis report

When you click a KPI, DashThis automatically gathers the data from the appropriate channel

DashThis allows you to connect all marketing channels in a single report.

Need to create an SEO and social media report? Just select a dashboard and click your desired KPIs accordingly.

You can also customize the overall look of your analytical report. Whether it’s a client’s logo, color theme, or misplaced metrics, simply click to change or drag and drop as you wish.

how to write a good data analysis report

Besides dragging and dropping the widgets, you can also duplicate them or add notes to provide more information on a particular trend

Struggling to explain your insights via email or video?

Use the Comment widget to recommend your action plan. Clients will be able to review the results and your high-level insights in one place.

how to write a good data analysis report

The Comment widget works similarly to a standard text editor. You can change the format of the text or add an image to help clients visualize the information.

With an automated marketing reporting tool like DashThis, you never have to wonder how to write an analysis report ever again.

Start your 15-day FREE trial today.

Executive Report Template

An executive report is the crystal ball to every C-suite executive. Here we have a dashboard that instantly informs of the business’s bottom line.

how to write a good data analysis report

Grab this business executive analytical report with your own data!

The Highlights tab shows the total revenue in September, breaking down the number of transactions and the cost of each.

As you scroll down the report, you’ll see a cost vs. revenue comparison chart.

For any executive who wants to speed up decision-making, like adapting their business processes for effective cost containment, these graphs and charts are a bonanza of insights.

Digital Marketing Report Template

According to PFL’s multichannel marketing report in 2020, 77% of marketers report the best response rates when they use four to six marketing channels.

Should you use these many channels for marketing your business? There's only one way to tell, and it's using a digital marketing dashboard to determine your best-performing channels once and for all.

how to write a good data analysis report

Grab this digital marketing analytical report with your own data!

If you want to improve the user experience and understand how customers find you, look no further than these digital marketing KPIs .

SEO Report Template

SEO can be mind-blogging for folks without expertise. All the more reason you want to create an interactive SEO report while explaining your strategy to clients.

This SEO dashboard shows the breakdown of organic traffic, including conversion rate and the top channels by session.

how to write a good data analysis report

Grab this SEO and backlinks analytical report with your own data!

It’s a breeze to back up your SEO strategies with a visual dashboard.

For instance, if you’d been using different techniques for different landing pages, you can easily show clients how these results stack up against each other, along with your proposed solutions, to improve their rankings.

Ecommerce Report Template

Google Analytics is the secret weapon to growing your ecommerce store.

Note how the ecommerce report below untangles large amounts of information by transforming them into comprehensible pie charts and graphs.

how to write a good data analysis report

Grab this ecommerce analytical report with your own data!

This ecommerce dashboard gives you a complete view of your ecommerce metrics .

For example, the top-performing landing pages help you figure out how to improve them to get more customers to check out.

Social Media Report Template

When it comes to social media, it’s all about building awareness and turning customers into advocates.

In our second last analytical report example, we see a multi-channel report featuring Twitter and Instagram.

how to write a good data analysis report

Grab this social media analytical report with your own data!

This dashboard goes beyond displaying social media KPIs . Did you spot the display ad with an image at the bottom? It helps clients see their posts in action.

PPC Report Template

No client wants to waste their ad budget on the wrong customers. In this PPC dashboard, we see the most critical Google Ads metrics that show whether you’re earning better ROAs.

how to write a good data analysis report

Grab this PPC analytical report with your own data!

With the insights you’ve gathered in this report—from demographics targeting and structuring ad groups—you’ll know how to reap higher returns on your PPC ad spend.

You should create a data analysis report before adapting any business strategy.

Not only does it prove your results and back up recommendations to clients, but it also helps these decision-makers to make informed decisions.

Back then, we used to go through multiple hoops to create reports. Gather data from seven different channels, take screenshots, paste said screenshots into a word doc, and download as a PDF.

It takes too long. Worse, it looks unprofessional.

Fortunately, automated reporting tools make it a snap.

DashThis connects all marketing channels in a single report. From Facebook and YouTube to Google Search Console and Ahrefs, you can finally create analytical reports that excite clients to read.

Start your 15-day FREE trial today .

DashThis is the power behind thousands of reporting dashboards created by and delivered for agencies and digital marketers every month.

Ready to automate your reporting?

How to Use Report Scheduling and Take Back Your Time

Don’t miss out!

Follow us on social media to stay tuned!

Automate your reports!

Bring all your marketing data into one automated report.

Get Started Today!

DashThis is a brand owned by Moment Zero inc

Copyright © 2011-2023

Seize The Power Of Analytical Reports – Business Examples & Templates

Analytical reports blog by datapine

Table of Contents

1) What Is An Analytical Report?

2) Why Is Analytical Reporting Important?

3) How To Create An Analytical Report?

4) Top Analytical Report Examples

5) Analytical Reporting Mistakes To Avoid

In recent years, analytical reporting has evolved into one of the world’s most important business intelligence components, inspiring companies across industries to adopt a more strategic mindset.

While many companies struggle to leverage an effective business intelligence strategy, the importance of analytical information creates a fluctuation of knowledge that cannot be simply collected into a single spreadsheet. It has become harder to create and use a single report and communicate a wide range of vital insights between departments, stakeholders, and important parties in a single company. That’s why a business needs a proper analytical report that will help filter important data and improve the creation of the full management report that can lead to a successful business operation.

That doesn’t mean that creating these kinds of statements should only be intended for specialized analysts who can read and interpret complex information more swiftly, but with self-service BI tools that expand the knowledge of all employees in a company, analytical reports can become one of the most invaluable tools that force progress, directly affect operating costs and use modern interface which everyone understands.

That said, we will delve deeper into analytical reporting as well as its value in a real-world business content. We will also look at how to create them with the help of professional online reporting software .

Let’s get started.

What Is An Analytical Report?

An analytical report example showing sales metrics such as the revenue, new customers, profit, etc.

An analytical report is a type of business report that uses qualitative and quantitative company data to analyze as well as evaluate a business strategy or process while empowering employees to make data-driven decisions based on evidence and analytics.

While analytical reporting is based on statistics, historical data, and can deliver a predictive projection of a specific issue, its usage is also spread in analyzing current data in a wide range of industries. For instance, a hospital has seen in its analytics that the average waiting time can be reduced by conducting specific actions. A marketing agency can decide to allocate its budget differently after the team has seen that the most traffic comes from a different source of the invested budget. Applications of these kinds of reports are different, and, therefore, the writing style and generating valuable insights are distinctive in every industry.

Why Is Analytical Reporting Important?

Now, let's consider the business-boosting benefits of operating with powerful insights.

Analytic reports are the gateway to business intelligence (BI). And when your organization becomes more intelligent, you will push yourself ahead of the competition. Working with them will empower you to make informed, accurate decisions while allowing you to problem-solve or respond to change with pinpoint accuracy.

To put their importance into perspective, here is a rundown of the key benefits of effective report analysis:

The take-home here is: With the right analytical report template, you will improve vision, efficiency, and communication in every key facet of the business, which will boost your bottom line while attracting more clients or customers to your business.

How To Create An Analytical Report?

How to write an analytical report with professional tools: 1. Use digital dashboards, 2. Be dynamic, 3. Chose the right chart types, 4. Follow design best practices, 5. Work with the right KPIs, 6. Make your analysis report accessible, 7. Tell a tale, 8. Consider interactivity, 9. Gather internal feedback, 10. Keep evolving

Now that we've looked at a definition and some key benefits, we’ll consider how to create an analytics-style report to enhance business intelligence across the board with the assistance of modern and professional tools.

1. Use digital dashboards

The first step should always be to think about the best medium in terms of usability and presentation. It’s possible to create a comprehensive report using a spreadsheet, whitepaper, or a simple Word document or file. But these more traditional methods are usually clunky and time-consuming. It is possible to structure data across a broad range of spreadsheets, but the final result can be more confusing than productive.

By using an online dashboard , you will be able to gain access to dynamic KPIs and insights in a way that’s digestible, actionable, and accurate. No more sifting through droves of spreadsheets, no more patchwork data analysis, and static presentations. With digital analytical reporting, you will see the insights unfolding before your very eyes.

2. Be dynamic

Traditional reports have a standard structure that doesn’t facilitate editing. Traditional types of analytical reports typically consist of a title page, table of contents, introduction, methodology, body section, conclusions, recommendations, and a bibliography. But with dynamic, interactive dashboard reporting software , your structure will be far simpler and more holistic. As such, you can retain all the conventional information you require, but the dynamism will provide facts you can use live and dig deeper while drilling down into pockets of knowledge with the swipe of a screen or the click of a button.

3. Choose the right chart types

Perhaps one of the most important steps is choosing the right chart type. Once you’ve made a conscious commitment to work with dynamic analytical reports, the next phase of the operation comes in the form of choosing the right chart type. A modern data report offers a host of interactive charts and visualizations you can use to your advantage.

If you choose the right types - those that represent the information you’re looking to convey with your data analysis report - you will enhance communication and productivity. Common chart types include interactive bar charts, line charts, bubble plots, area charts, and maps. To assist you in picking the right ones, here is a guide to choosing the best types of graphs and charts for your business.

4. Follow design best practices

When you’re considering the preparation of these reports, presentation is everything. Regardless of how powerful your dashboard software is, without following best practices, you will dilute your most vital organizational information, making it far less effective. When it comes to the design aspect, a clear, concise layout with a balanced mix of visuals is the way forward. For powerful analytical reporting, you must make sure your layout provides clear-cut answers to the questions linked to key aspects of your business’s performance. You should avoid packing too many charts and widgets into any analytics reports as it will only detract from your most valuable information. Also, for maximum data-driven success, focus on following a logical format that will allow you and your users extract actionable insights at a glance. Adding tables at the bottom of the page will enable you to achieve a logical format as they usually provide more value than charts, graphs, or similar metrics.

5. Work with the right KPIs

As well as the many different types of analytical reports that exist in the digital age, there are also many types of dynamic key performance indicators you can use. The visually rich and interactive nature of these KPIs means that you can gain access to a wealth of invaluable facts, both past, predictive, and in real-time. For an informational-style report format to work at its optimum capacity, selecting the right KPI template to build up your performance and business goals - is vital. When you’re creating or developing a business analytics report, you should consider which trends you are looking to uncover or benchmark and choose your KPIs accordingly.

Focusing on your primary business goals will help you reach a suitable conclusion when picking dynamic KPIs - doing so will ensure you’re able to make your business more adaptable, more responsive, and more innovative with the initiatives you develop for the organization. By choosing your key indicators well, you gain the ability to spot strengths and weaknesses while making your information more accessible to other stakeholders, both internal and external. This is an essential component of making sure that you get the structure of an analytical report just right.

6. Make your reports accessible

Expanding on our previous point, your business analytics report must always be accessible. In addition to developing a visually accessible, logical design and format, your relevant information should always be available to the right people in your organization whenever and wherever they need it. By working with pre-defined templates, you will be able to provide 24/7 access to your company’s most important KPI dashboards as employees will be able to log in and extract insights from a multitude of devices, including smartphones and tablets. The primary aim of an analytical report is to improve internal business intelligence while empowering everyone with the knowledge they need to perform better - this limitless level of accessibility will do just that.

7. Tell a tale

You’ve probably noticed that we’ve already mentioned the importance of “telling a tale or story” - and for good reasons. The human brain favors strong narratives or a plot it can follow, so if your analysis report format is developed with storytelling in mind, you will make your business reporting efforts far more powerful.

To learn more about how to improve your efforts, you can read our comprehensive guide on data analysis methods and techniques.

8. Use interactive features

When fine-tuning an analytical report, it’s important to consider the features and functionality that will make your data more interactive.

Working with certain features will bring your most valuable insights to life while helping your users to perform better within their roles. These dynamic features include:

By enabling the right features and helping everyone within the business understand how to use them, you will ensure your analytical reports offer maximum value, offering a consistently healthy return on investment (ROI) in the process. If you want to see this interactive dashboard features more in detail, then take a look at our complete guide on the topic!

9. Gather internal feedback from your stakeholders

Once your analytical reporting tool is up and running, gathering feedback from every relevant stakeholder is vital to ensure ongoing success.

When working with such tools, it’s critical to get your initial design and formatting correct—but it’s equally important to focus on continual maintenance.

By holding focus groups and workshops (or requesting online feedback) split into two main segments—your internal users and external stakeholders who you present your discoveries to—you will identify any gaps (both functional and informational) in your analytical report format (or formats).

Regardless of your sector or industry, adopting this mindset is vital, as it will ensure your data remains accessible and every single facet of your dashboard helps your users perform to the best of their abilities.

10. Keep on moving, improving, and evolving

Expanding on our previous point: once you’re up and running with your business analysis report and everyone is on board, moving with the landscape around you is vital.

Make a point of checking in with your analysis report format, design, and KPIs on a frequent basis. Consider whether the visualizations and benchmarks you’re using still represent the industry around you as well as the phase of the journey you’re currently on.

If you’ve found that you’ve suddenly scaled your business, for instance, you might find that you need to realign your core organizations and perhaps drill down deeper into your recruitment, talent retention, and fulfillment data.

The point here is that if you want to keep winning through business intelligence, committing to changing, and evolving your efforts continually is the best way forward.

Benefit From These 18 Analytical Report Examples

Many industries are discovering that analytical reports are essential for healthy and consistent business development. These 18 strikingly different but equally powerful analysis report examples prove it.

Let’s take a look at them, one by one.

1. Healthcare: How to reduce the patients waiting time in our hospital?

Analysis report template: hospital analytics gathered on a hospital management dashboard.

**click to enlarge**

Next, we look at an analysis report sample in the health and wellbeing sector. The healthcare dashboard above emphasizes healthcare metrics that combine historical information, and statistics and delve deeper into the analysis of trends, therefore, it can serve as a fundamental part of generating future decisions that are important to run and modify a successful hospital strategy. Although big data in healthcare is becoming expansive and increasing in the variety of information it can provide, it also uses reports in the form of a dashboard (like the one above) so that every piece of information generated has its own measurement and quality of evidence. The average waiting time by division can clearly increase the effectiveness of different hospital departments if used correctly. Also, the number of patients can explain why some divisions have a bigger amount of waiting time, and, therefore, propose a solution to reduce it, and also reduce costs that directly affect the department.

This metric is important for the finance department, but the holistic view of all the informational scope created and presented in this arrangement will assist management in making better decisions. The image above can also serve as an analytical report template, which can then be used as a roadmap to a successful hospital strategy.

2. Sales: How to exceed targets next year?

The next analysis report example comes from the sales industry.

Sales performance analytical report template

This sales dashboard combines a lot of important KPIs, like the average weekly revenue, customer acquisition cost, and yearly overview of the revenue and profit. You can even go further and interactively explore these units on a daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly time frame. The importance lies within the interpretation of big data compiled into just one central hub and a quick summary of the key factors that a sales report should have.

The sales target is exceeded by 115%, which means that managers can quickly conclude their targets are on track, provide feedback to their team and generate more ideas on how to proceed with the next steps of a strategy. Incorporating this kind of report into a business practice can bring value to a company, as smart KPIs are presented in a clear and efficient way. Combining these indicators, which provide straightforward evidence and an overview of the overall strategy, managers can reduce operational costs and set additional targets on how to decrease customer acquisition costs, which is one of the main goals of a sales strategy.

We can go even deeper on a monthly level.

Data analysis report example: sales dashboard that shows the efficiency and analysis of the sales cycle on a monthly level

This monthly report combines data of sales reps, their whole funnel, the average length of sales stages, and the average cycle length. You can see the single efficiency and conversion rates of a specific manager or representative, and gather information on the number of opportunities, proposals, negotiations, and closing times each one had. This sharp series of sales charts and analyses can project evidence of an effective selling cycle, meaning each member of a team can visually see their part of the strategy and make decisions based on the presented data. Since these kinds of reports can be used by different teams and stakeholders, the important value of clear analysis and numbers can define future actions while analyzing current data.

3. Marketing: Where should we allocate our budget?

Our third analytical report example comes from marketing. Digital marketing KPIs have expanded since the use of digital media has entered the marketing scene and reports have become more broad and detailed. Although you can combine your tracking KPIs into a single spreadsheet, it is often more useful to have a clear overview of specific campaigns, return on investment, cost per click, or landing page conversion rate.

This analysis report example displays a Web Analytics Data Dashboard presenting important marketing metrics

This data analysis report template shows a perfect overview of web analytics metrics. It quickly shows the total amount of visits, average session duration, bounce rate, page views, and the total goal conversion rate. Based on this info, a marketing department can quickly grasp into their analytics and conclude whether to make changes to their strategy or make an additional decision for a specific campaign. Monitoring traffic sources can easily define where to invest more or less, and the systematization of top campaigns, channels, and conversions can easily provide evidence of historical data based on the last year’s performance, or a weekly rundown of trends. This kind of marketing dashboard can bring consuming writing and exporting documents into the pains of the past since the dynamics of digital reports have gone into the future of the digital age.

4. Finance: We should reduce the operating expenses ratio. How to do it?

The fourth in our examples of analytical reports comes from the finance sector.

Financial analytical report template showing how much money was generated or lost over a certain period of time

This financial dashboard is a simple representation of how you can meet all your financial objectives in one analytical report, as it combines: gross profit margin, operating expenses ratio, operating profit margin, and net profit margin. All these indicators offer valuable and succinct insights into one central point of access which can be then analyzed in more detail by providing data and, therefore, a base for making future decisions. After seeing this visual representation of the most important key performance indicators, stakeholders, managers, or employees can benefit from insights and decide whether to reduce the operating expenses or take action into developing a new strategy to increase revenue and profit.

5. FMCG: How do we make our supply chain more efficient?

Our next sample comes in the form of our FMCG dashboard . A business analysis report focused on fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), this report sample is ideal for businesses turning over large amounts of inventory on a regular basis.

An analysis report in the form of a FMCG dashboard showing the products sold within freshness date, on time in full deliveries, out of stock rates, etc.

Boasting a cohesive mix of supply chain metrics designed to help business owners develop efficient strategies for streamlining their stock handling and fulfillment activities, this analytical report sample offers both at-a-glance and long-term strategic performance indicators based on average selling times and out of stock rates, among other invaluable nuggets of information.

This is a powerful report that will save you time and money while significantly improving both your supplier and consumer relationships in the long run.

6. Market research: How do we increase our brand awareness?

This analysis report template is based on improving your business’s market research strategies to gather critical insights using a more efficient, effective, and value-driven approach.

An analysis report format offers a two-fold solution — the mix of KPIs featured within this real-time dashboard can help businesses across industries boost their brand awareness and leverage influencer relationships while collecting market insights that will help in the development of smarter, more results-driven marketing and communication initiatives.

This is a visual tool that will help you create a brand image that resonates with your target audience while taking advantage of business-boosting opportunities across a range of mediums, from email to social media and beyond.

7. Manufacturing cost management: How efficient are my processes?

This balanced analysis report offers an at-a-glance snapshot of all core manufacturing metrics related to costs over a set period.

In today’s fast-paced, hyperconnected world, manufacturing companies or departments are under enormous pressure to fulfill high-quality products that meet stringent QC regulations while keeping costs at a consistent minimum.

Equipped with charts that display accessible financial trends, this analysis report is designed to give manufacturing decision-makers the tools to assess KPIs such as unit costs and return on assets swiftly and confidently. By using this key data report template, you will strike the perfect balance of quality, consistency, and financial efficiency – the operational sweet spot.

8. Support Team Performance: Are we meeting our customers’ needs ?

Support team performance dashboard as an analysis report template

In an age where customer service and experience are considered even more important than price or product, you cannot afford to be complacent with your support efforts. That’s where this data report template comes in.

This support-centric Zendesk dashboard will help you optimize your support team for continual success. The analysis report example offers an overview of general customer support KPIs such as Net Promoter Score (NPS), first contact resolution rate, and the amount of open and unassigned support tickets for a 30 days period. Among these, it displays an interactive chart showcasing the individual performance of your support agents, like this you can reward the employees with better numbers and help or incentivize the ones with lower ones. By tracking and measuring your support success you will gain the ability to make strategic decisions to make your service department incredibly efficient.

9. Procurement cost: Can I improve my return on investment (ROI)?

Report analysis example displaying a procurement costs report that tracks KPIs involved in the entire purchasing cycle. This is valuable in order to make cost-related decisions

This procurement-based analysis platform is focused on costs and purchases. The design showcases interactive charts tracking metrics like the cost of the purchase order, cost reduction, cost savings, cost avoidance, and procurement ROI, all of them displaying the actual number and a 5 years trend. In addition, you can see a detailed breakdown of the cost reductions, costs savings, and avoidance, among cost reductions related to suppliers.

By drilling down into this cohesive mix of procurement KPIs , it’s possible to omit any unnecessary costs from your procurement processes while understanding the ROI of specific items within your inventory. Tracking these metrics regularly will enable you to optimize every element of your procurement chain, ensuring that your efforts are not only value-driven but also don’t drain your budget with minimal gain. This is an essential data analysis report example for businesses across industries.

10. Employee performance: How well is my team doing?

HR is one of the beating hearts of your business. Keeping your employees engaged and motivated will improve your productivity levels significantly. This HR-centric data analysis template will help you do just that.

This analytical report example tracks employee performance with absenteeism and effectiveness metrics

Built to track labor effectiveness and absenteeism as well as staff productivity, overtime rates, and labor costs, this detailed tool will ensure your talent remains engaged while operating to the best of its abilities. Tracking these HR KPIs frequently will help you provide support, resources, or training where required while tackling any inefficiencies or staff-related issues head-on with a productive, valuable solution. This is a tool that will create continual success and cohesion in every department.

11. Supply chain: Is my supply chain optimized from end to end?

Historically, businesses across industries have hemorrhaged money with poor, inefficient supply chains and operational bottlenecks. But by taking a data-driven approach to your supply chain-based activities, you can cut out inefficiencies or operational snags.

Analysis report template example: supply chain management dashboard

This logistics dashboard is a business analytics report that will help you track turnover, out-of-stock items, and your inventory to sales ratios with pinpoint accuracy. By doing so, you can reduce redundant supply chain costs while keeping your entire process flowing from end to end. This is an analytics report example designed for sustainable supply chain success.

12. Energy: How sustainable & power-efficient is my business?

Many companies overlook their energy consumption – but it counts. If you have several offices, warehouses, or commercial sites to manage, you will suffer without proficient energy management solutions or strategies

Energy management dashboard with selected KPIs as a data analysis report example

This data analysis template allows you to compare your energy consumption to other sectors while gaining vital information on power cut durations, emissions, overall consumption, and costs. Armed with a melting pot of energy usage data, you can use this tool to become more financially efficient as well as greener and more sustainable – which is vital in an increasingly progressive and competitive digital landscape. By putting a data-driven energy management strategy in place, you will make your business more sustainable while reducing your annual costs.

13. YouTube Video Performance: What content works for my target?

With customers choosing videos over regular content more and more, brands have the opportunity to give important information in a more engaging and interactive way. For instance, by using explainer videos you can tell your audience about a new product, a service, or even what your brand is about, without putting them through the pain of reading long texts to find the information they need. With this type of content, you can also close more deals and increase conversions by adding extra value to your company.

This data report template tracks YouTube video performance with specific video-related metrics and indicators

Audience Retention

Our YouTube dashboard is an invaluable tool to measure the performance of your video content. It contains detailed charts showcasing forms of engagement metrics such as likes, comments, shares, and views along with two graphs displaying the average audience retention by seconds and the average watch time for the specific video.

By tracking these metrics you can see the overall performance of a specific video and compare it with others to understand what kind of content your target audience enjoys the most. In addition, by looking at the average watch time you can get a notion of how long your videos should be to keep the viewers entertained. This will lead to an optimization of resources and better content for your audience.

14. Facebook: how effective is my social media content and strategy?

Facebook remains one of the most highly-engaged social media platforms on the planet. If you’re a modern business looking to grow your audience and connect with droves of new prospects, using this most valuable of networks will work wonders.

This Facebook page analytical report provides insights into all the important metrics on this social network

Boasting a priceless melting pot of social media KPIs, our Facebook dashboard will help you benchmark your number of fans, drill down into your follower demographics, gather intelligence on your page views by sources, and track various on-page actions.

By working with these powerful metrics, you will gain the insight you need to deliver content that meets the exact needs of your Facebook audience while connecting with the right users at the right moment, with the right message.

15. IT CTO: are your high-level tech-centric decisions working?

The role of a CTO is high-pressure and all-encompassing. The execution, rollout, and development of technology within a company has a direct impact on its ongoing success. That said, as a CTO, your decisions must be swift, razor-sharp, and built for consistent growth.

Our slick CTO IT dashboard is designed to provide senior tech decision-makers with access to quality high-level metrics at a quick glance.

A CTO analytical report example showing relevant metrics focused on internal processes, learning, finance and customers, and users

With a balanced design and a wealth of visual information including critical IT KPIs such as user trends, critical bug quantifications, team attrition rates, newly developed features, and more, here you have everything at your disposal to act at the moment while formulating business-boosting strategies in a number of key technological areas.

16. CMO: how can I drive more efficiency from my campaigns?

The next of our dynamic analytical reports examples is for a company's CMO. Marketing and communications are key in delivering consistent brand messaging to specific segments of your audience across a wealth of channels. It's a colossal task, and if done right, it can bring exponential value to any business.

An analysis report example showcasing high-level marketing KPIs such as cost per lead, MQL, SQL, and cost per customer

This highly-informative analytical report template is built to provide busy CMOs or senior marketers with the insight to measure campaign success with pinpoint accuracy while managing budgets and ensuring the best possible return on marketing investment (ROMI) with every promotional initiative.

The information delivered by this template also offers a level of insight that will ultimately improve the collaboration between sales and marketing departments.

17. Customer retention: how can I inspire customer loyalty?

In our hyper-connected digital age, consumers are well and truly in the driver’s seat. As such, taking measures to improve customer retention and loyalty is critical to your business’s ongoing growth.

This analytical report template showcases relevant metrics related to customer retention

Not only are existing customers more cost-effective to maintain, but a loyal consumer will also act as a brand advocate, which, in turn, will expand your brand reach further with minimal effort. This retention dashboard will give you a clear insight into your levels of churn, retention, and growth, making it easy to target any potential issues affecting loyalty.

Armed with this invaluable information, you can set about developing strategies that will reduce your customer churn across every relevant channel and touchpoint.

18. Content quality control: can I improve the impact of my communications?

Content is everything in the digital age of business. Without delivering a consistent flow of quality content that enlightens, helps, or inspires your audience, you will eventually come to a grinding halt.

Analytical reporting example for digital media content quality control

Our panoramic analytical report sample provides professional reporting based on the accessibility, efficiency, and engagement of your business’s content.

Working with these critical insights, you will ensure your content reads naturally while discovering new ways to reduce turnaround time and gaining a clear understanding of the type of articles, mediums, or ideas that resonate most with your audience, driving better results in the process.

Analytical Reporting Mistakes to Avoid

We’ve looked at an official analytical report definition and explored various types of analytical tools—we’ve even walked through a comprehensive list of samples. Now it’s lets look at the essential mistakes you should avoid when generating them.

Not knowing your goals and objectives

The first cardinal sin of analysis-based report building is not taking ample time to work through your core business goals or objectives in a collaborative environment. Without looking at your existing functions and setting actionable goals or outcomes, you will choose the wrong metrics and essentially analyze information that offers very little value to the growth of your business. The bottom line? Do not skip this vital phase of the operation. Set aside ample time for goal setting and make sure that you involve the relevant personnel or stakeholders.

Not considering your users or audience

The next mistake boils down to a failure of considering your end-users and those who will need to read your reports. Think about what various users across different departments will need in terms of KPIs, visualizations, and access to perform better at their roles while ensuring your templates are set up for external stakeholders to understand the information before them and you will ensure your efforts deliver maximum results across the board, all while building collaborative bonds.

Choosing style over substance

W hen designing your dashboards, you should never choose style over substance. Making your design visually appealing is good, but you should never prioritize aesthetics over practicality. Work through your reports in detail and ensure every relevant strand of information is clear, accessible, and fully interactive to ensure the best (and most informational) user experience possible. Refer to our design tips in the report building section for inspiration.

Not providing training

Developing wonderful data templates is all well and good, but without training everyone within the business, your efforts will offer little value. That said, you must run workshops on your new data tools and make sure that everyone in the business understands why they should use them as well as how to use them to the best of their abilities. No exceptions, no compromises.

By avoiding these key mistakes, you will ensure that every analysis-centric report you write will improve business intelligence across the business. And in doing so, you will thrive.

Takeaways From Analytical Reports

The digital age has transformed the way we interact with the world around us. Now, businesses across sectors have the power to collect, curate, and interpret data in a way that improves intelligence and accelerates success. In this bold new world, BI tools have emerged as must-have tools for getting and staying ahead in a competitive digital landscape.

After asking the question, “What is an analytical report” and exploring an official definition, looking at a mix of real-world samples, and drilling down into how to make an analysis report, it’s clear that these dynamic, interactive, and highly visual displays offer no end of the business-boosting value.

Through our post, it’s easy to see how these kinds of reports can be used across industries by offering actionable insights that cover a host of departments, activities, and internal functions. Using BI dashboard tools will ensure that you stay on top of today’s market while reducing operational costs and propelling yourself ahead of the competition with powerful data-driven initiatives.

An online data visualization tool, coupled with the right analytical reports examples, can help track the specific and holistic performance of your company and improve your decision-making. Welcome to the future.

If you want to start rocking your reports today, try datapine for a 14-day trial to start extracting insights and value from your data!

12+ Data Analysis Report Examples – PDF, Docs, Word, Pages

Data analysis report template.

data analysis report template

Business Data Analysis Report Template

business data analysis report template

Data Reporting Analyst Resume Template

data reporting analyst resume template

Data Analysis Report Structure Example

data analysis report structure example 1

Qualitative Data Analysis Report Example

qualitative data analysis report example 001

Preparation Guidelines for Data Analysis Reporting

Data Analysis and Reporting Example

data analysis and reporting example 001

Data Analysis, Interpretation and Presentation Example

data analysis interpretation and presentation example 01

Data Analysis Interpretation for Reporting Purposes Example

data analysis interpretation for reporting purposes example 001

Is a Data Analysis Report Really Essential?

Detailed Data Analysis Report Example

detailed data analysis report example 001

Quantitative Data Analysis Introduction: Report to Program Evaluation and Methodology Example

quantitative data analysis introduction report to program evaluation and methodology example 001

How to Ensure the Effectiveness of Your Data Analysis Report

Data Analysis, Presentation, and Reporting Example

data analysis presentation and reporting example 01

Data Analysis Report Handbook and Guide Example

data analysis report handbook and guide example 001

Statistical Modeling and Data Analysis Result Presentation Example

statistical modeling and data analysis result presentation example 01

Useful Tips in Making a Data Analysis Report

More Design

17+ organizational analysis examples & samples, 18+ making daily business report examples - pdf, 9+ market analysis examples - pdf, word, 7+ company analysis examples & samples, 8+ weekly sales activity report examples - pdf, excel, 7+ marketing report examples, samples, 4+ academic report examples - pdf, 27+ questionnaire examples - pdf, 15+ customer analysis examples - pdf, related articles.

How to Write a Data Report

How to Write an Executive Summary for an Industry Analysis

How to combine pie charts into a single figure in excel, how to combine stacked and clustered charts in excel.

A data report is a technical document that details whatever data you have collected and shows how it was analyzed. While a data report can be a complex document, it's organization doesn't have to be. If you ever wrote a lab report in high school, you already know how to write a data report. It's usually divided into four sections: an introduction, a body, a conclusion and an appendix. All you need is a spreadsheet program and a word processor to write a professional data report.

Preparation

Identify your audience and keep them in mind while writing the report. A data report should be reader-friendly for those who will only skim through the data, looking for relevant facts to back up the conclusions, as well as those who are more technically minded and will be reading all of the data to ensure it supports your conclusions.

Gather all of the data you used for the report and write down your analysis of it. It's not wise to begin writing your report until after you have analyzed the data and identified your results.

Organize your data in one or more spreadsheets as needed. All of your data should be included in the report, even the data that wasn't analyzed. If you used secondary data, such as data gathered from other reports, keep this separate from your own data.

Determine whether or not you can highlight important data in charts. Most spreadsheet programs like Excel can generate charts automatically once you have organized the data as needed. Well-chosen charts help demonstrate your conclusions.

Writing the Report

Write an Introduction section. This usually contains three sections. First summarize the purpose of the report and the data being analyzed. Include any background information explaining why the report was requested. Then summarize the questions posed in the analysis of the data and the conclusions formed from the analysis. Finally, briefly outline what is contained in the rest of the report.

Create four sections in the body of the report: Data, Methods, Analysis and Results. In some situations it may be preferable to combine the Methods section with the Analysis section. If your report contains more than one set of data with independent analysis, repeat these four sections as often as needed.

Write a description of the most important data used for analysis in the Data section. Copy the spreadsheets containing your data and paste these after your written description. In Microsoft Office, simply highlight the cells, copy them, and then paste them into the Word document.

Write down the methods you used to gather the data and analysis in the Methods section.

Write down your analysis of the data in the Analysis section. Include in this section what was analyzed and the conclusions you made from the analysis. Insert any charts you created from the data in this section.

Create a Conclusions section. Restate the questions you raised in the Introduction, as well as the most relevant results from the analysis. If your report contains more than one set of data or analysis, this is the place to compare the different results as needed. Include any questions or recommendations for additional data as needed.

Include a last Appendix or Appendices section, if needed. If you have hundreds of pages of data, it may be preferable to put it in the appendix rather than in the Data section of the report. Insert any secondary data mentioned in the report in the Appendix, including a reference indicating where the data came from.

A published author and professional speaker, David Weedmark has advised businesses and governments on technology, media and marketing for more than 20 years. He has taught computer science at Algonquin College, has started three successful businesses, and has written hundreds of articles for newspapers and magazines throughout Canada and the United States.

Related Articles

How to write a marketing distribution channel strategy, how do i write a business abstract, adding a series to an excel chart, how to: marketing plan in powerpoint, how to format a business plan in writing, how to write an informal business report, how to write a quality improvement report, appending a list in matlab, challenges facing business research reporting & evaluating, most popular.

5 Awesome Analytical Report Examples (& how to create yours)

What is an analytical report.

Analytical reports are data analysis reports companies use to identify and act upon particular problems and opportunities in their business processes.

Besides the charts and graphics, analytical reports often contain written text that explains the interaction between the various metrics, and proposes solutions to improve them.

In most cases, an analytical report usually focuses on a few key figures that are relevant to a certain department.

For instance, a company’s support team will likely focus on:

However, an online marketing team will instead concentrate on metrics such as:

Analytical reports are sometimes compared to information reports . These are periodic (weekly, monthly etc.) business reports that simply measure the performance of certain key KPI’s ( key performance indicators ), without proposing any actions or proposals.

To put it simply, an information report says that something happened. An analytical report explains why something happened.

How to write an analytical report

Avoid vanity metrics, and focus on the kpi’s that matter.

how to write a good data analysis report

When working with data, there’s a temptation to focus on “vanity metrics”. These are data measurements that have almost 0 impact on a company’s business health.

Example of vanity metrics:

Company A has a blog with 10,000 monthly readers, that does not generate any leads, customers or email subscribers. In this case, having 10,000 monthly readers is a vanity metric, because it doesn’t help grow the company in any way. On the contrary, the blog eats up valuable resources that could be spent elsewhere.

By comparison, Company B has a blog with 1,000 monthly readers, only that this one brings in 1-2 new clients per month . For company B, having 1,000 monthly readers is not a vanity metric, because these can directly help grow the business.

Unfortunately, vanity metrics will be around for a long time simply because they’re easy. It doesn’t take much effort to generate 1000 extra Facebook likes, or 10,000 extra blog visitors. Generating another 10 sales per month however? That’s a far harder challenge.

The important, actionable metrics to focus on:

When doing data analysis, the metrics to focus on are those that directly help a company’s bottom line.

That being said, there are some metrics that indirectly help a company, by improving product quality and customer experience:

Actionable metrics are the ones that truly matter to a business, but they are also the ones that hardest to improve . Lifting up an actionable metric requires constant effort, true skill, a sound strategy and a lot of time and patience – something many businesses are running short on.

Use different chart types to show information

how to write a good data analysis report

When building a report, consider experimenting with different chart types. Some charts are better than others at expressing a particular piece of information.

The best example of this is the Funnel Chart, which elegantly shows customer journey, from when they are mere visitors to actual buyers.

Displaying the information with simple, clean and attractive charts can be just as important as the information itself. This is because analytical reports are often used by executives and other decision makers to decide where to allocate budget resources, worker focus etc.

In many cases, overwhelmed executives simply ignore reports that are too convoluted and don’t transmit the information clearly. This is true even if the underlying data is sound and correctly identifies an opportunity or problem.

how to write a good data analysis report

Focus on key KPI’s, then add secondary KPI’s that support it

Analytical reports are built around a key KPI, that shows the main problem (or opportunity). This KPI is then paired with secondary KPI’s that give it context and meaning.

how to write a good data analysis report

Report built with Dashthis

This is a sample taken from an online Pay-Per-Click advertising campaign.

The key KPI in the report above is the Total Ad Cost. The secondary KPI’s provide context and show that the advertising campaign is not profitable in the long run, with costs exceeding revenue.

Reports that combine key and secondary KPI’s are able to tell a story and can explain a business problem / opportunity all by themselves.

By organizing the information in such a way, you will make the report easy to understand for readers (such as executives, or clients) and convinces the reader to take action.

Combine data from multiple reports

Companies often use multiple online tools to run their business. For example, they might use Instagram, LinkedIn Ads, Google Analytics, Help Scout (support ticketing), Facebook Ads, Google My Business etc.

Creating a high quality and detailed analytical report may require combining data from all these tools, into a single report.

The hard way to do this is to create the report manually, through Excel or other tools. This can be very tedious and time consuming. It’s also very hard to create at scale, meaning you have to create multiple reports every week.

The easy way is to use a data dashboarding tool that has integrations with the software you use and can connect their data into a single screen automatically.

Below is an example of a report built with a data dashboarding tool, that mixes data from Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn or YouTube.

how to write a good data analysis report

A data dashboarding tool can build a report in 1/10 th of the time it takes for manual methods. It also offers many other useful features such as automatically updating data, scheduling email sharing, using different chart types, direct access to the report through a link and many more.

Suggest a course of action

Once you’ve established through charts and data that a problem exists, you will have to propose a one or more solutions to the identified problem or business opportunity.

This doesn’t have to be in-depth, or very well detailed. 2-3 sentences that are clear and to the point can be sufficient to outline a basic course of action and get the gears turning within your organization.

Don’t jump to conclusions; understand the real-world situation

A major risk when doing data analysis is misreading a set of swinging KPI’s, not knowing why they fluctuate, and then proposing the wrong solutions to them. This can very quickly make a bad situation worse.

The only way to prevent mistakes when interpreting data is to connect it to the real-world situation, and try to see what changes or situations might have caused the numbers to fluctuate.

Here are a couple of examples:

Example A: A company that sells subscription software changes its 2 week Free Trial policy. Customers now need to submit their credit card numbers, whereas before they didn’t. This has an immediate negative impact on conversion and sign-up rates since many people are reluctant to give up their CC info.

how to write a good data analysis report

Example B: You’re a data analyst for a small chain of 15-20 pizzerias. Lately, you’ve seen that 3-4 of the locations have been outperforming both their historical averages, as well as the other locations. You try looking at the data, but can’t figure out why they’re performing so well. That is until you physically go to one of these locations and see that they’ve installed ordering kiosks. This increases average order value, and with it, profitability.

Many, many companies communicate changes to business processes very poorly to their own employees. This is especially prevalent in bigger businesses that have many moving parts.

It is completely possible that a subtle change to a company’s processes can affect important KPI’s and leave the data analysts scratching their heads trying to understand what’s happening.

Make the information easily shareable and accessible

Finally, an analytical report should be easy to share and view. This means the report should be capable of being viewed in a live link, can scheduled for a periodic report, shared through email etc.

how to write a good data analysis report

Another major aspect is that the best analytical reports are interactive. This means executives, decision makers and other team members can play around with the report, change the time frames, dive deeper into key segments, cross-reference with other metrics.

This is especially important for execs who are themselves more skeptical and data oriented. These are people who put their own opinion first and foremost, and are wary of others telling them how “things should be done”.

Analytical report examples

Tracking website landing page conversions.

how to write a good data analysis report

Above is an analytical report built using Databox , with data coming in from HubSpot.

Landing pages are pages on a website specifically designed to convert a website visitor into a “lead” (email subscriber, phone callers etc), or even a paying customer.

The analytical report above breaks down the performance of a website’s landing pages, at all stages of the “pipeline”.

In the case above, the headline figure is the 9.74% conversion rate .Having a good conversion rate is the first step in generating a profitable marketing channel. At least in this regard, the report seems promising.

Next in the pipeline is the Subscription to Contact conversion rate, at 57% . Contacts are actual people that a sales department will get in touch with, either by mail or phone call. The number in this particular marketing pipeline is very good and promising.

Where it all falters however is in the final, and most important metric: obtaining actual customers .

Out of 79 contacts, not one became a customer. This communicates either one or multiple points below:

Depending on the product or service that’s being pitched, there are multiple possible solutions :

Finally, the three bottom columns show which were the best landing pages for converting visitors to subscribers, and ultimately subscribers to customers. This particular chart is important to figure which approach is more successful, and best to focus resources on.

Measuring a project’s progress

how to write a good data analysis report

Built using Databox, with data coming in from Asana.

This report measures the progress being made for various projects, as tracked with Asana.

As with the previous report, the headline figure and most important one is Total Overdue Tasks. The month-over-month comparison shows the number is in a steep 37% increase.

The other most important metric is Tasks Completed . This one is in an even worse situation than Total Overdue Tasks, with just 13 tasks completed per month – a 55% decrease.

These two data points combined point to multiple potential problems, each with its own solution:

Medical appointments report

how to write a good data analysis report

Built using DashThis , with data coming in from Google My Business and Google Analytics.

The report above is a year long overview of the performance of a dentist cabinet, measuring the total number of appointments and which channel has generated the most.

The report is built on a month-over-month and year-over-year comparison.

The initial table compares 2019 vs 2018, and shows that overall the two periods are comparable in terms of appointments.

The charts just below that show just how wide-spread a mobile web browsing has become. Many people still have an instinct to prioritize a desktop experience vs a mobile one. That however is a mistake, simply because most people now browse the Internet on their phones.

The headline chart shows the number of appointments is roughly the same year-on-year. This however hides deeper changes within the cabinet’s marketing efforts.

On one hand, Google Ads come with a reduced cost, but an increased number of appointments.

The next chart shows the importance of having good SEO. The number of sessions isn’t particularly impressive, but what stands out is the high conversion rate. This indicates that SEO is a viable business strategy to acquire customers, and is a valid marketing channel to spend resources for.

Tracking the number of incoming and missed calls

how to write a good data analysis report

Above is an analytical report built using Databox, with data coming in from CallRail.

Many companies rely on customers calling in to inquire about their services, or ask for quotes. Prime examples are pest control companies, house cleaning services etc.

For these types of businesses, incoming phone calls is practically their lifeblood. Without calls, there are no clients, and without clients there is no money.

This analytical report reflects that by placing Total Monthly Calls in the most prominent spot, with a month-over-month comparison.

In this particular case, the 18% decrease in calls can be caused by multiple causes that should be further expanded upon in the report:

The other important metric is Missed Calls. By keeping an eye on this metric, a business can keep an eye on any potential “water leaks” they might have and quickly fill it in.

In the context of this business, they could potentially see an 11% increase in revenue simply by reducing the “Missed Calls” metric to 0.

Tracking billable and non-billable hours

how to write a good data analysis report

Above is an analytical report built using Databox, with data coming in from Harvest time tracking.

On this occasion, the report tracks the number of hours worked by a marketing agency for various clients.

The problems highlighted in this report is that the agency is getting caught up doing non-billable work that doesn’t have direct results for clients, and thus doesn’t generate revenue.

To a degree, this is normal. Every agency has to invest non-billable work hours into administrative tasks such as acquiring supplies, negotiating with new potential customers, organizing conferences, etc.

The solution to this is to review the activities they have spent excessive amounts of time on, and then proceed to eliminate these from their business process and instead refocus on their customers.

Best analytical reporting tools

how to write a good data analysis report

Databox is a freemium reporting tool, that displays data from multiple sources into a single dashboard.

It comes with a forever free option, but it doesn’t quite provide access to all of their integrations. Nevertheless, it’s great for a test drive and can potentially solve the reporting needs for a small business or department.

how to write a good data analysis report

DashThis is another reporting tool, with a focus on marketing reports.

It doesn’t have a free option, but it does come with a 2 week free trial during which you have access to all its features.

Google Data Studio

how to write a good data analysis report

Google Data Studio is the Big’s Own reporting tool.

Unlike the other 2 on the list, this one is free. However, Data Studio provides native integrations only with other Google tools, such as Analytics, Search Console etc.

To get access to other integrations, you’ll have to purchase them through their partner integrations.

Get Google Data Studio

IMAGES

Data Analysis Report Sample Pdf
10 Data Analysis Report Examples
Data Analysis Report Template (Word, PDF)
Download 25+ Analysis Report Templates
Data Analysis Report Template within Stock Analysis Report Template
sample data analysis report Five Taboos About Sample Data

VIDEO

TNUSRB PC CUT OFF 2022/ Google form data analysis report
English project for (class 12) on cryptocurrency
DATA ANALYSIS CASES
Data Analytics How to Effectively Process and Interpret Data
Cremes International Mentorship Program Highlights
Statistical Reports

COMMENTS

How to Write Data Analysis Reports in 9 Easy Steps
How to Write a Data Analysis Report? 9 Simple Steps · Start with an Outline · Make a Selection of Vital KPIs · Pick the Right Charts for Appealing
Writing a Good Data Analysis Report: 7 Steps
Data Analysis Report Writing: 7 Steps · Introduction · Body (Data, Methods, Analysis, Results) · Conclusion.
Data analysis write-ups
When writing your report, organization will set you free. A good outline is: 1) overview of the problem, 2) your data and modeling approach, 3) the results of
Structure of a Data Analysis Report
In all cases, and especially in the case of computer code, it is a good idea to add some text sentences as comments or annotations, to make it easier for the
How to Write the Best Analytical Report (+ 6 Examples!)
Creating an analytical report from scratch doesn't need to be a time-consuming process. In this guide, you'll learn how to present data in a report that
What Is Data Reporting? See Data Reports Examples & Tips
While the focus should be on visuals, some data report types also need text. Make sure your reports use persuasive and even-toned business
See Analytical Report Examples For Quality Business Analysis
An analytical report is a type of business report that uses qualitative and quantitative company data to analyze as well as evaluate a business
12+ Data Analysis Report Examples
Your data analysis report content must be based on data that is relevant and aligned with your question, purpose, or target. · Your data analysis report must be
How to Write a Data Report
Writing the Report · 1. Write an Introduction section. · 2. Create four sections in the body of the report: Data, Methods, Analysis and Results. · 3. Write a
5 Awesome Analytical Report Examples (& how to create yours)
How to write an analytical report · Avoid vanity metrics, and focus on the KPI's that matter · Use different chart types to show information · Focus on key KPI's