Executive Summary for SEM Results
Turn a month of paid search data into three plain-English paragraphs a business owner can read in two minutes
What This Prompt Does
Business owners don't want CPA, ROAS, CTR acronyms — they want to know what happened, what worked, and what's next. This prompt translates raw ad metrics into a three-paragraph briefing in plain English, tuned to the business goal instead of vanity metrics.
When to Use It
- •Monthly client report or stakeholder update
- •Turning a dashboard into a one-page briefing for a non-technical owner
- •Preparing a Slack or email update for internal leadership
- •Opening a quarterly review with a performance narrative
The Prompt Template
Act as a digital marketing consultant. Your goal is to summarize paid search performance in plain English for a business owner who does not know advertising jargon. Context: - Business type: [BUSINESS TYPE] - Reporting period: [DATE RANGE] - Campaign metrics: [PASTE METRICS] - Business goal: [GOAL] Task: Write a plain-English summary that explains: 1. what happened 2. what went well 3. what did not go well 4. what should happen next Process: 1. Review the performance data. 2. Identify the most important results. 3. Translate the data into simple business language. 4. Recommend the next steps. Constraints: - Use plain English that a minimum wage employee would understand. - Avoid jargon unless you define it. - Keep it to 3 short paragraphs. - Focus on business outcomes, not vanity metrics. - Favor recommendations that reduce wasted spend and improve conversion quality, not just click volume. Output format: Return: - Paragraph 1: What happened - Paragraph 2: What worked and what did not - Paragraph 3: What to do next
How the Prompt Is Structured
"Plain English a Minimum Wage Employee Would Understand"
This is a brutally effective readability anchor. It tends to cut acronyms, jargon, and marketing language that look fine in a report but mean nothing to the person reading it over coffee.
Three Paragraphs, Not Five
What happened, what worked vs didn't, what's next. Longer summaries lose the reader. The three-paragraph cap forces each paragraph to earn its place.
"Business Outcomes, Not Vanity Metrics"
Clicks and impressions are inputs. Calls, leads, sales, and cost-per-result are outcomes. The constraint pushes the summary toward numbers the reader actually cares about.
"What to Do Next" Closes the Loop
Every summary ends with action. Without this, owners read the report, close it, and nothing changes. The forward-looking paragraph drives follow-through.
Example Output
Paragraph 1: What Happened
This month, the ads brought in 87 qualified calls — up from 62 last month — while spending $4,800 in total. Most of the calls came from the emergency service campaign, which ran longer than planned because of the early-February cold snap.
Paragraph 2: What Worked and What Did Not
The emergency campaign performed exceptionally well — cost-per-call dropped from $75 to $52, meaning every dollar spent bought more phone calls. The remodeling campaign did not perform well: it generated 14 clicks but no calls, likely because the landing page focuses on showroom visits rather than online inquiries.
Paragraph 3: What to Do Next
Next month, we should keep the emergency campaign running as-is, rewrite the remodeling landing page to include a lead form, and test one new ad angle around "45-minute response time" to see if it increases calls further. We'll also add negative keywords around "DIY" and "training" to stop wasting spend on searches that won't convert.
Tips for Better Results
Include Last-Period Baseline
"$4,800 spent" is less meaningful than "$4,800 vs $4,200 last month." Paste the previous period so the summary can show direction of travel.
Translate Metrics to Dollars
"Conversion rate improved 0.7 points" is invisible. "We closed 9 more jobs this month from the same budget" is clearly good news.
Own the Bad News
When a campaign underperforms, say so clearly. Hedging ("results were mixed") destroys trust over time. Owners reward directness.
Use the Same Format Every Month
Consistency turns the briefing into a habit. Readers stop having to learn a new layout every month and can compare paragraphs period-over-period.
Reports Owners Actually Read
We deliver monthly paid search updates that skip the jargon and focus on the numbers that drive decisions.