Best Practices

The best Facebook ad reporting tools for 2024

Facebook remains the No. 1 most trafficked social media platform globally, with over 3 billion monthly active users. But while Facebook's immense user base provides brands with plentiful advertising opportunities, executing successful campaigns on the platform requires the right tools.

The question your brand must ask isn't whether it needs a reporting tool but rather which reporting tools will elevate its Facebook ads strategy for years to come. Why? With a seemingly endless number of performance metrics to track, successful Facebook ads campaigns require sophisticated reporting. 

Reporting tools are the only way to get the insights your brand needs to make data-driven optimizations and focus on revenue-driving KPIs.  

In this article, we'll compare the top 10 Facebook ads reporting tools renowned for helping marketers drive profitable marketing at scale.

Why reporting tools are essential when running Facebook ads

When it comes to analyzing the success of your Facebook ads, reporting tools play a crucial role in helping you:

  • Uncover trends in ad performance
  • Identify content that converts
  • Optimize return on ad spend
  • Convey campaign performance to stakeholders 
  • Ship more winning ads that drive incremental profit

So why not just use Meta's native Ads Manager to handle these tasks? You could. Ads Manager is a functional reporting tool. But, in our opinion, it falls short in three key areas:

  1. Granularity of metrics: When it comes to performance stats, Ads Manager focuses on reach and engagement. While these are crucial metrics to track, they fail to paint a complete picture of actual campaign performance. With the implementation of iOS 14, Meta's native attribution capabilities have also deteriorated.
  2. Reporting formats: Ads Manager presents reports via data tables and spreadsheets, making it difficult for all stakeholders to decipher the findings. Many stakeholders need simpler reports to understand the value of your ad campaigns.
  3. Usability: There is a notorious learning curve in unlocking Ads Manager's full capabilities for marketers unfamiliar with the platform. While Ads Manager has made strides in simplifying its UI, it still has a long way to go before it can be considered "user-friendly."  

Simply put, Ads Manager is a versatile in-platform tool, but it’s far from the silver bullet for ads reporting on Meta. For more sophisticated reporting, you need an external tool.

Critical features to look for in Facebook ads reporting tools

With so many reporting tools available to the modern marketer, each with its own features and benefits, it can be difficult to discern which options will provide the most value to your brand. Here are several features any leading Facebook ads reporting tool should provide:

Visually friendly reporting formats

A crucial value-add of any reporting tool, visual reporting formats help you communicate ad performance to key stakeholders via metrics and graphics. Visually simplified reports not only help bridge the gap between technical and creative teams but also help streamline buy-in from upper management.

What makes a visual report effective?

  • Creative assets shown in real-time, unlike clunky spreadsheets
  • Simplified metrics and graphics eliminate information overload
  • Tagging and color coordination make reports easy to understand

Tracking for industry-standard KPIs

A Facebook ads reporting tool that offers a wide variety of reporting metrics will give you the ability to measure how your ads contribute to brand goals, identify winning ads, and iterate on non-performers. A few common KPIs you should be on the lookout for are:

  1. Return on ad spend (ROAS)
  2. Click-through-rate (CTR)
  3. Cost-per-click (CPC)
  4. Cost-per-thousand (CPM)
  5. Cost-per-action (CPA)

Comparative campaign analysis and benchmarking

A useful analytics feature will allow you to compare campaign findings and establish goals and performance targets. You can identify trends, replicate success, and uncover optimization opportunities when directly comparing campaigns. Learning from past campaigns can also help your creatives beat fatigue by uncovering which ad formats delivered the most ROI.

Insight into creative performance 

Next to audience iteration, creative iteration is the most potent growth lever in paid advertising, accounting for 70% of an ad's overall performance. As such, any Facebook ads reporting tool worth its salt will provide users with creative insights that make identifying and iterating on winning assets a walk in the park.

For example, Motion's Creative Analytics platform provides granular creative reports that help you:

  • Identify where in the video funnel viewers take action
  • Understand performance based on different value propositions
  • Identify top-performing creative formats
  • And much more

Real-time data monitoring

Monitoring how users interact with your ads in real-time is essential to making swift and data-informed campaign optimizations. Real-time data monitoring also reduces time spent on reporting, as marketers and creatives can simply reference a dashboard to understand a campaign's current performance.

10 leading reporting tools for Facebook ads

From creative iteration to social listening (and everything in between), these top-ten Facebook ads reporting tools are trusted by leading brands across all verticals to drive profitable marketing. 

Motion

Motion is a leading creative analytics and Facebook ads reporting tool designed to help marketers unlock the most potent growth lever in paid advertising: high-quality creative. 

With Motion, generating visually simplified and granular performance reports takes mere minutes. Our clients include heavy hitters like MUD\WTR, Vuori, and VaynerCommerce.

Notable Features

  • In-depth performance metrics for every ad and creative asset
  • Easy-to-understand reporting formats
  • Creative format comparisons to help you make swift optimizations
  • Customizable metrics for real-time analysis

Benefits

  • Motion provides extensive creative iteration opportunities 
  • Intuitive user interface saves time 
  • Creative analytics help creators beat fatigue by identifying and iterating on trends
  • Collaborative reporting between media buyers and creatives
  • Entire platform is laser-focused on driving growth

Pricing

Verdict: The quintessential Facebook ads reporting tool for brands looking to drive profitable growth via creative iteration.

Swydo

A former marketing agency that evolved into an ad reporting platform, Swydo helps brands generate high-impact Facebook ads reports and customizable dashboards that analyze real-time metrics. Labelium, Radical, and groupM are a few of their more notable clients.

Notable Features

  • Customizable reports and dashboards
  • Centralized campaign management performance monitoring
  • Pre-built reporting templates
  • Customizable metrics

Pros

  • Automated workflows reduce manual lift
  • Intuitive drag-and-drop UI makes report-building simple 
  • Central hub consolidates cross-channel ad data

Cons

  • New features have long development times
  • Data visualization options are limited
  • Sharing requires a PDF export or direct link

Pricing

  • $49/month; increases based on your number of data sources
  • Free trial

Verdict: While their data visualization options and product updates are somewhat lacking, Swydo remains a solid option for SMBs and mid-market brands.

Rival IQ

Founded in 2012, Rival IQ is a Facebook ads reporting tool offering analysis options ranging from social audits to social listening. Their clients include Urban Decay, Convince & Convert, and the Lung Cancer Alliance.

Notable Features

  • Customizable metrics and reporting formats
  • Social listening and search
  • Competitive benchmarking
  • Campaign audits

Pros

  • Intuitive user interface saves time 
  • Continuous updates deliver robust reporting capabilities
  • Data visualization helps stakeholders understand findings

Cons

  • Monthly fees are expensive
  • Historical data is limited 

Pricing

  • $239/month; increases depending on company size and reporting requirements
  • Free trial

Verdict: While Rival IQ’s price makes it a tough sell to SMBs with limited marketing budgets, the platform remains highly regarded among digital marketers.

DashThis

DashThis places automated reporting and data centralization at the heart of its data reporting platform. Its simplified UI and easy-to-understand reporting formats have garnered acclaim from brands like KTM, Dagmar, and iProspect.

Notable Features

  • 34+ native platform integrations
  • Simplified and intuitive user interface
  • Wide range of report and dashboard templates
  • Unlimited CSV uploads

Pros

  • Data visualization helps stakeholders understand the findings 
  • Extensive integrations make it flexible 
  • Unlimited users can be added to a single account

Cons

  • Making annotations and bullet points can be tricky
  • Occasional data sync glitches can be frustrating

Pricing

  • $42/month; increases depending on company size and reporting requirements
  • Free trial

Verdict: DashThis is one of the more user-friendly yet versatile options on our list, although the platform isn't safe from occasional glitches.

AdEspresso

Acquired by marketing tech firm Hootsuite in 2017, AdEspresso is a dedicated Facebook ads tool built to help mid-market and enterprise-level brands create, analyze, and optimize their campaigns. Their clients include several tech and eCommerce giants like Microsoft, TeeSpring, and HubSpot.

Notable Features

  • Automated reporting options 
  • Robust split-testing capabilities 
  • Ad iteration opportunities

Pros

  • Minimal setup requirements drive value from day one
  • A wide variety of custom metrics help uncover ad performance 
  • Budgeting advice helps you get more out of the platform 

Cons

  • Customers cite long response times from support
  • Offers limited integrations beyond Facebook

Pricing

  • $49/month; increases depending on company size and reporting requirements
  • Free trial

Verdict: AdEspresso is excellent for marketing teams looking for an all-in-one Facebook ads reporting solution. However, potentially steep pricing and occasional support qualms may make it a poor fit for smaller brands.

Madgicx

Madgicx is a heavy hitter in human-to-machine-led ad optimization. The platform is working toward a fully autonomous future of ad management with its AI-driven Facebook ads reporting tool. A self-proclaimed "SuperApp" for Facebook advertisers, Madgicx helps brands like Guess, Rip Curl, and MuteSix elevate their Facebook ads strategies.

Notable Features

  • In-depth audience creation and targeting
  • Creative insights and clusters
  • Mass campaign creation
  • Automated workflows

Pros

  • The feature-rich platform is priced competitively
  • Madgicx emphasizes autonomous ad management
  • AI-backed insights help bolster campaign performance 

Cons

  • Users will need to overcome a learning curve to use the platform 
  • Some reporting formats can be difficult to decipher
  • Customers report semi-frequent technical issues

Pricing

  • $44/month; increases depending on company size and reporting requirements
  • Free trial

Verdict: Madgicx is a particularly powerful platform when placed in the hands of an experienced digital marketer. However, the steeper learning curve and complex reporting formats may scare away some users.

Quintly

Quintly is a cloud-based social analytics and competitor benchmarking tool known for helping major brands like MSI, ASOS, and Samsung uncover the data behind their ads. Its platform boasts integrations for every social platform and a plethora of performance metrics and reporting formats.

Notable Features

  • Advanced analysis of owned channels
  • Competitive benchmarking 
  • Content optimization opportunities
  • Customizable dashboards and metrics

Pros

  • All social data is centralized
  • A wide variety of custom metrics helps uncover ad performance 
  • Excellent customer service supports its clients 

Cons

  • Customers report a lengthy onboarding process
  • A steep learning curve complicates custom reporting 
  • The platform’s monthly fees are expensive

Pricing

  • $315/month; increases depending on the number of users
  • Free trial

Verdict: While Quintly offers a full bouquet of reporting capabilities, its premium pricing structure will likely scare away SMB and mid-market brands.

Whatagraph

Whatagraph is a comprehensive social reporting platform specializing in Instagram and Facebook ads. With faster reporting as their north star, Whatagraph helps heavy hitters like Ogilvy, McCann, and Thrive focus on what truly matters: strategy and execution.

Notable Features

  • 45+ fully managed integrations
  • Customizable reporting formats
  • Interactive dashboards
  • Real-time data monitoring 

Pros

  • Data visualization helps stakeholders understand the finding
  • All social data is centralized
  • An intuitive user interface saves time

Cons

  • The platform’s monthly fees are expensive
  • Users must download spreadsheets for specific channel metrics

Pricing

  • €219/month; increases depending on the number of users
  • Free trial

Verdict: Whatagraph is expensive, even for enterprise-level brands. However, with many integrations and reporting features, some brands may find it worth its eye-watering monthly cost.

Metrics Watch

Built with marketing agencies and enterprise-level brands in mind, Metrics Watch delivers comprehensive Facebook reports directly to your clients' inboxes. Its simplified approach to email-based data reporting has received acclaim from brands like EA, Spotify, and Lindt.

Notable Features

  • Email-based reporting
  • Long list of integrations
  • Automated reporting capabilities
  • Plenty of pre-made reporting templates

Pros

  • Reports are deployed directly to your inbox
  • Intuitive drag-and-drop UI makes report-building simple
  • A wide variety of trackable metrics helps uncover ad performance
  • Steep learning curve needed to unlock the tool's potential

Cons

  • Platform lacks some design options
  • Limited features offered on its starter plan

Pricing

  • $36/month; increases depending on the number of users
  • Free trial

Verdict: Metrics Watch's premium plans offer an excellent assortment of reporting functions for digital marketers. However, their entry-level plans may leave you wanting more.

AdRoll

Founded in 2006 with the goal of democratizing paid advertising, AdRoll helps ecommerce brands create, manage, and analyze social campaigns on one central platform. As a pioneer in paid advertising, AdRoll has formed partnerships with brands like Lounge, Topo Designs, and Shady Rays.

Notable Features

  • eCommerce retargeting
  • Mass campaign creation
  • Centralized social data 
  • Visually friendly reporting format

Pros

  • Usability lowers the learning curve required to unlock the tool's potential
  • Industry-standard reporting metrics make it highly useful
  • The onboarding process is streamlined

Cons

  • Limited integrations included (compared to competition)
  • Ad creative lacks insights 

Pricing

  • $36/month
  • Pay-as-you-go and custom plans on request 
  • Free trial

Verdict: A pioneer in paid advertising, AdRoll remains a robust and easy-to-use platform. However, its limited features and functionalities cause it to be overshadowed by competitors.

How Motion elevates your Facebook ads strategy with in-depth creative analytics

In post-iOS 14 paid advertising, creative is your most potent growth lever and a core differentiator of your brand. However, unlocking this growth lever can be strenuous and resource-heavy. That's where Motion comes in.  

Each reporting tool on this list is a solid addition to the modern marketer's toolkit, but Motion stands out from the rest with three core benefits:

  1. Evaluate creative with in-depth performance metrics: Motion not only delivers granular performance metrics for every creative asset, but it also provides insights into copy, headers, and landing pages. Marketers can leverage these insights to unlock endless iteration opportunities.
  2. Visualize insights with easy-to-understand reports: Motion is the only reporting tool that displays your creative assets in real-time next to corresponding performance metrics. This core differentiator makes reporting to stakeholders second nature.  
  3. Compare creative formats and make swift optimizations: With Motion's Comparative Analysis Reports, immediately determine which creative formats are driving conversions, then adjust ad spend accordingly. Motion's partner, AS Beauty, used this feature to scale ad spend on its BFCM campaigns by 500%.
"Motion's ability to uncover highly granular findings and present them in a way that helps everyone on our team make sense of the data has been an absolute game-changer."  – Justin Blakey, Media Buyer at MUD\WTR

Want to learn how Motion can help you ship more winning ads?

Schedule a demo

Get a tour of Motion’s creative analytics platform. We’ll even build free sample reports for you using live data from your TikTok, Meta, and YouTube ad accounts.

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