Executive summary generator

Executive Summary Generator

A skill for producing one-page Google Ads summaries for non-marketing leadership.

What this skill does

Translates Google Ads performance data into a single page tailored for a CMO, CEO, CFO, or board. Removes PPC jargon, frames metrics as business outcomes, and answers the three questions every executive asks:

1. Are we growing?
2. Is it efficient?
3. What should we do next?

How this differs from the weekly digest

Skill	Audience	Length	Detail
weekly-performance-digest	PPC team + adjacent stakeholders	~600 words	Tactical, multi-section
executive-summary-generator (this)	C-suite, board, finance	~300 words / 1 page	Strategic, 3 questions answered

The exec summary cuts more, frames everything in dollars-and-growth, and never assumes the reader knows what CPA means.

Required inputs

1. Reporting period - typically a month or quarter; ask if unclear
2. Total spend, conversions, and revenue for the period
3. Comparable prior period - same month last year, prior quarter, or prior month (specify which)
4. Annual goal context - revenue target, growth target, CAC target - whatever the leadership team uses
5. Major changes during the period - campaign launches, budget shifts, team changes - for the narrative arc

If revenue tracking isn't in place, ask whether the user has approximate revenue per conversion that can be used. Without revenue context, the summary can only speak to cost and volume - which is often insufficient for leadership.

Workflow

Step 1: Gather context

If the user just said "exec summary", respond:

To make this useful for your leadership, I need:

1. Reporting period - month, quarter, or custom range
2. Comparison period - same month last year, prior quarter, or prior month?
3. Top-line numbers - total spend, conversions, revenue (if tracked) for both periods
4. The growth target this period was meant to hit - leadership cares about variance to plan
5. The 1–2 biggest changes you made this period - narrative arc matters
6. Anything specific you know leadership is asking about - sometimes there's a topic they want addressed

Step 2: Compute the three answer numbers

For "are we growing?":

• Revenue period-over-period (% and absolute $)
• Conversions / new customers period-over-period
• One context number: market growth rate, prior trend, or industry benchmark if available

For "is it efficient?":

• ROAS this period vs. prior
• Cost per acquisition this period vs. prior
• Blended marketing efficiency if available (Google Ads as % of total marketing)

For "what should we do next?":

• Two strategic recommendations (investment, reallocation, or pause decisions)
• Each with expected business impact in dollars

Step 3: Write the narrative

Length: 250–350 words. Structure:

[Opening sentence: result vs. plan]
[Growth narrative: numbers + driver]
[Efficiency narrative: cost + comparison]
[Forward look: 1–2 strategic recommendations]
[One-line context: what shifted in the market or our approach]

The opening sentence is critical. Not "Q2 had mixed results." Better: "Q2 delivered $1.4M in revenue (15% above plan) while reducing customer acquisition cost 12%."

Step 4: Build the data block

Below the narrative, a small results table - 5–7 rows max. Only metrics that matter at the executive level:

Metric	This period	Prior	Δ
Revenue	$X.XM	$X.XM	+X%
New customers	XXX	XXX	+X%
Customer acquisition cost	$X	$X	-X%
Marketing investment	$XXXk	$XXXk	+X%
Return on ad spend	X.Xx	X.Xx	+X%

Avoid: Impressions, clicks, CTR, CPC, Quality Score, IS, conv. rate. These belong in the team-level digest, not the executive summary.

Step 5: One-line risks/watch-outs

Below the table, ONE LINE on what could change the picture next period:

"Watch: rising auction competition has pushed CPC up 8% over the last 30 days; if it continues, Q3 efficiency may compress 5–7%."

If there's no notable risk, skip this line.

Output format

Markdown by default. Optimized for paste-into-email or paste-into-Slack.

If the user says "for a board deck" or "as a slide", produce a PowerPoint single slide using the pptx skill. If they say "for the monthly business review document", produce a Word doc page using the docx skill.

Length discipline

Hard cap: 350 words for the narrative. The data table is separate.

If the period had a lot happening, that's a sign you need to cut more, not stretch the summary. The exec summary's job is to surface the 3 things leadership needs; everything else lives in the underlying digest.

What this skill must NOT do

• Don't use PPC jargon. No CPA, CPC, CTR, IS, ROAS without translation. Even "ROAS" should be "return on ad spend" in the narrative; fine in the table.
• Don't include tactical detail. "We added 47 negative keywords" is irrelevant at the C-level. The C-level cares about the result of those negatives, not the action itself.
• Don't bury bad results. If the period missed plan, lead with the gap, then explain it. Leadership's #1 complaint about marketing reports is sandbagging.
• Don't recommend more than 2 strategic actions. Three or more dilutes attention.
• Don't pad. Empty phrases like "we continue to optimize" add nothing. Cut.
• Don't speculate beyond what data supports. "We expect Q3 to be even stronger" is a marketing pitch, not a report. Frame forward-looks with numbers and ranges.

Reference files

• references/exec-frame-templates.md - opening-sentence formulas and narrative archetypes
• references/translation-glossary.md - PPC jargon → exec language mapping