Two hundred screenshots and a spreadsheet
A campaign had twenty creators, each with a Reel, several story frames and a TikTok. The client wants reach, impressions, views, likes, comments, saves, shares, link clicks and story taps for each. Public numbers only show some of that. The rest is in each creator's insights, so your executive asks them all for screenshots seven days after posting.
The screenshots come back over two weeks, some at day three, some at day twenty. Each platform lays out its insights differently. The executive types numbers into a spreadsheet from their phone, zooming in on small text. A reach figure is typed with an extra zero. Story taps are recorded for the wrong frame. The client's report goes out with those mistakes in it.
Why results arrive as images
Platforms show full post results to the account holder. Unless the creator connects their account to a tool, a screenshot is the only way the agency sees them.
- Creators capture results at different times after posting, so figures are not comparable.
- Each platform, and each post type, shows different metrics in a different layout.
- Stories have per-frame results that are easy to mix up.
- Screenshots arrive by DM, email and WhatsApp and are saved in different places.
- Retyping by hand introduces mistakes that nobody catches until the client does.
What hand-typed results cost
A wrong figure in a client report undermines the whole report. Clients who spot one mistake question every other number, and some start asking for the screenshots themselves. Comparing creators becomes unreliable when figures were taken at different ages. And the executive loses days each campaign to typing, time that could go on analysis.
Screenshots stored in inboxes also mean the evidence is hard to find if a creator's figures are questioned months later.
And creators are asked for results in a slightly different way by every agency they work with, so a clear, consistent request with an example of each screen is a small kindness that gets faster, more complete replies.
A results collection flow
- For each deliverable, the flow knows the platform, post type and the metrics you report, and when to ask: a set number of days after the post went live.
- Creators get a request at the right time with example screenshots showing exactly which screens to capture.
- They upload through their campaign link from their phone; story frames are matched to the frames in the approved content.
- An extraction step reads the metrics from each screenshot, along with any date shown, and stores them as figures.
- Checks flag problems: a screenshot taken too early or too late, a missing metric, figures that are inconsistent with each other or with public numbers, or a screen from the wrong post.
- An executive confirms the figures against the images on one screen before they are used.
- Where a creator agrees, a connection to their account through the platform's official access replaces screenshots for future campaigns.
| Post type | Metrics extracted | Checked against |
|---|---|---|
| Reel | Reach, views, likes, comments, saves, shares | Public counts, timing |
| Story frame | Reach, taps, replies, link clicks | Frame matched to approved content |
| TikTok video | Views, likes, comments, shares, watch time | Public counts, timing |
| YouTube integration | Views, watch time, clicks | Timing |
Results week without the typing
Seven days after each post, creators get a request. Most upload the same day. The executive's screen shows extracted figures next to the images, with a handful of flags: two screenshots taken too early, one story frame missing. The creators are asked again automatically. The confirmed figures flow into the report. When the client asks where a number came from, the screenshot is one click away.
Because every figure was captured at the same age, comparisons between creators are fair, which matters when the client decides who to rebook.
Recognise this before every report?
- Executives retype post results from screenshots.
- Results are captured at different times after posting.
- Story frame results get mixed up.
- A client has found a wrong figure in your report.
- Screenshots are scattered across DMs and email.