If you’ve ever wasted a morning wrestling with slide decks or copying the same charts into yet another “monthly report,” you know: marketing reporting gets tedious, fast. Tome promises to speed that up, letting you build slick, interactive reports that actually look good. But out of the box, Tome isn’t tailor-made for your team’s quirks or branding—so if you want reporting templates that fit your workflow, you’ll need to do some customizing.
This guide is for marketing teams who want to stop reinventing the wheel every time, and finally get reporting templates in Tome that are both useful and easy to update.
Why bother customizing templates in Tome?
Before we get to the how, let’s be honest about the why.
- Default templates are generic. They’re fine for testing, but real teams have their own way of showing results, priorities, and “what matters this month.” Your CMO won’t care about filler slides.
- Consistency saves time. When everyone uses the same format, you spend less time explaining where to find things or what a chart means.
- Branding matters. If you’re sharing reports with clients or higher-ups, you want them to look polished—not like you downloaded a PowerPoint from 2012.
Tome’s templates are a solid starting point, but real value comes from making them your own.
What Tome can (and can’t) do for reporting templates
Just a quick reality check:
- Tome (what is it?) is a web-based tool for making presentations, reports, and other visual docs. It’s got AI-powered features to help generate content, and it’s way more flexible than old-school slide tools.
- You CAN: Create, duplicate, and edit templates; set up your own style guides; pull in data visualizations; and reuse branded layouts.
- You CAN’T: Automate live data updates (yet), enforce template use across your whole org, or create super-complex logic without workarounds.
So, it’s not magic. But with a little setup, it beats staring at a blank slide.
Step 1: Define what “reporting template” actually means for your team
Before you start clicking around, get clear on what you actually need. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a “template” that’s just a slightly prettier version of whatever you already do.
Ask yourself (and your team):
- What do we report on, every time? (Metrics, campaign summaries, experiments, etc.)
- Who’s the audience? (Executives, clients, team leads—each might want different things.)
- What’s our “must-have” data vs. “nice to have”?
- Do we need flashy visuals, or is clarity more important?
- How often will these reports get re-used or updated?
Pro tip: Pull up your last three reports and scribble down what’s consistent. That’s your real template, even if it’s not in Tome yet.
Step 2: Pick a starting point in Tome
Don’t start from scratch unless you love pain. Tome offers:
- Pre-made templates: Great for inspiration, but usually need heavy edits for real-world use.
- AI-generated drafts: Tome’s AI can build a first draft of a report if you feed it a prompt, like “monthly marketing performance report.” It’s not perfect, but it gets you past blank-page syndrome.
- Duplicate an existing Tome: If you already have a decent report, just copy it and strip out last month’s data.
What works: Using a past report as your base. Less time fiddling with layouts, more time customizing content.
Step 3: Set up branding and style (once)
Nothing kills credibility like mismatched fonts or off-brand colors. Tome lets you define brand settings, but you have to actually do it.
How to set your styles:
- Go to “Branding” or “Theme” settings: It’s usually in the top menu or under workspace settings.
- Upload your logo(s): Make sure they’re high-res PNGs with transparent backgrounds.
- Set your brand colors: Enter your HEX codes (not just “blue”).
- Pick your fonts: Stick to one or two for readability.
- Adjust default layouts: Update title, header, and footer blocks to match your look.
What works: Set this up once, then save it as your default for new Tomes. Every new report starts on-brand.
What to ignore: Don’t go nuts adding background images or gimmicky transitions. Keep it clean—nobody’s impressed by spinning logos.
Step 4: Build your reporting blocks
Now we get to the meat: the actual sections that make up your report template.
Core blocks most teams need:
- Title Slide: Obvious, but don’t forget it. Date, report name, your logo.
- Executive Summary: 1-2 sentences on what matters. No jargon.
- KPIs/Key Metrics: Use charts or tables; keep it scannable.
- Campaign Highlights: What worked, what bombed, what you’ll do next.
- Deep Dives: For bigger projects, SEO, paid, email—whatever matters most.
- Action Items: What’s next, and who’s responsible.
Building these in Tome
- Use “Cards” or “Sections”: Tome lets you stack blocks, so each section is its own chunk.
- Add charts: You can import static images or use Tome’s built-in chart tools. Just don’t overload with tiny line graphs nobody can read.
- Embed media: Videos, GIFs, or screenshots can make things clearer (but don’t overdo it).
- Tables: Great for showing numbers, but keep them simple.
Pro tip: Lock the structure of your core sections, so people can’t accidentally delete them when filling in new data.
What works: Minimal design, clear headers, and lots of white space.
What doesn’t: Stuffing every metric onto one slide, or forcing people to scroll forever.
Step 5: Make it easy to update
A template nobody reuses is just a waste of time. Set yours up for quick updates.
- Use placeholders: Add [brackets] or “Insert metric here” notes so others know what to fill in.
- Date stamps: Automate or remind people to update the date every time.
- Comment blocks: Leave tips right in the template (“Add campaign screenshots here”).
- Version control: If your team uses shared Tome workspaces, clone the template each time you start a new report, so you don’t overwrite the “master.”
What works: Make a clear “how to use this template” page at the start, and remind folks where to find it.
What to ignore: Don’t bother with fancy automation unless you’re ready to maintain it (Tome’s still pretty manual for now).
Step 6: Share, get feedback, and revise
Templates should make life easier, not harder. Once you’ve built your first version:
- Share it with the team: Get a couple of people to use it, not just peek at it.
- Ask for honest feedback: What’s confusing? What’s missing? What’s a pain to update?
- Revise ruthlessly: If a section never gets used, kill it. If people always add a chart, make it part of the template.
What works: Treat the template as a living doc. Update it every quarter if reporting needs change.
What doesn’t: Trying to make it perfect on the first try. You won’t.
Pro tips for marketing teams using Tome
- Keep it short: If your report is 40 slides, nobody will read it.
- Automate what you can: Tome can’t pull in live Google Analytics data yet, but you can save time by linking to dashboards or embedding screenshots.
- Train new hires: New team members should know where templates live and how to use them.
- Save time with AI: Tome’s AI can help draft summaries, but always double-check for accuracy and tone.
Key things to avoid
- Death by template: Don’t add sections just because “it’s always been there.”
- Over-designing: Fancy layouts slow you down and break when copied.
- One-size-fits-all: If you have multiple audiences, consider separate templates for internal vs. client-facing reports.
Wrapping up: Keep it simple, tweak as you go
Customizing reporting templates in Tome isn’t rocket science, but it does take a bit of upfront work. The payoff: faster, better-looking reports that actually help your team make decisions. Don’t get bogged down chasing the “perfect” template. Start simple, get feedback, and improve a little each month. The less time you spend fiddling with slides, the more time you have to actually act on your data—and that’s what matters.