Marketing · 15 min

Turn a campaign export into a results summary your boss will read

Excel

Short answer: Export the campaign results to Excel as a table. Ask Copilot for the key metrics against target, the best and worst channels or segments, and a chart. Then ask for a five-line summary: what happened, why, and what to change next time. Check the top numbers by hand.

Last checked against Microsoft docs: Oct 21, 2026

Results reports usually come down to whether anyone reads past the first chart. A clear summary that says what worked and what you'll change makes you look like someone who runs campaigns on purpose, not on hope.

A common situation (composite)

The campaign wrapped last week.
I have an export with 14 columns.
My boss wants to know if it worked by Friday.

What you get

Data: a campaign export with results by channel, segment or asset.
Does: finds trends and outliers, makes a chart, then summarizes.
Output: a chart and a five-line results summary.
How often: at the end of every campaign, or monthly.

Before you start

Needs: Microsoft 365 Copilot. Not sure what you have? Start here.
Microsoft's label for this scenario: Microsoft 365 Copilot.
Where: Excel, Copilot.
Access: Copilot only uses content you already have permission to open. Use only information your company allows in Copilot.

The steps

Export the results and format them as a table with one header row.
Add a column for target if you have one.
Open Copilot in Excel and run the prompt.
Check the top three numbers by hand.
Run the follow-up for the written summary.

Copy this prompt

This table has results for the [campaign name] campaign.
- Compare [leads / clicks / revenue] to target for each [channel / segment]
- Show the top three and bottom three by [cost per lead / conversion rate]
- Make one bar chart of [metric] by [channel]
- Point out anything unusual, like a big change week to week

Explain how you calculated each number.

(Prompt from stuckwithcopilot.com/guides/campaign-results-summary/)

Make it better

Run this next, in the same chat.

Write a five-line summary for my manager:
1. Did we hit the goal? With the number.
2. What worked best, and a likely reason
3. What didn't work, and a likely reason
4. One thing to change next time
5. One question we still can't answer from this data

Label likely reasons as guesses. Use only numbers from the table.

(Prompt from stuckwithcopilot.com/guides/campaign-results-summary/)

Data tip: use this with your work Copilot, and leave out passwords, payment details and anything your company marks restricted.

What a good result looks like

The top numbers match when you check them, the chart shows one clear point, and the summary separates what the data shows from guesses about why.

If a feature is missing

If Copilot in Excel isn't available, upload the export to Copilot Chat and ask the same questions. Check the math yourself.

Make it smarter

Keep a short "What it got wrong" note. Paste it above the prompt next time, like "Don't invent dates".

Not sure what to ask? Copy the quick note for your Copilot admin.

Questions people ask

Turn a campaign export into a results summary your boss will read?

Export the campaign results to Excel as a table. Ask Copilot for the key metrics against target, the best and worst channels or segments, and a chart. Then ask for a five-line summary: what happened, why, and what to change next time. Check the top numbers by hand.

What do I need for this?

Microsoft 365 Copilot. If Copilot in Excel isn't available, upload the export to Copilot Chat and ask the same questions. Check the math yourself.

Can Copilot tell me why a campaign worked?

It can suggest likely reasons from the data, but it can't know for sure. That's why the prompt asks it to label guesses.

What if my data is messy?

Clean it first with the Excel data cleanup guide. Copilot works best with one header row and no merged cells.

Can I compare two campaigns?

Yes. Put both in one table with a Campaign column and ask for the comparison.

Next step

Try it once, then make it yours.

Run the prompt on one real task this week. Then pick your next workflow.

See the workflow library ↗

Cite or share this guide

Turn a campaign export into a results summary your boss will read. Stuck with Copilot. https://stuckwithcopilot.com/guides/campaign-results-summary/ Last checked Oct 21, 2026.

One Copilot idea a week

One idea a week that makes your job easier, makes you smarter, and gets your Copilot doing more for you. Something genuinely cool, not a hack. Built for people in sales, marketing and ops.

Where this comes from

Inspired by Microsoft's Copilot scenarios. See the original at Microsoft Copilot adoption (Microsoft's campaign performance tracking scenario). The prompts and steps here are rewritten and expanded by Stuck with Copilot. This site is not affiliated with Microsoft.

Official references

Last checked against Microsoft docs: Oct 21, 2026.