Month: November 2020

PPC Reports. They are 100% necessary if you provide paid advertising as a service. But they can be time-consuming to create and frustrating to maintain.

These problems are especially true when your reports cover advertising on multiple different systems… like Facebook Ads, Google Ads, and Bing Ads.

Read full article – https://www.jeffalytics.com/ppc-report-google-data-studio/

Trying to manually consolidate all your data into one report where the numbers add up is a giant headache no one needs. Thanks to Google Data Studio (GDS) you don’t have to spend hours trying to hand-stitch your PPC reports together. Instead, you can use GDS and third-party data connectors to create…

Automated PPC reports!I

In this video and post below, I am sharing how I created my automated, consolidated Google Data Studio PPC report with you. I’ll also show you how I built the consolidated PPC report. And, I’ll share a massive shortcut to consolidated reporting I discovered after I completed my report.

You can download your own copy of my 3-in-1 (Google + Facebook + Bing Ads report) when you join our Data Studio Mastery Course. Click the link below to learn more – https://www.datadrivenu.com/programs/data-studio-mastery/join/

Building an Automated Consolidated PPC Reporting Dashboard in Google Data Studio

In the interest of sharing how I created an automated PPC reporting dashboard which combines data from Google Ads, Facebook, and Bing, I’ve outlined the steps I used to build this dashboard in the remainder of this post.

Step #1 – Go analog and whiteboard it out

Before I design a new report, I always start with the trusty whiteboard. Why not just jump into Data Studio and start building? Because tinkering with the charts and graphs into Data Studio can suck up hours of your time.

I’ve found that whiteboarding your desired metrics and design is the quickest and most efficient way to get your report concept in place.

Step #2 – Add the tools you need to your tool belt

Data Studio is the primary tool we need to build our automated PPC report. But sometimes one tool isn’t enough to get the job done.

Enter SupermetricsWhile Google Data Studio can get you most of the way, the complementary tool you need to create an all-in-one PPC report is Supermetrics.

I am a big fan of Supermetrics because not only do their data connectors help me automate the connection to platforms that Data Studio doesn’t natively connect to; they have an excellent team in Helsinki who is at the cutting edge of data liberation through their connector products.

Without Supermetrics, you can’t automagically pull data from Facebook or Bing (unless you want to code your own data connectors or use one of a few other connector options).

Step 3 – Play in the sandbox

Next, it’s time to jump inside Data Studio and start building the elements of your report. But you don’t want to slow yourself down with design considerations until you’re confident you can get the data you need into your report. So at this stage, I recommend using what I refer to as a GDS “sandbox.”

The sandbox is a blank reporting template where you only play with data, not the formatting.

I used a GDS sandbox to start building my automated PPC report. Experimenting with data blending and creating calculated metrics in my sandbox helped me see what was going to be possible in my final report.

During this experimentation, I ran into quite a few issues, which I’ll show you how to avoid in upcoming steps.

One word of warning. You can’t easily copy your blended data source into a new report. So once you’re sure you can get at the data you need, move on from your sandbox and start building the final draft of your report.

Step 4 – Put your design template in place

Putting your design in place will help you see if you can re-create the whiteboard version of your report in Data Studio.

All my Data Driven reports follow the same design theme. For this step, I copied our Year-in-Review Website Marketing report and built my new report with a copy of that format.

Step 5 – Connect to your data sources

As always, when you set up a new report, you need to connect to your data sources. Using the native data connectors is an essential part of working in Data Studio. If you need a little more guidance on this step, check out my 4-part, free Google Data Studio Tutorial – https://www.jeffalytics.com/google-data-studio-tutorial/

Or if you want a comprehensive GDS guide, you can join my complete Data Studio Mastery Course – https://www.datadrivenu.com/programs/data-studio-mastery/join/

The Consolidated PPC Report starts with the native Google Ads connector and then mixes in the premium Supermetrics connectors to connect to Facebook and Bing Ads.

Join Data Studio Mastery Course – https://www.datadrivenu.com/programs/data-studio-mastery/join/

Read full article – https://www.jeffalytics.com/ppc-report-google-data-studio/