This document provides tips and best practices for setting up measurement and reporting for paid search and paid social campaigns. It recommends defining business goals and key performance indicators upfront. It also discusses setting up the proper tracking using tools like Google Tag Manager and pixels, and how to attribute conversions across different channels. The document emphasizes creating a single source of truth for reporting by choosing an attribution strategy and measurement plan. It provides suggestions for setting up customized and automated reports in platforms like Google Ads, Facebook, and Google Data Studio to save time on ongoing reporting.

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Paid Search and
Paid Social Made
Easy - Reporting

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Jonti Bolles
Founder of White Hat Ops, a digital marketing agency focused on
sustainable, ethical growth.
Digital Nomad, Off-Grid Living with Technology and Wine.
https://www.whitehat-ops.com
Jonti’s Details

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If you can not Measure it,
You can not Improve it.

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Today’s Outline
What to measure and where to view
Best Practices
Set It UpMetrics vs.
Analytics Who is Working
Hardest
Attribution
$ave Time
Reporting

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What To Measure?

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Metrics vs Analytics
• Metrics are the numbers you track and most often include
KPI’s
• CPAs include the value of the action
• Analytics goes further to analysis and decision making
More details
CPAsKPIsGoals

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Measurement Plan
• Business objectives and goal(s) for each objective
• What metric gets you closer to your goal – KPI’s
• What does (un)successful KPI parameter look like
• Identify segments to analyze
More details
SegmentKPIsGoals

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What Data is Most Useful?
Tell A Story
Make It Easy and Consistent
Key Performance Indicator (KPI)
Ex. If growth of xx% or YY number count, will we
be congratulating everyone? If it drops by same,
will we be dreading the outcomes?

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Attribution

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What is attribution?
An attribution model is the rule, or set of rules, that determines how
credit for sales and conversions is assigned to touchpoints in
conversion paths.
For example, the Last Interaction model in Analytics assigns 100%
credit to the final touchpoints (i.e., clicks) that immediately precede
sales or conversions.

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Facebook - Google - Google
• Last View of Ad Before Purchase
• Last Click on Ad Before Interaction
• Last Click on Ad Before Purchase
Did You See
My Ad?
Did You Click On
My Ad?
Did You Buy
From My Ad?

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8,324 Pts
Last Click is the Default
Last Click is just the
beginning of the data story
Attribution Last Click

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GA Attribution - beta

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Time Lag
12- 20
Days
6 – 11
Days
3-5
Days
1-2
Days
Highest Point
Study conversion length via Custom Reports, knowing
Google Data and cookies are undergoing changes
* GA Report for Time Lag not available in Views with EEC
Lowest Point
What is your best common denominator for effective
cookies and conversion tracking.
1-2, and ~ 7 Days for this client.

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Who to believe? - Normalize
Google Analytics = Last Click Attribution, or create your own
Twitter = Up to 90 day click, 90 day engagement
Facebook / Instagram = 28 day click, 1 day view through
Pinterest = up to 60 days post click or engagement
Quora Ads = 28 day click, 1 day view through

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One Source of
Truth
Drowning in data for the sake of data is definition of
insanity.
Create and follow a measurement plan that is built
for your organization.
Choose an Attribution strategy and hold steady.

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Set It Up
Housekeeping and Best Practices
Tools You Can Use

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Best Practices Housekeeping
A Simple Checklist
Owner of GA
Purge Users and
Own Your Data
Values
From Measurement
Plan -
Determine Values and
Goals vs Events
Keep It Raw
Keep one GA view with
Raw, unfiltered data and
don’t touch it

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GTM + Pixels + GA + EEC
Plan - Google Analytics - GA
GA Conversions are Limited to 20
and tracked by ID. Renaming the
Goal can overlap data.
Do – Install Pixels
Install only needed tracking.
Monitor page speed and keep
containers clean.
Check - GTM + Events
Verify conversions, goals, and
values are consistent and
working.
Act - Enhanced Ecommerce
Use the data in meaningful manners.
Focus on profitable opportunities.

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Google Tag Assistant
- GA and GTM
Facebook Pixel Helper
Lighthouse for Page Speed
Chrome Extensions
Use extensions to test and preview
your tracking

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8,324 Pts
GTM Preview
Test in Real Time
Test Again
Google Tag Manager

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Google Ads - Conversion
Action Sets
All Conversions Are Not Created Equal
- Imported Goals From GA
- Conversion Can Be Shared by Account
or Campaigns
- Can “Include” in Conversions Column
- Used for Smart Bidding
2+ Must have at least 2 conversions
To create a set

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Send Conversion click
To Analytics
Conversion Reporting
In Analytics
Setup Goals for
Conversion Click Events
Import Goals to Google
Ads as Conversions
Events Workflow
Events provide greater flexibility over Top
of Funnel #metrics
Events can be tracked as Goals

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Annotations
References and Notes in GA, but often in a Silo
Track notes in a spreadsheet
Pull into Google Data Studio via GSheet by Date
• New Campaign
• Landing Pages
• Redesign

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Reporting
Custom Reporting
Save Time

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Custom UI Reports
Facebook – Custom Reporting
Build Custom Performance reports.
Custom Breakdown analysis.
Software – Ex. AdEspresso
UI is helpful to segment data.
Caution: Does it align with
measurement plan?
Google Ads, Bing – Customize
Use Goals and KPIs to create
Custom Filters.
Google Data Studio
Use a template to see data from
multiple channels. Outsource to
create a custom report from
your Measurement Plan.
View in each User Interface platform. Make it work for you.

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Save as Default Customizations
Custom Filter View Examples
• High Ad Spend, Low Performance
• Low Quality Score
• High Impressions, No Clicks
• Top Converting (Ads, Keyphrases, Placements)
Save Time - Set CustomColumns as Default
Google > Bing Custom Reports
• Campaign View
• AdGroup View
• Budget, Share of Voice, Revenue

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Save as Default Custom Columns
Facebook Custom Reports
Breakdown Reports
• Which ad placements are performing
the best?
• What times of day or weekdays deliver
the most conversions at the lowest
cost?
Set Custom Columns as Default

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Build and Customize
Google Ads Custom Reports
Google Data Studio Reporting
Google Analytics Scheduling
Facebook Custom Reports
Bing Save and Automate
Each platform has customization
and scheduling

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Save and Automate
How Often is Actionable
• Task Oriented
How Often for Alerts
• C Suite or Executive View
Each platform has customization
and scheduling

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Analytics Resources
Google Analytics Help Center
Google Analytics Dev Guides
Bounteous Insights
Avinash Kaushik's Blog
Simo Ahava's Blog
Top Learning Resources

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Paid Search Made Easy As That
• What to analyze
• Where to look for metrics
• How to segment analysis
• When to Save Time with Automated Reports
CPAsKPIsGoals

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jonti@whitehat-ops.Com @jonti whitehatops