Building a Report that Combines Data from Facebook & Google Analytics

By Megalytic Staff - May 31, 2016

There’s something really exciting about kicking off a new project, especially when it involves an integrated marketing campaign that spans across channels. It’s even better when that project involves a new idea that may just be getting off the ground. Who doesn’t want to be there from the beginning to look back one day and say “I was a part of that”?
Let’s take this scenario further. Your digital agency is tasked with building an online presence for a brand new startup. You create a Facebook Page and begin building the brand’s following on social media. You also launch paid search campaigns and you begin the on-going process of search engine optimization to help the site get found.

 

The end of the first month rolls around, and you need to give your client a report. You’re accountable for everything you did online and want to show not only website traffic but also activity from the Facebook Page.
Ideally, you should present a comprehensive document that encompasses both Facebook and Google Analytics data. You’ll want to create a format that will become familiar to your client and a template that you can update each month to review progress on a regular basis.
No worries. We’ve got you.
In this post, we’ll go over how to build a combined template that ties together metrics across multiple sources, using Megalytic.

 

Facebook & Google Analytics

 

Connect Your Accounts

To start creating a Megalytic report for your new client, you’ll need to connect your Megalytic account to the site’s Google Analytics account and its Facebook business Page. Go to the Manage section of Megalytic by clicking your name in the upper right and selecting “Manage.” Next, select “Add a New Connection” in the Connections section.

 

Add a Connection in Megalytic

 

Select the type of account you want to add and then follow the prompts to select your desired account. For Google Analytics, make sure you’re logged into a Google account that has access to the view you want to connect. For Facebook, make sure you’re logged into a Facebook profile with access to the business Page you want to connect.

Once you’ve connected the accounts, you can then show the data in widgets throughout your reports. With all primary data sources in place, you can start building your report.

Build Your Report

Create your report by selecting the “New Report” button from the main Megalytic interface. You’ll see a number of useful templates available, but for the purposes of this article, we’ll begin a blank report. With a blank slate that you can customize by adding widgets, you have the opportunity to focus the report on showing the specific data that matters to your client.

With an understanding of the metrics that matter most to your client, you can choose widgets that show the necessary key data. Start with high level metrics and drill down to more specific key performance indicators (KPIs). We’ll cover a few suggested widgets, but you should include the ones that will help you convey the story that is most relevant to your client.

Multi-KPI Widget

The Multi KPI widget provides an excellent high level summary of website traffic numbers to kick off a report. Select the “Add Widget” button and find the Multi KPI widget under the Google Analytics KPI category. If you find yourself overwhelmed by the options, you can also use the search bar in the widget selection window to quickly find widgets by name.

 

Adding a Widget to your Report with Megalytic

 

Once you’ve added the widget, you can then customize it to show the key metrics that matter most to you. In this case, we’ll select Users, Sessions, Avg. Session Duration, and Completions. These will provide a picture of traffic levels, engagement, and lead generation, all in one place. If you’ve been tracking analytics prior to launching the report you’ll have historical data with which to show a comparison. This allows you to compare data to the previous month and/or year. In this case, as a relatively new site, we can only compare to the previous month.

 

Multiple KPIs in a Megalytic Widget

 

Traffic by Channel

Next, you should break down Channels to show how each contributed individually to traffic and conversions on the site. Use the Traffic by Channel widget to show a straightforward breakdown.

 

Website Traffic by Marketing Channel

 

Here, we’ve customized the widget to show New Users and Completions for each channel. This tells us how many people were introduced to the site by each type of online interaction, along with the volume of leads generated from each. With this insight as you move forward with the campaign, you can evaluate how each channel performed in order to assess the effectiveness of your tactics and strategies.

Facebook Likes

Next, you can incorporate Facebook data into your report. You’ll want to show how many individuals have potentially been exposed to the brand across Facebook and how many of them have chosen to interact.

The Page Likes widget helps to demonstrate how many people have chosen to follow a brand on Facebook, showing trends over time. Upon choosing the widget, select your desired Facebook Page and then set the date range you’d like to show.

 

Megalytic's Facebook Likes Widget

 

By default, this widget will show a graph of Facebook likes over the period of time you’ve established. Using the Compare To feature in the date selector, contrast data with a previous period to demonstrate growth or decline over time. Here, we can see that likes have steadily increased over the duration of the measured period, growth that we should definitely highlight to the client.

Facebook Reach

Besides likes, you should also show reach to demonstrate the volume of people actually exposed to your Facebook posts and ads. Often, your content is reaching a much wider audience than just the people who like your Page (and the people who like your page won’t always see your posts). Add the Page Reach widget, which by default breaks down paid, viral, and organic reach.

 

Megalytic's Facebook Reach Widget

 

Paid reach includes any sort of Facebook advertising, including sponsored posts and dedicated ads. Viral reach encompasses posts that have been viewed because people witnessed their friends taking action on your Page. Organic reach includes posts naturally shown from your Page, including both your existing fans and those whose friends liked or shared a post.

Adding Commentary

Use the Notes widget to add commentary about the data in your report. You don’t want to simply show numbers; you should explain why those numbers matter to the client. Some of the things you can do effectively with commentary are:

  • Recap what you did during the month and how the results tie into your efforts
  • Interpret what the data means compared with other metrics, seasons or competitors
  • Identity data points that indicate problems or areas of growth opportunity
  • Provide updates on upcoming initiatives that may impact next month’s results

Data in a vacuum doesn’t provide a full story. It’s the context you apply to the numbers and the wisdom they inspire that constitute a strategy.

Save a Template

Once you’ve built out your report with the widgets you want to include, save it as a template that you can reuse. Keeping a consistent format across reports benefits both the marketer and the client. From your perspective you can save time by updating fields and time frames each month. For a client, the consistency allows your client to easily understand the data and know what to expect each time.

To create a template from your report, simply select “Save as Template” from the icons directly above your report. Next, name your report and add a description if you choose.

 

Creating a Report Template in Megalytic

 

Now that you’ve saved the template, you can choose to apply it when creating any future reports. You’ll see it in the list of templates that appears upon clicking “New Report.” You can even use your new format for other clients by replicating it and connecting it to different Google Analytics views and Facebook Pages.

Conclusion

By combining Facebook and Google Analytics performance into one report, you can show your client their brands’ true performance across multiple channels in a single place. This unified view allows you to show them successes and areas for opportunity across the digital marketing data. Once you’ve built a template for your client’s report, take the time to review the metrics you’ve included with them. When you’re just starting out, it’s important to treat this process as an on-going dialogue to ensure that you are capturing the data they care about, and that you’re refining your report as the campaign unfolds. A new project and a new report are both only the beginning. It’s the collaboration on both that will provide a strong foundation for all of the ideas and innovations to come.

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