Custom Reports

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Intro to Custom Reports

Custom Reports in ActiveCampaign provide a powerful tool for users to analyze specific data points and make informed business decisions. By leveraging these reports, businesses can gain valuable insights into marketing and sales efforts, identify trends, and uncover areas of opportunity. This feature allows you to create reports tailored to your specific needs, which can be saved, accessed, and shared with ease.

The ability to generate detailed, accurate reports is crucial for making data-driven decisions. Custom Reports ensure that you have a clear view of your marketing and sales activities, enabling better performance and results.

How to Access Custom Reports

To access the Custom Reports feature in ActiveCampaign, follow these steps:

1. Log into your ActiveCampaign account.
2. Click on Reports in the left menu.
3. Select Custom Reports from the submenu.
4. You will land on the Custom Reports page, which features an Explore panel.

Once you are on the Custom Reports page, familiarize yourself with the dashboard and terms used in it by referencing the Custom Reports Terminology.

Step-by-Step Instructions for Creating Custom Reports

Creating a Custom Report involves several steps to ensure you capture the data you need effectively. Follow the instructions below:

1. **Select Tables**: On the left side of the Explore panel, you will see various tables available to create your reports:

  - Automation table
  - Campaigns table
  - Contacts table
  - Deals table
  - Ecommerce table

2. **Choose Dimensions and Measures**:

  - For each table, you can select Dimensions, which define the static fields (headers) for your report.
  - Select Measures, which are the fields that you want to calculate and align with specific dimensions.

3. **Hover for Help**: If you need clarification on specific measures, hover over the I icon next to each measure for more information.

4. **Generate and Save Reports**: After selecting your dimensions and measures, generate the report. You can save it to your account for future access or share it with other users.

Remember, the data for your Custom Reports is updated once daily, providing you with a fresh view of your metrics.

Configuration Options and Settings

In Custom Reports, several key options are essential for configuring and optimizing your reporting process:

- **Dimensions**: These are the static fields that define the content or categories of your report. For example, you may select dimensions related to contact engagement or campaign performance. - **Measures**: These fields allow you to perform calculations on your data, such as counts or averages, aligned with your chosen dimensions. - **Filter Options**: You can apply filters to isolate specific data points or metrics you're interested in, allowing for more granular insight into your reports.

When utilizing Custom Reports, ensure that you choose dimensions and measures that are relevant to the information you wish to analyze.

Best Practices and Tips

To maximize the effectiveness of your Custom Reports, consider the following best practices:

- **Define clear objectives**: Before creating a report, clarify what you want to achieve, whether it's understanding customer engagement or analyzing campaign performance. - **Leverage Templates**: Use report templates available in ActiveCampaign to guide your report-building process. Templates can provide a solid starting point for your analyses. - **Share Insights with Your Team**: Share reports with team members when applicable to ensure everyone is on the same page and can contribute to data-driven decision-making. - **Experiment with Filters**: Utilize various filter options to refine your data further and uncover deeper insights that may not be immediately apparent.

Common Use Cases

Custom Reports can serve various purposes within marketing and sales analytics. Here are some common use cases:

- **Engagement Analysis**: View a list of a contact's engagements segmented by different campaign or automation attributes, such as campaign names. - **Unsubscribe Trends**: Analyze the average commitment time of contacts who unsubscribed from a particular campaign or automation. - **Email Activity Tracking**: Monitor the opens of an automation email filtered by specific contact field values within a certain date range. - **Cross-Campaign Metrics**: Use new measures to assess metrics across campaigns, including total sends, engagement rates, completed automations, and more.

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues while using Custom Reports, consider the following troubleshooting tips:

- **Data Refresh Timing**: Remember that data updates once daily around 5:30 am CST/11:30 UTC. If your report data seems outdated, ensure you are not attempting to analyze data before this update. - **Access Permissions**: To view or share reports, ensure that you have the necessary permissions in your ActiveCampaign account. Only users with access to Custom Reporting can see these reports. - **Error Messages**: If you receive error messages during report generation, double-check your selected dimensions and measures as well as the filters you applied.

FAQ

What can I report on in Custom Reporting?

Custom Reporting allows you to report on various areas, including Contacts, Deals, Automations, Campaigns, and Ecommerce. You can perform cross joins to integrate data from these areas.

How do I create a report based on contact or deal custom fields?

To report on custom fields, select the desired dimensions and measures, then apply filters to isolate specific fields, such as Lead Source. This will enable you to generate a report based on the contacts associated with each value.

Can I apply filters to a Dashboard that I have created?

Yes, you can click Edit on your Dashboard, then choose Filters to apply various filters to the reports you've created.

What does using a Pivot on my report mean?

A Pivot allows you to report on multiple dimensions rather than just one. This can enable more complex analyses, such as breaking down counts by multiple characteristics like dates and owner names.

What are filter-only dimensions and what are they used for?

Filter-only dimensions can only be added as filters for creating cross joins. They allow for detailed reports that pull data from multiple areas—such as combining contacts who opened a campaign email.

How do I share reports with my team?

Reports cannot be directly shared via links. However, you can set reports as Personal, Group, or Shared. Group reports can be viewed by anyone in Custom Reporting, ensuring accessibility among team members.

By understanding and utilizing Custom Reports effectively, you can transform the way you analyze data and make strategic business decisions in ActiveCampaign. ```