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There is no denying the fact that PPC reports are very important if you offer paid advertising services. But creating them can take a lot of time. And if you have to cover different systems like Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and Bing Ads altogether, then it becomes tougher.

It is not possible to do them manually. However, thanks to the Google Data Studio, you don’t have to put much manual labor in it. In this blog today, we shall share how to create an automated Google Data Studio PPC report. You will also find the shortcuts to the consolidated reporting.

Before we start with the automatic PPC reports in Google Data Studio, let us share a brief history of the evolution of Google Data Studio.

A brief history of the evolution of PPC reporting

First of all, you have to know that PPC reports are the most important if you offer PPC services. Your clients will see these reports as the results sheet of the ad campaigns.

When the PPC reporting started initially it had a screenshot combined with a verbal report. For instance, “your campaigns had 170 clicks 14,521 impressions and .66% conversion rate. That’s it. Clearly, this is not very insightful.

Then came the use of excel charts. It was simple. Copy all the data from Google AdWords and Microsoft and then paste it into a spreadsheet. Then you could create manual charts as well.

Then came the automated PPC reporting version 1.0. It started with Excel and then continued with Microsoft Access. Eventually, a proprietary reporting system was developed using an SQL server. The final result was mostly the same.

Next, people shifted to creating a data warehouse for the marketing reports. This is very much time consuming and you have to spend quite a lot of money. It doesn’t make reporting easier.

Introduction of Google Data Studio – the best option for PPC reporting

Finally, Google Data Studio gets introduced to third-party data connectors. We already know that it is free. Also, no doubt it is one of the most sophisticated reporting systems that anyone can use.

Because it doesn’t have any fancy coding or costly data warehouses. All you need to do is connect the data studio to the marketing platforms and you will be able to build a live dashboard. This dashboard automatically reports the latest results.

With the ability to connect with more than 30 advertising platforms using Supermetrics, you will be able to report on Facebook, Google, Bing Ads. Yes, it is true that Google Data Studio comes with its own quirks, especially with third-party connections. But till now it is the best option for creating monthly PPC reporting.

How to use Google Data Studio for monthly PPC reporting?

1. Start with whiteboarding

Start with analog and whiteboard it out. The best way is to just jump into the Data Studio and then start building. If you start working with the charts and graphs in the Data Studio, it will take a lot of time. Whiteboarding is the simplest way to get the report concept in place.

2. Add the tools

Yes, Data Studio is the primary tool but sometimes one tool is not enough. Supermetrics is the additional tool you need. This will help you in creating an all-in-one PPC report.

Supermetrics will connect the data connectors and also help in automating the connection to the platforms where Data Studio doesn’t connect. Without Supermetrics, you cannot pull data from Bing or Facebook automatically.

3. Playing in the Sandbox

Now it is time to build the different elements of the report. Use the GDS as the sandbox – blank reporting template where you play with data and not the formatting. You might run into some errors and issues.

Know that you cannot easily copy the blended data source in a new report. Thus, when you are sure you can get all the data you need, then only you move on from the sandbox and start developing the final draft.

4. Put the design template in place

Put out the design in place because it will help you see if you can recreate the whiteboard version of the report in GDS. If you want to keep the same theme, you can copy the Year-in-review website marketing report and create your new report in that format.

5. Connecting the data sources

When you set up a new report, it is important to connect to the data sources. With the use of native data connectors in Data Studio, you can do it easily. The comprehensive PPC report starts with the native Google Ads connector and then it mixes the premium Supermetrics connectors for connecting Bing and Facebook Ads.

6. Add your blended data

To create a single visualization report, it is important to use Data Blending. If you want to see data from three ad platforms – Google, Facebook, and Bing in a single scorecard, you have to blend data.

• To blend data, visit the resources menu and then choose “manage blended data”.
• Then select “add data view” and choose the data sources that you want to blend.
• Remember that the data sourced you are blending should have a dimension in common where. Because this will be used as a “join key”. For instance, when blending the data of Facebook and Bing Ads, you can use the Year & Month as the join key.
• Sometimes things get a bit trickier when you add Google Ads into it. The API naming conventions of Google are different from the other two platforms. You have to use the dimension Month from Google Ads to make the blend work.
• The consolidated data might break if you add Google using the “Day” dimension with Bing or Facebook’s “Date” dimension. Make sure to verify the data with the original source.
• While blending data, make sure to name the conventions to identify the data source. If you forget to name your metrics it will be confusing for you. The Facebook Cost Data is called Amount Spent.

7. Add the calculated metrics

With the blended data, you can create calculated metrics. This is a feature that GDS recently added. To create a scorecard with all the impressions of Facebook, Bing, and Google, you can use the function, IMPR (FB) + IMPR (Bing) + IMPR (GOOG). There are some other calculated metrics as well.

If you copy this calculation, make sure that you replace the number with average conversion value.

8. Adding charts and depth

To complete the PPC report, add a couple of combo charts to the dashboard. You can also include three extra pages. These pages break out the results from Google, Bing, and Facebook Ads into individual reporting dashboards. You can easily customize it from there.

So this is it. Here is how you create a complete PPC report using Google Data Studio. PPC is something that you cannot miss out on, especially if you are into digital marketing. Share your thoughts and let us know what you think about the Google Data Studio PPC reporting.