The Basics of Report Building

In this article, we'll cover the most commonly used chart types. If you're looking for guidance on building reports, please refer to this comprehensive guide.

As Customer Success Managers at Mediatool, we engage with our customers daily and are continually inspired by their innovative approaches to drawing insights from their media data. We don't want to keep all that inspiration to ourselves; we're eager to share it with you so you can find even better ways to achieve your desired results.

In this post, we'll focus on our report feature. Reports in Mediatool are composed of a combination of charts, tables, and diagrams, allowing you to visualize data across all three datasets—targets, planning, and results. This offers a vast array of options and combinations to choose from. While choice is always a positive, it can also add to the challenge of getting started.

That's where this post comes in. We'll guide you through the basics of getting started by exploring two common report types and the five most common chart options for these reports. Remember, every setup is unique, and your visualization needs may differ. Use this as a quick start guide, but feel free to customize it in any way that aligns with your organizational requirements.

With a campaign report you can get a quick overview of how your current campaigns are pacing. Here are some suggestions on what to include in the report:

1. Total Actual vs Planned Spend

Datasets: Planning and Results

Measure: Add your measure for actual spend and planned spend.

Visualization example: Gauge

2. Total Planned Spend per Media Type with Quarterly Grain

Datasets: Planning

Measure: Add your measure for planned spend.

Dimension: Media Type

Visualization example: Table

Grain: Quarter

3. Media Spend per Media Type

Dataset: Planning

Measure: Add your measure for planned spend.

Dimension: Media Type

Visualization example: Pie Chart or Column

4. Media Mix

Dataset: Planning

Measure:Add your measure for planned media (for example Planned spend)

Dimension: Media Vehicle

Visualization example: Pie Chart

5. Planned vs Actual Clicks per Media Vehicle

Dataset: Planning and Results

Measures: Est. clicks and Actual clicks

Dimension: Media vehicle

Visualization: Bubble Chart (found under the circle icon)

With a Global Report, you can quickly see your budget allocations and spending across all your brands and/or regions. Here are some suggestions on what to include in the report:

1. Total Planned Spend

Dataset: Planning

Measure: Add your measure for planned media spend (for example Planned Spend)

Visualization example: Number

2. Total Planned Spend per Media Channel

Measure: Add your measure for planned media (for example Planned spend)

Dimension: Media Type

Visualization example:Pie Chart or Column

3. Total Planned Spend per Country

Measure: Add your measure for planned media (for example Planned spend)

Dimension: Add your tag for Country

Visualization example: Map

4. Planned vs Actual Media Spend by Media Type per Month

Measure: Add your measure for planned spend and actual spend.

Dimension: Media Type

Grain: Month

Visualization example: Multidimensional Table

5. Total Planned Spend per Media Plan

Measure: Add your measure for planned media (for example Planned spend)

Dimension: Plan

Visualization example: Table

Here's an example to illustrate what a report can look like

Curious to learn more about reports in Mediatool? Don't hesitate to reach out—we're happy to assist you!