When it comes to marketing, nothing can guide your campaigns better than data-driven insights — giving businesses the scoop behind consumer behavior and preferences. And rightly so; 67% of marketers believe that data-backed marketing helps them make quicker, more accurate decisions. By pinpointing what’s working and what isn’t, these insights allow you to adjust strategies on the go for the best performance.
However, with tens of marketing channels and sales pathways, how do you present your data in a simple, understandable format? Looker Studio answers this question: a powerful data visualization tool by Google that converts complicated data sets into bite-sized, easy-to-understand reports and dashboards. Want to learn more about this platform? Read on!
As a data visualization tool by Google, Looker Studio consolidates data from all your marketing channels into simple, easy-to-comprehend reports and data-backed dashboards. It lets marketers collect and analyze data from multiple sources, including Google Analytics, Search Console, Google Ads, and third-party platforms (Facebook, LinkedIn).
Thanks to its drag-and-drop feature, Looker Studio helps you customize your marketing reports to highlight the metrics that matter the most to your business. Want to analyze the impressions and clicks of your website? Looker Studio is there to help! Want to see actionable graphs on the click-through rate or active users? The platform will do it for you.
Apart from presenting the data in an easily digestible format, Looker Studio enables businesses to view the story of their numbers through visualizations like charts, graphs, and tables. Supporting 600 partner connectors and over 800 data channels, this platform is all about helping marketing teams make the right (data-driven) decisions at the right time.
Thinking about what does Google Data Studio do? Well, looker Studio (Google Data Studio), is an asset for businesses seeking actionable insights from their marketing campaigns. On the home page, users are welcomed with three options: Reports, Data Sources, and Explorer. Out of these, the “Reports” section is where you can draft custom reports and data visualizations using graphs, charts, and tables. This feature is handy for visual learners and presentations.
Moving on, the “Data sources” are all about connecting external data sets, like YouTube KPIs, Google Ads, or Search Console, with Looker Studio. For example, integrating a Google Ads account helps you analyze primary advertising metrics that drive your business forward. These may include click-through rate (CTR), cost per click (CPC), conversion rate, total ad spend, and more.
Lastly, the “Explorer” tool functions as a scratchpad for data manipulation. It allows teams to quickly edit/tweak data visualizations, apply filters, and analyze data to spot insights in no time. Streamlining the data viewing process, this tab lets marketing teams examine their data sets, identifying trends or anomalies on the go.
To get started with Looker Studio, visit the platform using the same account you use for Google Analytics, Google Ads, and Search Console. Within the dashboard, you’ll see a comprehensive list of templates ranging from basic designs for data overview to more detailed ones for in-depth analysis.
To choose the right template, think about who your target audience is. Do you want to present the data to top-line stakeholders or the company’s CMO? Choose a template that reflects overall campaign performance and goal-tracking metrics like market share and revenue targets.
Is your focus on digital marketing personnel? Well, include the baseline marketing KPIs like conversion rates, impression counts by channel (Facebook, Instagram), and audience engagement (pages visited, time on site). Once you’ve settled on a template, the next step is to integrate your data sources.
Looker Studio offers smooth integrations with all Google products, including YouTube, Search Console, and Google Analytics. To connect your data sources with the platform, all you need to do is authorize Google to access and retrieve the necessary data, and you’re good to go.
However, if you want to analyze data from third-party platforms like Twitter, Bing, or Facebook, you’d have to use one of the platform’s “Community Connectors.” While these connectors come with a fee, they’re a go-to for integrating data from multiple sources into a cohesive report.
The “edit” feature in Looker Studio lets businesses convert raw data into appealing and insightful presentations. This option is handy for those who work with templates since it allows you to tweak the information to meet specific objectives. To customize your template, switch to the “Edit” mode from the “View” mode.
Once in Edit mode, you can tailor your template from the right-hand side of the interface, right where the data fields are displayed. If you’re starting with a template, you first need to substitute its default data source with one of your choice. This applies to every chart or table you wish to customize.
Apart from this, Looker Studio also has options to personalize the aesthetic aspects of a report. Teams can change the font and background colors to better resonate with their brand guidelines or preferences. Plus, if you prefer a high readability score, you can even alter the comparison color metrics to make your data points more visible.
If you want your reports to adjust automatically as the data sets change, grouping visualizations is the way to go. This feature lets marketing teams apply filters that affect either the entire report or specific pages within the report. As a result, all the related visualizations will change automatically based on the applied filters.
For example, if you want to have all tables and charts within a report change when the date range changes, apply a Date Range filter. You can do this by adding a Date Range icon to the report and setting its scope to “Report Level.” This filter will ensure that any changes in the Date Range lead to a simultaneous update across all chart data within the report, no matter if it has 10 pages or 100.
Google Data Studio is a staple for organizations looking to make data-driven decisions without getting crushed in complicated analytical processes. Thanks to its data visualization features, the platform is designed to meet the needs of everyone, from business owners to marketing teams.
As discussed earlier, Google Data Studio is home to over 600 connectors, allowing businesses to integrate with almost all of Google’s services and products. These include everything from Google Ads and Google Sheets to Google Analytics. This integration lets teams pull data directly from these sources into their reports, leading to a streamlined workflow.
Plus, the platform also supports connections to external databases and third-party services like e-commerce hubs and PPC tools. As a result, users can generate a comprehensive view of their business’s performance, from web analytics to marketing campaigns, all in one place.
Here are a few third-party platforms you can integrate with on Looker Studio:
Since Looker Studio features a drag-and-drop functionality, users can easily add and arrange visual elements like charts, graphs, and tables. This means that even those with limited technical expertise can create professional-looking reports on the platform.
Besides, the platform further facilitates adding information to expand on data points in the report, changing colors and fonts, and even integrating a video!
You made an appealing, informative report based on key metrics and performance indicators for your organization’s website. But what about the new impressions and clicks that keep on coming? Well, don’t worry; Looker Studio is based on real-time data reporting tools. This means the platform updates its reports on the go, providing the most current insights as soon as new data comes in. Thus, Looker Studio is all about timely decisions, especially in business environments where up-to-date information can impact operations and outcomes.
Looker Studio offers powerful sharing and collaboration features like other Google Drive applications (Google Docs, Google Sheets). Users can share their reports with colleagues, clients, or stakeholders on the go and even control the editing permissions. This means you can collaborate with your team members on data analysis projects without hectic download-and-email back and forth.
Looker Studio is a staple for data analysts, marketers, and business owners looking to turn their data into actionable insights and informative dashboards. No more guess-gaming on your next business move or investment; Looker Studio has your facts (and performance) straight. So, whether you want to learn more about your customers or marketing campaigns, this platform is where you go!
If you want to enhance your experience on Looker Studio and reap the best insights, put Catchr to work today. This data extraction and marketing platform combines all your data sets, including CRM systems, social media platforms, and marketing channels, into Looker Studio. Simplifying the process of visualizing marketing data, Catchr makes it super easy for users to draft real-time reports and dashboards without any IT knowledge.