analytics-reporting

name	analytics-reporting
description	Use when building KPI frameworks, designing dashboards, analyzing marketing performance, setting up attribution models, or creating automated reports. Covers Google Analytics 4, social media analytics, funnel analysis, cohort analysis, A/B test analysis, ROI calculation, competitive benchmarking, and stakeholder reporting.
user-invocable	true
allowed-tools	["Read","Write","Edit","Grep","Glob","Bash"]

Analytics & Reporting -- Performance Measurement and Data-Driven Decisions

1. KPI Framework

KPI Hierarchy

Business Objectives -> Strategic KPIs (quarterly) -> Tactical KPIs (monthly) -> Operational Metrics (weekly/daily) -> Raw Data (events)

Marketing KPI Categories

Stage	Key Metrics
Awareness	Impressions, reach, brand mentions, share of voice, new sessions
Consideration	Engagement rate, CTR, avg session duration, email open/click rate
Conversion	Conversion rate, CPA, CPL, ROAS, marketing-sourced revenue, CAC
Retention	CLV, churn rate, NPS, repeat purchase rate, CSAT

North Star Metric Selection

Must be: measurable, actionable, leading (predicts future revenue), and understandable company-wide.

Business Type	North Star Example
SaaS	Weekly active users
E-commerce	Purchases per customer per quarter
Marketplace	Transactions completed per week
Content/Media	Daily reading time per subscriber
B2B Services	Monthly active projects per client

Pick 3-5 supporting input metrics that drive the North Star (e.g., sign-ups/week, onboarding completion, feature adoption in first 7 days).

2. Google Analytics 4

Event Tiers

Tier	Examples	Setup
Auto-collected	page_view, session_start, first_visit	None
Enhanced measurement	scroll, outbound_click, site_search, file_download	Toggle in GA4 settings
Recommended events	sign_up, purchase, add_to_cart, generate_lead	Manual implementation, standard names
Custom events	demo_requested, pricing_viewed, feature_compared	Manual, business-specific

Setup Checklist

• GA4 property created, gtag.js or GTM installed
• Data streams configured (web, iOS, Android)
• Enhanced measurement enabled
• Cross-domain tracking (if multiple domains)
• Key events marked as conversions (max 30)
• Google Ads and Search Console linked
• Custom dimensions: user_type, subscription_plan (user-scoped); content_category (event-scoped)
• Audiences defined: converters, cart abandoners, high-value users, re-engagement targets
• Data retention set to 14 months
• Internal traffic excluded

UTM Convention

utm_source:   Platform (lowercase): google, facebook, linkedin, newsletter
utm_medium:   Channel type: cpc, organic_social, paid_social, email, referral
utm_campaign: Campaign name (lowercase, hyphens): spring-launch-2026
utm_content:  Variant for A/B testing: cta-red-button, hero-video

3. Attribution Models

Model	Rule	Best For
Last-click	100% to last touchpoint	Direct response, bottom-funnel
First-click	100% to first touchpoint	Understanding awareness channels
Linear	Equal credit to all touchpoints	Long sales cycles
Time-decay	More credit closer to conversion	B2B with long consideration
Position-based (U-shaped)	40% first, 40% last, 20% middle	Balanced full-funnel view
Data-driven (GA4 default)	ML-assigned based on patterns	Any business with 300+ conversions/month

Implementation Steps

1. Define conversions: Primary (purchase, sign-up), secondary (lead form, trial), micro (email sign-up, pricing view)
2. Ensure tracking: UTMs on all links, cross-domain tracking, user ID stitching, click ID capture (gclid, fbclid)
3. Set attribution window: B2C 7-30 days, B2B 30-90 days, Enterprise 90-180 days
4. Build report: Channel contribution by model, assisted conversions, time lag, path length

4. Funnel Analysis

Marketing Funnel

Stage	Metrics	Content Types	Goal
TOFU (Awareness)	Impressions, reach, new visitors	Blog, social, video, PR	Get noticed
MOFU (Consideration)	Engagement, email sign-ups, downloads	Whitepapers, webinars, case studies	Build trust
BOFU (Decision)	Demo requests, trials, pricing views	Demos, trials, ROI calculators	Convert
Post-funnel	NPS, retention, referrals	Onboarding, community, loyalty	Retain and expand

Funnel Analysis Template

Stage               | Volume  | Conv %  | Drop-off | Benchmark
Website visitors    | 50,000  | ---     | ---      | ---
Engaged visitors    | 15,000  | 30.0%   | 70.0%    | 25-35%
Lead (form fill)    | 1,500   | 10.0%   | 90.0%    | 8-12%
MQL                 | 450     | 30.0%   | 70.0%    | 25-35%
SQL                 | 135     | 30.0%   | 70.0%    | 20-30%
Opportunity         | 55      | 40.7%   | 59.3%    | 35-45%
Customer            | 22      | 40.0%   | 60.0%    | 25-40%

Bottleneck: [Stage with lowest % or largest absolute drop]
Action: Improve [content/UX/targeting] at bottleneck stage

5. Cohort Analysis

Cohort types: Acquisition (sign-up month), behavioral (completed action X), channel (source), feature (adopted feature Y).

Retention cohort table: Rows = cohort month, columns = months since join, cells = % still active.

Action triggers:

• Month 1 retention < 40% -> Onboarding problem
• Month 3 retention < 20% -> Product-market fit concern
• Declining curves across newer cohorts -> Product degradation
• Improving curves -> Product improvements working

6. A/B Test Analysis

Test Design

Hypothesis: If we [change X], then [metric Y] will [increase/decrease]
            by [expected %] because [rationale].
Primary metric:    [Single winner-determining metric]
Guardrail metrics: [Must NOT degrade: page load, error rate, support tickets]
Sample size:       [Calculate based on baseline rate and MDE]
Duration:          [Until sample size reached -- no peeking]

Sample Size Quick Reference (95% confidence, 80% power)

Baseline Rate	MDE 10%	MDE 20%	MDE 50%
2%	39K/variant	10K	1.6K
5%	15K	3.8K	625
10%	7.2K	1.8K	306
20%	3.2K	838	144

Common Pitfalls

• Peeking before sample size reached (inflates false positives)
• Running too many variants without correction (Bonferroni)
• Ignoring novelty effect
• Testing during anomalous periods (holidays, outages)
• Declaring winner on secondary metric when primary was flat

7. ROI Calculation

Core Formulas

Marketing ROI = (Revenue from Marketing - Marketing Cost) / Marketing Cost x 100
ROAS          = Revenue from Ads / Ad Spend
CAC           = Total Marketing & Sales Spend / New Customers
CLV           = ARPU x Gross Margin x (1 / Churn Rate)
CLV:CAC       = Target 3:1 or higher
Payback       = CAC / (ARPU x Gross Margin)  -- Target < 12 months for SaaS

ROAS Benchmarks by Channel

Channel	Typical ROAS
Google Search	2x-8x
Google Shopping	3x-10x
Meta Ads	2x-5x
LinkedIn Ads	1.5x-4x (higher CPL, higher deal value)
TikTok Ads	1.5x-4x

8. Social Media Analytics

Platform Key Metrics

Platform	Engagement Rate Formula	Quality Signal	Benchmark
LinkedIn	(reactions + comments + shares + clicks) / impressions	Comments	3-5%
Instagram	(likes + comments + saves + shares) / reach	Saves	3-6%
X/Twitter	(likes + replies + retweets + clicks) / impressions	Bookmarks	0.5-1.5%
YouTube	Watch time, avg view duration	Avg % viewed	CTR 4-10%
TikTok	Likes + comments + shares / views	Watch-through rate	3-9%

9. Dashboard Design

Principles

1. One purpose per dashboard: Executive (KPIs), Campaign (performance), Content (post-level), Financial (ROI/budget)
2. Visual hierarchy: Top = critical KPIs with trend arrows. Middle = trend charts. Bottom = detail tables.
3. Always show context: Comparison periods, targets as reference lines, conditional formatting (red/yellow/green)
4. Actionability: Every metric answers "so what?" -- include trend direction and anomaly highlights

Chart Type Selection

Purpose	Chart Type
Compare categories	Bar chart
Trend over time	Line chart
Parts of whole	Stacked bar (avoid pie with > 5 segments)
Distribution	Histogram, box plot
Funnel stages	Funnel chart
Two-variable relationship	Scatter plot

Anti-patterns: 3D charts, dual y-axes, truncated axes without indication, rainbow palettes, averages without variance.

10. Reporting Cadence

Frequency	Content	Audience
Daily	Key metrics snapshot, anomaly alerts, spend pacing	Marketing team
Weekly	Full dashboard review, top/bottom content, WoW trends	Marketing team + leadership
Monthly	Channel attribution, funnel analysis, ROI by campaign, budget vs actual	Leadership + stakeholders
Quarterly	North Star progress, competitive landscape, strategy review, budget reallocation	Executive team

Stakeholder-Specific Reporting

Audience	Format	Focus
C-Suite	1-page summary, 5-7 KPIs	Business impact: revenue, ROI, growth
Marketing leadership	5-10 page dashboard	Channel performance, strategy progress
Marketing team	Interactive dashboard with filters	Tactical: engagement, CTR, conversion by ad
Sales team	Lead/pipeline report	Lead quality, source attribution, conversion rate

The "So What" Framework

For every data point: (1) WHAT happened? (2) WHY did it happen? (3) SO WHAT should we do?

Template: "[Metric] [changed] by [X]% [period]. Driven by [cause]. Recommend [action], expected result [outcome]."

11. Data Quality

Monthly Audit Checklist

• Analytics tag fires on all pages (check coverage)
• Conversion events fire correctly (test with debug mode)
• UTM parameters consistent across campaigns
• Bot/spam traffic filtered, internal traffic excluded
• Metric definitions documented and shared (engagement rate formula varies by platform)
• Time zones and currency standardized
• Cookie consent implemented (GDPR/CCPA)
• PII excluded from analytics tracking