Marketing Intelligence Report Manager

Overview

Cheetah Digital platform delivers a collection of standard operational and analytical reports that are focused on the needs and interests of the cross-channel marketer.

The standard reports provided by Cheetah Digital are divided into two main packages:

  • Campaign Reports: These reports are "operational" in nature, and are focused on the delivery, reach, and activity associated with a Campaign. For more information, please see the Campaign Reports Help topic.

  • Marketing Intelligence (MI): Marketing Intelligence is the platform's integrated, fully-featured Business Intelligence and reporting system. MI provides marketers with the tools to query and analyze data from multiple sources, in order to better understand their business, to quickly and easily generate customer and marketing insights, and to track Campaign performance against business Key Performance Indicators.

Components

The MI reporting platform in Cheetah Digital consists of the following three main screens:

  • Reports: This screen allows you to select and view standard reports and dashboards; please see Marketing Intelligence Reports for more details.

  • Dashboards: This screen allows you to select and view any custom dashboards that you've built; please see Marketing Intelligence Dashboards for more details.

  • Report Manager: This screen allows you to manage all reporting objects in your account, and to access the tools needed to create your own custom reports and dashboards.

Terminology

  • View: A View is the underlying framework for a report; it defines the data used to populate the report, as well as other options, such as any filters applied to the data, sort order, summary data rows, calculated fields, and so forth. Marketing Intelligence supports three types of Views: Tables, Charts, and Crosstabs.

  • Domain: Domains are used as the source of an Ad Hoc View. Domains filter the data, create input controls, and manage the list of available fields and measures. A Domain specifies tables in the database, join clauses, calculated fields, display names, and default properties, all of which define items and sets of items for creating Ad Hoc views. Domains are typically created by an administrator, not by an end-user. Messaging utilizes the following three standard Domains:

    • Campaign Activity: Contains campaign level information including campaign activity (e.g. sends, opens, clicks) and campaign attributes (e.g. name, subject, filters)

    • Recipient: Contains all fields from the client’s primary sending table

    • Recipient Activity Over Time: Contains campaign attribute information as well as selected fields from the recipient table (e.g. gender, registration source) and all campaign activity related to these fields.

  • Topic: A Topic is a pre-defined set of fields, filters, and input controls against a selected Domain. When you create a View, you have the option of saving the View settings as a Topic, which allows you to quickly define additional Views using the same settings.

  • Field: A Field refers to a column in your database, such as an email address, first name, Campaign name, ZIP code, etc.

  • Measure: A Measure is a specialized Field that contains measurable data that can be used to perform calculations, such as clicks, opens, or sends, for example.

Access

The Marketing Intelligence Report Manager screen is accessible by the following method:

  • From the Main menu, select Insights > MI Report Manager

Additional Topics

For more information on Marketing Intelligence features, please see:

 Working with Table Views

 Working with Chart Views

 Working with Crosstab Views

Features

Create a New Ad Hoc View

Marketing Intelligence reports are generated from an Ad Hoc View which defines the report's data, structure, and look and feel. Ad Hoc Views are created in the Ad Hoc View Editor. The Ad Hoc View Editor supports the creation of Views for various types of reports, including Tables, Crosstabs, and Charts. Within the Editor, you can add and summarize fields, define groups, label and title the report, and format data for each field.

To create a new Ad Hoc View:

  1. On the Marketing Intelligence Report Manager screen, from the Create drop-down menu, select Ad Hoc View. The Select Data pop-up window is displayed and populated with all of the Domains available to you.

  2. Select the desired Domain, then click choose data. The Data Chooser screen is displayed. This screen allows you to select the fields you want to use in the View.

  3. From the Source list box, select one or more fields, then click the add button (right arrow icon); the fields are added to the Selected Fields list box. Optionally, to move all fields, click the add all button (double-right arrow icon).

  4. Optionally, click pre-filters. The Pre-filters screen is displayed. Pre-filters are optional, and are used to restrict the amount of data that needs to be processed, and to increase efficiency. Pre-filtering data limits the data choices available in the Ad Hoc View Editor. You also can define a filter on a field that doesn't appear in the final report. The filter is still applied and only the data that satisfies all defined filters will appear in the final report. For example, you can filter the report by selecting a single country, in which case it doesn’t make sense for the Country field to appear as a row, column, or group. You also can design reports that prompt users to input data to use as a filter.  

    Define a Pre-Filter

    To add a Pre-filter to your View:

    1. From the Fields list box, double-click on the field you want to use to build the Pre-filter (or, you can drag it from the Fields list box and drop it into the Filters area.

    2. Within the Filters area, from the drop-down menu, select the desired mathematical operator. Depending on the data type of the selected field, different operators are available. For example, date fields offer date-related operators, such as is before and is between.

    3. Enter the desired value.

      Depending on the data type of the selected field, the options for entering the desired value will vary. If you selected a date field, you can either enter the date and time, or click the calendar icon to bring up a calendar pop-up menu, where you can select the desired date and time. Text fields provide both sub-string comparison operators (such as starts with or contains) and whole string matching (such as equals or is one of).  When you select a whole string matching operator, a list appears showing all existing values for the chosen field.

    1. Optionally, to lock a Pre-filter, place a check mark in the Locked check box. Locked Pre-filters can't be modified from the Ad Hoc View Editor (however, they can be removed from the View). Likewise, locked Pre-filters can't by modified by end-users when viewing a report.

    2. Click ok. A description of the Pre-filter logic is displayed within the Filters area.

    3. Repeat the above steps as necessary to define additional Pre-filters.

    Remove a Pre-Filter

    The Filters area is populated with a list of all the previously defined Pre-filters. To delete a Pre-filter:

    1. To the right of the Filter logic, click the Remove link. The Pre-filter is deleted.

    Edit a Pre-Filter

    The Filters area is populated with a list of all the previously defined Pre-filters. To edit a Pre-filter:

    1. To the right of the Pre-filter logic, click the Change link.

    2. Make any necessary changes to the Pre-filter logic.

    3. Click ok.

    4. Optionally, click display. The Customize the Display screen is displayed. This screen allows you to arrange the fields into the sequence they'll appear in on the Ad Hoc View Editor, and to give the fields a more reader-friendly name.

    5. Fields are organized into sets. Using the links in the top-right corner of the screen, select your preferred display method -- either Nested List (selected by default) or Flat List. The Nested List option displays the fields organized into sets, which can be expanded or collapsed as needed. The Flat List option removes the sets layer.

    Rearrange Fields

    To rearrange the fields:

    1. Select the field you want to move.

    2. Along the right-hand side of the Fields area are a series of arrows that allow you to move the selected field: either up or down one slot, all the way to the top of the list, or all the way to the bottom of the list. Click the desired button to move the field.

    3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 as needed to move other fields.

    Rename a Field

    To rename a field:

    1. Double-click on the desired field. The value in the Display Label column changes to an editable text field.

    2. Type in a new display name for the field.

    3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 as needed for other fields that you want to rename.

    4. Optionally, if you want to save the settings you defined above as a Topic, click save as topic. In the Name field enter, a name for the new Topic. In the Description field, enter a description for the Topic. Click browse to browse to and select the desired folder where you want to save this new Topic (the default folder is Ad Hoc Components > Topics).

    5. Click ok. The Ad Hoc View Editor is displayed, with Crosstab selected as the View type.

    6. From the View type drop-down menu in the Tool bar, select the type of View you want to create:

    7. Before you can save the new View, you need to add at least one field or measure to the View. From the Source pane along the left-hand side of the screen, drag the desired field or measure, and drop it into the Workspace.

    8. Within the Tool Bar, click Save > Save Ad Hoc View. The Save As pop-up window is displayed.

    9. In the Data View Name field, enter a name for the View.

    10. Optionally, in the Data View Description field, enter a description of the View.

    11. Select the folder where you want to save the View.

    12. Click save.

 Working with the Ad Hoc View Editor

The Ad Hoc View Editor supports the creation of Views for various types of reports: Tables, Charts, and Crosstabs. Within the Editor, you create these Views by simply dragging and dropping the desired elements, such as fields and measures. You can add and summarize fields, define groups, label and title the report, and format data for each field.

To work with a View, you must first select an existing View (see View or Edit an Ad Hoc View below for details), or create a new View (see Create a New Ad Hoc View above for details).

The Ad Hoc View Editor is split into several sections:

  • Workspace: The large central pane in the Ad Hoc View Editor displays a rendering of your report. Within this Workspace, you can arrange and manipulate the items in the View.

  • Source pane: The Source pane along the left-hand side of the screen displays the source of this View. You can change the View source, or add more fields. To collapse this pane, click the collapse icon within the pane header. This pane is also split into the following two sections:

  • Fields: The Fields section lists all of the fields selected for this View. You can drag fields from this pane, and drop them into the Workspace to add them to the View. You can also create Calculated Fields from this pane.

  • Measures: The Measures section lists all of the measures selected for his View. You can drag measure from this pane, and drop them into the Workspace to add them to the report. You can also created Calculated Measures from this pane.

  • Filters pane: The Filters pane along the right-hand side of the screens lists the filters defined for this View. To collapse this pane, click the collapse icon within the pane header. Each filter within this pane can also be expanded or collapsed to view or hide the details of the filter logic.

  • Tool Bar: The Tool Bar is displayed above the Workspace, and provides access to the following common features and options:

  • Display Mode: Toggles between "design" and "display" modes. Display mode provides a subset of the Editor’s full feature set.

  • Save: Allows you to save the Ad Hoc View, create a copy of the Ad Hoc View, and save and create the report. Typically you will create the report if you want to see data in the interactive report viewer, perform additional formatting of the table data, or embed the data content into a custom Dashboard.

  • Export: Allows you to export the Ad Hoc View into a variety of file formats.

  • Undo / Redo: Undo or redo the most recent action.

  • Reset: Revert the Ad Hoc View to its last-saved state.

  • Switch Group: Pivot a Crosstab View, by switching the Rows and Columns.

  • Sort: When working with Tables, allows you to define the sort order for the report.

  • Input Controls: Allows you to see the input controls applied to this View.

  • Page Options: Allows you to toggle on / off the Layout band and the View title area. For Tables, you can also hide or show the detail rows when the data is summarized; this option is available only if the Table includes grouped columns.

  • View SQL Query: Displays the SQL code for this Ad Hoc View.

  • View Type: Switches between the Ad Hoc View types -- Table, Chart, or Crosstab.

  • Data: Select what data to use when designing the Ad Hoc View -- Sample Data (selected by default), No Data, or Full Data. Using Sample Data can make the initial design process quicker by loading less data. Then, you can use the Full Data option for refining layout elements such as column widths.

  • Layout Band:The Layout Band provides a representation of the Columns and Groups (for Tables), or the Columns and Rows (for Charts and Crosstabs), included within the View. You can add, rearrange, and delete fields and measures within the Layout Band.

 View or Edit an Ad Hoc View

To view or edit an existing Ad Hoc View:

  1. On the Report Manager screen, from the folder tree in the left-hand pane, select the folder where the Ad Hoc View is stored. The Repository is refreshed to display the contents of the selected folder.

  2. Click on the name of the Ad Hoc View.

  3. The Ad Hoc View Editor is displayed and populated with the details of the selected View. For more details, see "Working with the Ad Hoc View Editor" above.

 Create a Report from a View

Once you've defined a View (see Create a New Add Hoc View above for more details), you can save the View as a Report, which makes it accessible to other people from within your Report Manager Repository.

To create a Report from a View:

  1. On the Report Manager screen, from the folder tree in the left-hand pane, select the folder where the Ad Hoc View is stored. The Repository is refreshed to display the contents of the selected folder.

  2. Click on the name of the Ad Hoc View.

  3. The Ad Hoc View Editor is displayed and populated with the details of the selected View.

  4. In the Tool Bar, hover your mouse cursor over the save button. From the pop-up menu, select Save Ad Hoc View and Create Report. The Save Ad Hoc View and Create Report pop-up window is displayed.

  5. In the Report Name field, enter a name for the new Report.

  6. Optionally, in the Report Description field, enter a description of the Report.

  7. Select the folder where you want to save the Report.

  8. Select a Template option:

      • To use the default reporting Template, select the "Default Report Template" radio button.

      • To use a custom reporting Template, select the "Custom Report Template" radio button, then click browse to browse to and select the desired Template.

  1. Click save.

For details on how to view a Report, please see View a Custom Report or Dashboard below.

 View a Custom Report or Dashboard

To view a custom report or dashboard:

  1. On the Report Manager screen, from the folder tree in the left-hand pane, select the folder where the custom report or dashboard is stored. The Repository is refreshed to display the contents of the selected folder.

  1. Click on the name of the report or dashboard. The report or dashboard is displayed and populated.

 Define a Report Schedule

Within the Report Manager, you can define a custom schedule that controls the frequency of the report execution. After a report executes, you can have the report delivered to an FTP site, or emailed to a group of recipients.

  1. On the Report Manager screen, from the folder tree in the left-hand pane, select the folder where the report is stored. The Repository is refreshed to display the contents of the selected folder.

Note: If you want to create a schedule for one of the standard MI reports, select the "Reports" folder. All of the standard MI reports are stored within this folder.

  1. Right-click on the name of the report and select Schedule from the contextual menu.

  2. The Scheduled Jobs screen is displayed and populated with all previously defined report schedules.

  3. Click create schedule.

  4. Next to Schedule Start, select when you want the schedule to go live:

    • Immediately

    • On Specific Date: Click the calendar icon to pick the desired date and time.

  1. From the Time Zone drop-down menu, select the time zone to use.

  2. Next to Recurrence, select the report execution frequency:

Simple

The Simple option lets you define a recurring frequency.

    1. In the Repeat every text field, enter the frequency.

    2. From the drop-down menu, select the unit of time: minutes, hours, days, or weeks.

    3. Next to Schedule end, select when you report this schedule to end:

      • Number of runs: To define a number of report executions, select the "Run a set number of times" radio button, and enter the number of executions.

      • End date: To end on a specific date, select the "Run until a specified date" radio button; click the calendar button, and select the end date and time.

      • Run indefinitely: Select the "Run indefinitely" radio button.

Calendar

The Calendar option lets you define a more complex business rule for when, and how often, you want the report to execute.

    1. Optionally, select a monthly frequency option:

      • Every month: Select the Every Month radio button.

      • Selected months only: Select the Selected Months radio button, then pick the desired month (or months) in the list box. Use Control + click or Shift + click to select multiple months.

    1. Optionally, select a daily frequency option:

      • Every day: Select the Every Day radio button.

      • Selected days of the week: Select the Selected Days radio button, then pick the desired day (or days) of the week in the list box. Use Control + click or Shift + click to select multiple days.

      • Dates: Select the Dates in Month radio button, then enter the dates in the text field. You can enter multiple dates (separated by commas) or date ranges (using a hyphen), or a combination of both. For example, "1, 15, 18-20."

    1. In the Hours field, enter the hour (or hours) when you want the report to execute. You can enter multiple hours (separated by commas) or ranges (using a hyphen), or a combination of both. Use a 24-hour clock for the hour values.

    2. In the Minutes field, enter the minute (or minutes) when you want the report to execute. You can enter multiple minutes (separated by commas). For example, if you want to report to run every fifteen minutes, enter "0, 15, 30, 45" in the "Minutes" field.

    3. Next to Schedule end, click the calendar button, and select the schedule's end date and time.

    4. Click the Parameters tab.

    5. The Parameters screen is populated with the user-configurable parameters available for this report. Enter or select the parameters to use when the report schedule executes.

Note: If specifying a date range parameter, use "relative" dates to select a rolling date range.  For example, to generate a report using the previous week’s data, enter Start Date = WEEK-1 and End Date = WEEK.

  1. Click the Output Options tab.

  2. The File Name field is populated with the name of the report. Optionally enter a different file name.

  3. Optionally enter a description in the Description field.

  4. From the Time Zone drop-down menu, select the time zone to use .

  5. From the Output Locale drop-down menu, select a language locale.

  6. Next to Formats, check one or more desired output file formats.

  7. Check Overwrite files if you want each new execution of the report schedule to overwrite the file generated in the previous execution.

  8. Check Sequential File Names by Timestamp if you want the platform to append a timestamp to the end of the report file name. Enter the desired date mask in the Timestamp pattern field. The default date mask is "yyyyMMddHHmm."

  9. Next to Output Destination, select where you want the platform to put the report output.

MI Repository

If you want to load the report into the Marketing Intelligence Repository, it will be accessible to other Messaging users (see "View a Custom Report or Dashboard" above for more details on how to access a report).

    1. Check the Output to Repository check box.

    2. Click Browse.

    3. The Repository Content pop-up window is displayed and populated with the folder structure for your account. Browse to the folder where you want to store the report output, then click select.

FTP Server

You can configure the platform to send the report output to an FTP server.

    1. Check the Output to FTP Server check box.

    2. In the Server Address field, enter the URL to the FTP server.

    3. In the Port field, enter the port number.

    4. From the Transfer Protocol drop-down menu, select the desired protocol -- FTP, SFTP, or FTPS.

    5. In the Directory field, enter the file path to the desired directory on the FTP server where you want to store the report output.

    6. In the Username field, enter the username for the FTP server.

    7. In the Password field, enter the password for the FTP server.

    8. Optionally, click test connection to verify that you've entered the server information correctly.

    9. Click the Notifications tab. This screen allows you to define two different types of email messages -- the section on the left is used if you want the platform to email the report output, and the section on the right is used if you want to receive automated notifications.

Email Report

The Send report when scheduler runs section is used to configure an email message that contains the report output:

    1. In the To field, enter the recipient email address (or addresses). Multiple addresses should be separated by commas.

    2. Optionally, enter additional email addresses in the CC and / or BCC fields.

    3. In the Subject field, enter the subject line for the email message.

    4. In the Message field, enter the body of the email message.

    5. Select a delivery option:

      • Include reports as repository links in email body:

      • Include report files as attachments

      • Include report files as ZIP attachment

    1. Check the Include HTML report in email body check box if you want the platform to include the report contents within the body of the email message.

    2. Check the Do not send emails for empty reports check box if you want the platform to skip the report email in the event that the report contents are empty.

Email Notification

The Send job status notifications section is used to configure an email notification. You can optionally define a success and / or a failure message.

    1. In the To field, enter the recipient email address (or addresses). Multiple addresses should be separated by commas.

    2. In the Subject field, enter the subject line for the email message.

    3. To send a success message, check the Send success notification check box. In the Success Message field, enter the body of the email message.

    4. To send a failure message, check the Send failure notification check box. In the Failure Message field, enter the body of the email message.

    5. Check the Include report job information check box if you want to include information about the report execution job within the email message.

    6. Check the Include stack trace check box if you want to include a stack trace report within the email message; this feature is typically used for auditing and troubleshooting.

    7. Click save.

    8. In the Save pop-up window, enter a name, and optionally also a description, for this report schedule.

    9. Click save.