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Adding metrics (with data sources)

 

We’re improving the metric creation experience. Our recent redesign lets you preview changes while you create and edit custom metrics. We’ve also combined raw and modelled data sources into a single object called a data feed.
If you see Data Feeds in the left navigation sidebar, go to this article to create metrics.
These new features are being released gradually. If you don't see them in your account yet - no worries - they’re coming soon!

 

PowerMetrics offer a wealth of opportunities for you to visualize, learn from, and share your data. As with all PowerMetrics features, the metric creation process is highly flexible, with multiple options to help you envision your most essential data and track your business metrics meaningfully.

Before adding a metric, consider the data you want to visualize. What data service do you want to connect to? What metric do you want to measure? For example, if you want to track profit, you could connect to your data in Xero or QuickBooks and add the Net Profit metric.

If you’re not sure which metrics to track, our instant metric options can help. Want to get creative? We have custom metric options too.

This article contains the following sections:

Metric options - Instant, custom, or calculated?

In PowerMetrics, you can add instant metrics, custom metrics, or calculated metrics.

  • Instant metrics get their data directly from 3rd-party services. Just sign in!
  • Custom metrics get their data from modelled data sources you create. These can be based on something as simple as a spreadsheet or as sophisticated as an SQL query.
  • Calculated metrics get their data from formulas that combine metrics. Calculated metrics are described in depth in this article.

Why instant metrics?

  • They’re fast! They provide instant access to the most popular metrics for the most essential data services.
  • They’re for everyone. You don’t have to be a data expert to create powerful, meaningful metrics. No data modelling, formula writing, or further configuration is required.
  • They’re created for you based on best practices and industry expertise. They’re great when you know what you’re looking for and also when you don’t!

Why custom metrics?

  • They give you access to hundreds of data services. We are continuously adding to our library of instant metrics. However, if the metric you’re looking for isn’t covered by our instant metrics, you can create a custom metric instead. Our custom metrics give you access to hundreds of data services and all the metrics you can imagine.

Why calculated metrics?

  • They’re cross-service. You can combine metrics from different services.
  • They’re customizable. With the ability to combine metrics, using formulas, you can create the exact metric you need for every situation.

Data service options - Where is your data coming from?

When adding new metrics, one of the first steps is choosing the service you want to get data from. The metric options available to you depend on the service you choose:

  • Many popular services support both instant metrics and custom metrics.
    Some examples include: Google Analytics, Facebook, Quickbooks, Instagram Business, and HubSpot.
  • All other services can be used to create custom metrics only.
    These services include file-based and query-based services such as: file upload, SQL and REST/URL queries, and FTP & SFTP. They also include services with public APIs that aren’t enabled yet for instant metrics. Some examples of such services are: Insightly, Moz, and Twilio.

Adding instant metrics

Our instant metrics cover the most popular metrics for the most popular data services. They get you to your data fast!

When you add instant metrics, you:

  1. Connect PowerMetrics to your data.

You’ll create a reusable account connection by logging into your service account and giving permission for Klipfolio PowerMetrics to access your data. Learn more about managing your account connections.

  1. Choose metrics to visualize and track.

Each data service includes a wide variety of instant metrics - and we’re adding more all the time!

Click the links below to go to specific instructions for adding instant metrics for these data services:

Creating custom metrics

Custom metrics put you in control of your data choices. Specific instructions vary depending on the data service you choose:

In general, when you create custom metrics, you:

  1. Connect PowerMetrics to a service.

You’ll create a reusable account connection by logging into your service account and giving permission for Klipfolio PowerMetrics to access your data.

  1. Create a modelled data source, which acts as a channel between a service and your custom metric.

Modelled data sources are the conduit between data services and custom metrics. They continuously transfer data from the service to the metric where the data is stored. When you create a modelled data source, you choose the data to query and then, optionally, further refine that data. A single modelled data source can be used to create a single or multiple custom metrics.

  1. Choose settings for your metric.

In this step, you’ll choose display settings and which data to include in your metric.

Creating custom metrics for services that also have instant metrics

If your data service includes instant metrics but you don’t see the metric you’re looking for, you can create a custom metric instead.

Click the links below to go to specific instructions for adding custom metrics for these data services:

  • Airtable (You create Airtable custom metrics using the same technique as with the other data services listed here (getting data with the query builder and creating a modelled data source), however, unlike the other services, instant metrics are not applicable to Airtable.)
  • Facebook and Facebook Ads
  • Google Ads
  • Google Analytics 4
  • HubSpot
  • Instagram Business
  • LinkedIn Ads and LinkedIn Pages
  • Mailchimp
  • QuickBooks
  • Salesforce
  • Shopify
  • Smartsheet (You create Smartsheet custom metrics using the same technique as with the other data services listed here (getting data with the query builder and creating a modelled data source), however, unlike the other services, instant metrics are not applicable to Smartsheet.)
  • Stripe
  • X Ads (Twitter Ads)
  • Xero
  • YouTube
  • Zendesk
  • Zuora (You create Zuora custom metrics using the same technique as with the other data services listed here (getting data with the query builder and creating a modelled data source), however, unlike the other services, instant metrics are not applicable to Zuora.)

Creating custom metrics for custom-only data services

Some data services are not enabled yet for instant metrics and can only be used to create custom metrics.

There are a couple things to note before creating metrics for custom-only data services:

  • Connecting PowerMetrics to your data.

Some services require you to connect to your data, usually by entering your login credentials but sometimes by entering other identifiers such as API keys and account IDs. Instructions for connecting can differ between services. If you need help connecting to specific services, refer to this section in our Knowledge Base.

  • Custom metrics require modelled data sources.

If you already have a raw (unmodelled) data source you want to use for your custom metric, you must model it before building your metric. After modelling the data source, you’ll be able to select it during the custom metric creation process and then quickly advance to creating your metric.

If you choose to model your data while you create your metric, in the Verify your data page, either click Continue (to accept the auto-selected choices for modelling your data source) or, if you want to make modifications to the modelled data source, click the Edit button, make changes, and then click Save. For more information about modelled data sources, see: Introduction to modelled data sources and How do I model a data source?

To create custom metrics for custom-only data services:

  1. In the left navigation sidebar, click the + button beside Metrics.

Note: You can also add a custom metric from the Metric List page or from an open dashboard, in Edit mode.

  1. On the Where is your data? page, you can:

OR

  • Use an existing data source if you already have a modelled data source you want to use to build the metric. Next, on the Saved data sources page, select the modelled data source.

OR

  • Select one of the options under Core Data Services for Custom Metrics:
  • File upload
  • REST/URL
  • SQL Query
  • FTP & SFTP

OR

  • Select a data service that doesn’t include support for instant metrics: These display under All Data Services and can be found quickly by entering their name into the search field.
  1. Regardless of the option you chose above, follow the workflow until you arrive at the Create a custom metric page where you will configure your custom metric.

  1. In the Data source step, you can:
  • Click Edit data source to see details for (or edit) your selected data source.
  • Click Use a different data source to choose a different, saved data source or to create a new data source.
  1. In the Metric value step, choose which column from your modelled data source that you want to track in your metric. Click Next.

Once you've chosen a metric value, its default aggregation type displays. For numeric columns, the default aggregation type is “sum”. For text columns, it's “count”. The default aggregation type will be used wherever there are no configuration options available. For example, on the Metric List page, metrics will display using a default aggregation type based on your selection here.

  1. In the Segmentation step, select the columns by which you want to be able to segment and filter your metric value. Click Next.

You can select up to 5 columns. Each selection shows a unique view of your business, for example, you might choose to segment your sales data based on region, sales rep, or product type. The segments you select when creating a metric become filters in the finished metric. You can filter on the individual metric level or at the dashboard level (when you add your metric to a dashboard).

If you want to create a metric with no segmentations, click Next (without selecting any columns).

When choosing segmentation, you can only select columns that have a text format. If the modelled data source for your metric doesn’t include any text columns (or has only one text column) there will be no available categories by which to segment. This step will be marked as complete and you will move on to the next step in the wizard.

  1. In the Date & time step, either select a timestamp column from your modelled data source or Use the current date (if your modelled data source doesn’t include a timestamp column). Click Next.

  1. In the Data shape step, select an appropriate aggregation method: Transactional values, Current values, or Periodic summary. Click Next.

Your choice determines the data points your metric will use when calculating the metric value for a time period. If you’re unsure which option is best, that's okay, you can change your selection later by editing the metric:

  • Transactional values: Select this option if you want to include every value for a time period to create the total of values. For example, you may have a spreadsheet that includes all sales transactions for the month of January. In this case, you want to sum all values to get the total values for the month.
  • Current values: Select this option if your data includes current value totals for specific points in time and new values replace older values. For example, if you are tracking social media followers, each import gives you the current value, which is the total of all values for the time period.
  • Periodic summary: (Hour, Day, Week, Month, Year) Select this option if each value in your data is a summary of a time period. For example, with Google Analytics "sessions by day" data, the value at any point in time is the summary up to that point in the day. Your data is collected again on the following day, beginning at zero. In such cases, the last value is the complete summary of the day. To calculate the metric's value for a month, you sum the last value for each day in the month. When you select this option, you also select a time period from the drop-down list below it (Hour, Day, Week, Month, or Year).
  1. In the Display settings step:
  • Enter a Metric name.
  • Choose a data format: Numeric, Currency, Percentage, or Duration.

If you selected Currency as the data format, the default currency symbol that will display is USD $. You can select an alternate Currency symbol from the drop-down list. Note: This is a display option only. Currency is not converted.

  • Optionally, set your data to Show as cumulative by default for all of the metric's view modes.
  • Optionally, set the Favourable trend for your metric. Choose whether you want ascending or descending values to indicate a positive trend. For example, if your metric includes sales totals, a higher (ascending) number demonstrates a positive trend but, if your metric includes cost to acquire customers, a lower (descending) number indicates a positive trend. Favourable trends are indicated by a green arrow. Note: This option is not applicable to all visualization types.
  1. Click Save.

Now you're ready to interact with and learn from your metric data!

If you added the custom metric from the navigation sidebar or from your Metric List page, it’s added to your list of metrics. If you added the custom metric from an open dashboard, it’s added to that dashboard and to your list of metrics.

Note: After adding a custom metric, you can edit it and set it as certified. Learn more about certifying metrics. You can also edit the metric to change its service icon. Learn more about changing metric icons. Learn more about editing custom metrics.

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