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Module 15 / Lesson 81 · Read, apply, check
Create a compact report that separates delivery, visibility, qualified outcomes and cost.
Choose a small set of measures that support an action: maintain, investigate, improve or stop. Delivered articles, search impressions, enquiries and revenue describe different stages. A dashboard should make their relationship understandable without pretending that every stage is perfectly attributable.
Record the date range, source, currency, timezone and counting definition where relevant. Distinguish events from users and enquiries from qualified opportunities. Two systems may disagree because one counts repeated submissions or uses a different reporting window, not because either number is fabricated.
Compare aggregate counts with the operational process that produces them. Investigate duplicates, missing channels, test traffic and timing differences. Keep a discrepancy note rather than silently selecting whichever source makes the campaign look stronger. An unexplained gap is itself a useful reporting finding.
Write a short decision beneath the figures with an owner and review date. Show confidence and important limitations. A visually polished dashboard that cannot explain what should happen next is less useful than a plain table with consistent definitions and an accountable recommendation.
Analytics events may include duplicate triggers.
CRM records, with its own channel coverage and process.
Sales criteria applied after enquiry.
Repair duplicates; investigate qualification; retain source definitions.
Hypothetical exercise: analytics records 120 lead events, the CRM records 90 enquiries and sales accepts 30 qualified opportunities in the same month. The analyst discovers that confirmation-page refreshes account for some duplicate events and that a separate telephone process is absent from the web event total. She does not subtract values blindly until they match. Instead she defines each measure, documents the known differences and creates a tracking-fix task plus a separate review of enquiry quality. The report also shows campaign costs and delivered work in their own rows. Management can now decide what to repair and what to investigate without treating 120 events as 120 prospective customers.
Another dashboard combines impressions, mentions, visits and enquiries into one “growth score” with no units or weighting explanation. The number rises when impressions increase even though qualified opportunities fall. The apparent simplicity hides the business problem. A better report preserves distinct stages and explains the tradeoff, allowing management to ask whether visibility reaches the right audience and whether the offer converts suitable demand.
Misconception: reconciling data means making every source display the same number. Different systems can measure different things. Reconciliation means explaining the relationship and finding actual errors, not forcing incompatible definitions into one total.
Attribution and observation limits remain even after instrumentation is repaired. Avoid importing personal customer records into a general marketing dashboard when aggregate counts suffice. Access to commercial data should follow the organization’s existing permissions.
Do this today · 35 minutes
Create a compact report that separates delivery, visibility, qualified outcomes and cost.
Aggregate campaign and operational counts, or the sample analytics/CRM figures.
Analytics: 120 lead events. CRM: 90 enquiries. Sales: 30 qualified opportunities. Known duplicate refresh events and separately recorded telephone enquiries.
Before: “120 leads prove the campaign succeeded.”
After: 120 events, 90 enquiries and 30 qualified opportunities, with a duplicate-event repair and quality review.
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Reconcile again after the instrumentation fix and compare qualified outcomes using consistent definitions; retain notes on historical data that cannot be repaired retroactively.
Before you move on
Analytics shows 120 lead events, the CRM shows 90 enquiries and sales records 30 qualified opportunities. Duplicate refresh events and separately recorded calls explain part of the difference. What dashboard treatment best supports a responsible management decision about the campaign?
Next lesson →Google Analytics: Recommended events
Search Console performance report
Lesson edition 1 · References reviewed 15 October 2026 · Practical exercise reviewed 15 October 2026. Examples are illustrative teaching scenarios.
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