Note: You can download a guide at the end of this article if you'd prefer to save and read a PDF.
Table of Contents
Getting Started With TapClicks
New to TapClicks?
What is a data source?
A data source in TapClicks is any application or database used for analysis, insight or reporting. By connecting data sources to TapClicks, you are able to blend them together and run analyses across all of them together, rather than in each individual application. In this way, TapClicks can be your database of record for all marketing and operational insights. Once connected, TapClicks will automatically fetch new data from your data source locations, update reports and make the data available for developing insights.
Types of connectors
To connect your data sources to TapClicks, you'll use a connector. There are two kinds of connectors in TapClicks:
- Instant On Connectors
- Smart Connectors
TapClicks has partnerships with hundreds of the most popular data providers. If you need to bring in data from one of these data providers, you'll do that by using an Instant On Connector.
Data from Instant On Connectors are already organized for your use in TapClicks reporting. You just authenticate with the data provider and that's it. There's nothing more to do. So, when you want to connect data from a third-party data provider to TapClicks, the first thing you should do is check to see if an Instant On Connector already exists for that data provider.
Most users start by connecting applications using Instant On Connectors. Examples of common Instant On data sources include the following:
- Google Analytics
- Google Ads
- Facebook Ads
- Amazon Ads
- Mailchimp
What if an Instant On Connector doesn't exist in TapClicks for your data source, or you want to use some of your own data residing in a spreadsheet? That's where Smart Connectors come in.
Smart Connectors provide a way to connect data using CSV, TSV, SLXS, or ODF file formats. But be aware, Smart Connectors are only available for certain tiers of TapClicks service.
TapClicks architecture
The TapClicks architecture can be seen in the graphic below.
It may seem a little overwhelming, but as you develop familiarity with the platform, use this graphic as a reference for the relationships between major architecture components. For new users, it's best to focus on the five main objectives (next section).
Getting Started With TapClicks
Getting started with TapClicks requires that you set up your TapClicks instance so you can start generating reports. This can be broken down into five major objectives:
Objective 1: Connect your data
Objective 2: Create a dashboard
Objective 3: Add widgets to your dashboard
Objective 4: Generate a quick report
Objective 5: Schedule a report
In this getting started guide, we'll explain these objectives and point you to step-by-step support guides for accomplishing them. Along the way, we'll include links to helpful resources you can share with your team. Let’s get started!
Objective 1: Connect Your Data
TapClicks is your system of record for all marketing data. Instead of logging in and out of each individual data source, all your marketing data is in one place. And consider this: Once you have a data source connected, TapClicks is a place where all the history of your data can be analyzed. Year over Year reports, here we come.
To use TapClicks, you will need to understand our terminology. You can find a full glossary of TapClicks terms here.
- A data source is an application. Think: Facebook, Instagram, Choozle, etc.
- When you connect a data source you are authenticating TapClicks to bring in data to the TapClicks platform for you to use in analysis and reporting.
- After connecting data, you will assign the campaigns in that data source to their respective clients. This will enable you to set permissions and show/hide data based on the client name.
Here is the support article for setting up an Instant On Connector. And here is a video that will walk you through the steps if you prefer: How to Connect Your Data [Video]. Here is the Smart Connector Setup Guide.
Once you connect a data source, the system will fetch historical data and then update that data in the platform on a daily basis.
Objective 2: Create a Dashboard
A dashboard is one of the primary reporting and analysis tools in TapClicks. By creating a dashboard, you can share information with your clients or team members through a link, create visualizations and graphs and send the data in your dashboards to other parts of the TapClicks platform.
Creating a dashboard is simple. Here is the support article for how to create a dashboard.
You’ll find that there are a lot of customization options when it comes to dashboards, but for now, just get a dashboard created so you can move on to the real fun stuff: creating widgets.
If you're interested in taking a class on how to create dashboards or learning about other visualization options, check out the TapClicks Academy course on Reporting & Visualization.
Objective 3: Add Widgets to Your Dashboard
Visualizing your data and telling your story is a critical aspect of your differentiated value. Widgets help you deliver your message.
What is a widget?
Widgets are visual depictions of information. They are the graphs and tables you see in a dashboard.
Think of a dashboard as a container and the widgets are what you put in that container. Then you set permissions for who can see each dashboard and who can see the widgets in each dashboard. There are a lot of different widget styles: line graphs, histograms, pie charts, and more. We recommend that you play around with these styles to develop a full awareness of your options.
How to build widgets
Here is the support guide for how to create widgets. If you prefer a video on creating a widget, watch this:
Step-by-Step Guide to Building a Widget [Video]
If you’d like a deeper dive into how to create widgets and dashboards, you can send your team to this class: How to Add Data to your Reports [Course].
Objective 4: Generate a Quick Report
Customized, well-designed, scalable reports are the core of most client relationships. But responsiveness to client requests is a way to differentiate yourself. Without a scalable solution, these kinds of ad hoc requests can be disruptive to your processes. Quick Reports are your answer to fulfilling these timely requests.
What is a Quick Report?
A Quick Report enables you to access your data directly to generate a report. It’s a simple form that you can use to choose the data source, time series, and other aspects of a quick response for your clients.
For example, if they want to know how your Facebook ads are performing month-over-month, rather than building the report in Facebook and configuring an export, you can just pop into Quick Reports and generate those results in seconds.
What’s the value? Often data sources have different time series options. Quick reports give you the ability to choose any date range combination.
How to build a Quick Report
Please take a look at this support guide for how to create and share Quick Reports.
Objective 5: Schedule a Report
Once you create a dashboard and have explored Quick Reports, it’s important to understand how scheduling reports will help you scale your team’s impact. Two big differences between scheduling reports in TapClicks compared to scheduling reports directly from each application, are that you can blend data from multiple sources with TapClicks and you have much more flexibility on the scheduling options. You can pick the day of the week, day of the month, recurring schedules and more. These reports are easy to set up and manage, and should only take a few minutes to try out. We recommend the first scheduled report be internal. Create a dashboard and send it to your team.
How to schedule a report
Here is the support guide for how to use Report Scheduler. For more information about scheduling reports or white labeling options, please consider taking the following class at TapClicks Academy: Sharing and White Labeling Reports.
More Resources
We hope you found this Getting Started Guide helpful. If you would like to dig in further, we recommend the following resources.
Coursework for you and your team. You’ll learn all the basics of the TapClicks platform as well as troubleshooting best practices.
TapClicks has hundreds of data sources to choose from. If you want more information on how to connect a particular data source, you can learn about them at the link above.
Looking to get help troubleshooting? Find articles to help you troubleshoot data connections, common FAQs, and other helpful information.