General Considerations

Prioritize Reports Over Dashboards: Based on user experience, delivering Reports rather than Dashboards tends to yield higher engagement and better client experiences. We recommend a Reports-first approach when starting with NinjaCat.

Focus on Data Storytelling: Craft a meaningful data narrative instead of overwhelming clients with excessive data. (See our Client Reporting Best Practices article.)

Use Consistent Naming Conventions: Standardizing campaign names across all tactics simplifies data aggregation. (More details in this article.)

Leverage NinjaCademy: If you are new to NinjaCat, start with Getting Started with NinjaCat in NinjaCademy rather than navigating independently.

Organization Setup

Utilize Roles and Permissions: Assign roles and permissions to control platform access. Successful teams create roles based on internal team structures. There is no limit to the number of roles you can create. (More details on roles here.)

Update SMTP Settings: Configure SMTP settings to send emails from your domain. If left unchanged, reports will be sent from mymarketingreports.com, which may result in spam filtering.

Customize Email Templates: Default email templates for all platform communications (report delivery, user invites, dashboard invites, etc.) are found under Email Templates in Organization Settings.

Accounts & Networks

Create a Data Dictionary: Define conversions and custom calculations in a shared document for consistency.

Deliberate Account Naming: Account names impact reports, smart connectors, and data visibility. Avoid unclear, duplicate, or messy names.

Smart Connector Data Formatting: Ensure uploaded sample files match the final data format, including headers, order, and spelling.

Specific Naming for Data Sources: A name like “Google Ads - [email protected]” is clearer than “Google Ads”, especially when managing multiple data sources.

Monitor Email Smart Connector Sends: Initially, CC yourself when setting up the Email Smart Connector to verify file accuracy.

Template Builder

Name Templates Early: Assign a unique title in Global Settings to avoid excessive untitled templates.

Use Global Template Settings: Apply design and style settings globally instead of modifying individual widgets.

Private Templates Are Restricted: Templates set to Private cannot be used in Reports or Dashboard Profiles.

Understand Date Range Settings: Widgets follow the template’s global date range unless individually overridden.

Utilize Clips for Dynamic Content: Clips allow for dynamic insertion of account names, dates, and contact info.

Graphics for Full 4:3 Pages: Use 1484.63px by 1049.02px images, ensuring files are under 8MB in .gif, .jpg, or .png formats.

Avoid Using Previews for Data Verification: Always generate a Report or Dashboard for accurate data verification.

Leverage Global Filters & Metrics: These features enhance scalability. (More details here.)

Limit Table Results in Reports: Show only the top 5 or top 10 results for clarity, with full tables available in an appendix.

PowerPoint Considerations: Use native PowerPoint fonts to ensure accurate formatting.

Create Separate Templates for Roll-Up Reports: Roll-up reports should have dedicated templates.

Report Profiles

Maintain a 1:1 Report Profile to Account Ratio: Avoid multiple versions for a single account to minimize confusion.

Understanding Date Ranges in Report Profiles: Selecting a date range other than “Use Template Date Range” will override the global date range for applicable widgets.

Choosing File Type:

• PDF: Provides the most accurate visual representation.
• CSV: Outputs all table data in a single file without graphics.
• PowerPoint: Includes visuals but requires review before sending.

Avoid Running Reports on the 1st of the Month at Midnight: Schedule reports for the 3rd or 4th to allow for data attribution windows to settle.

Handling Automated Report Emails:

• Fully Automated: Schedule reports and send them automatically.
• Notification-Only: Notify users of report generation without attaching it.
• Generate but Don’t Send: Run reports without emailing them.
• Generate, Add Notes, Then Send: Generate reports, allow manual notes, then send.

Handling Data Gaps in Reports: If an Account lacks data for a widget/page, it will be removed from the report.

Dashboard Profiles

One Public Dashboard per Account: Each account can only have one assigned public-facing dashboard.

Data Views Are Conditional: If a client lacks a data source, that view will not be displayed.

Consider Feature Impacts: Features like custom comparisons may alter widget layouts.

Find & Replace in Widgets and Filters: Apply the same Find & Replace logic to filters for consistency.

Avoid Using Dashboard PDF Exports for Client Reports.

Improve Dashboard Load Times:

• Set Earliest Reporting Date at the Network Level.
• Use Lost Permissions Email Notifications to keep connections healthy.
• Use Estimated Metrics to reduce live API calls.
• Disable Yesterday’s Data.
• Run a daily Report Profile with the same widgets to pre-load data.

Dashboard Access Options:

• Insecure Link: Accessible via the Account Command Center.
• Dashboard User: Restricted to a single account’s dashboard.
• NinjaCat User with Dashboard Access: Requires a dedicated role but can view multiple dashboards.

Campaign Monitoring

Apply Global Filters: Filter data when setting campaign goals.

Uses Monthly Cycles: Currently, Campaign Monitoring operates on a monthly cycle with a selectable start date.

NinjaTrack

If you are looking to use a Dynamic Number Pool with your call tracking the formula we recommend is to take your peak hourly session traffic from the sources you are tracking with your number pool and divide it by four. For example, if you want to track keywords from Google Ads and your peak hourly Google-Paid traffic is 20 user sessions/hour, then you will need five phone numbers to track that website accurately.
You have the option to set conversion periods and thresholds at both the Agency and the Account levels. Whatever you set at your Agency level will become the default behavior for all your accounts, with the opportunity to override this on a per Account basis in your Account settings.