## Introduction
Marketing teams constantly run multiple campaigns across various platforms, making it challenging to track real-time performance metrics efficiently. Traditional manual reporting is time-consuming, error-prone, and often means insights come too late to impact campaign adjustments. Automated dashboards solve this problem by integrating data sources and providing live, actionable insights.
This article provides a detailed, technical tutorial on building an automated campaign performance dashboard using Make (formerly Integromat), Google Sheets, and Google Data Studio. The solution gather metrics from advertising platforms like Facebook Ads and Google Ads, consolidate campaign data in Google Sheets, and visualize it dynamically via Google Data Studio.
This system benefits marketing managers, analysts, and operations specialists by saving time, improving data accuracy, and enabling real-time decision-making.
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## Tools and Services Integrated
– **Make:** An automation platform for connecting APIs and services with visual scenario builder
– **Facebook Ads API:** Fetch campaign metrics such as impressions, clicks, and spend
– **Google Ads API:** Fetch campaign metrics such as conversions, clicks, cost
– **Google Sheets:** Centralized data storage for campaign metrics and calculated KPIs
– **Google Data Studio:** Visualization tool to build interactive, shareable dashboards
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## How the Workflow Works
1. **Trigger:** Scheduled automation (e.g., daily at midnight) kicks off the workflow.
2. **Fetch Campaign Metrics:** Make connects to Facebook Ads and Google Ads APIs to retrieve latest campaign performance data.
3. **Transform Data:** Cleanse and normalize data formats so campaigns from different platforms align.
4. **Update Google Sheets:** Append or update data rows in a master spreadsheet used as a data source.
5. **Visualization:** Google Data Studio reads from Google Sheets and presents KPIs, trends, and comparisons in charts and tables.
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## Building the Automated Dashboard Step-By-Step
### Step 1: Prepare Your Google Sheet
– Create a new Google Sheet with tabs for each platform (“Facebook Ads”, “Google Ads”).
– Define columns for campaign attributes and performance metrics. Example for Facebook Ads tab:
– Date
– Campaign Name
– Impressions
– Clicks
– Spend
– Conversions
– Do similar for Google Ads tab with relevant metrics.
– Share the sheet with the email address Make uses for API access.
### Step 2: Create a Make Account and Scenario
– Sign up or log into [Make](https://www.make.com/).
– Click “Create a new scenario”.
– Set the scenario trigger as **Scheduler** module, running once daily (or your desired frequency).
### Step 3: Add Facebook Ads Module
– Add the **Facebook Ads** module: ‘Watch Campaigns’ or ‘Get Campaign Insights’ depending on API availability.
– Authenticate your Facebook Ads account.
– Configure the search query to fetch campaigns active or updated since last run.
– Specify metrics to retrieve: impressions, clicks, spend, conversions.
### Step 4: Add Google Ads Module
– Add the **Google Ads** module: ‘List Campaigns’ or ‘Get Campaign Stats’.
– Authenticate Google Ads account via OAuth2.
– Define query parameters for campaigns and date range matching Facebook Ads.
– Fetch similar metrics.
### Step 5: Data Transformation
– Add **Tools > Array Aggregator** or **Set Variable** modules to normalize data formats.
– Convert dates to the same timezone/format.
– Map fields from Facebook Ads and Google Ads response JSON to uniform structure.
– Combine arrays if needed.
### Step 6: Update Google Sheets
– Add Google Sheets **Search Rows** module to check if a campaign’s data already exists for the date.
– If exists, use **Update Row** module else **Add Row** to prevent duplicates.
– Map campaign metrics into the correct columns.
### Step 7: (Optional) Cache Last Run Date
– Store the last successful run date in a Make Data Store or Google Sheets to fetch incremental data efficiently.
### Step 8: Validate and Test
– Run the scenario manually to ensure data is retrieved and correctly inserted into Google Sheets.
– Check for errors in module execution or API limits.
### Step 9: Build the Google Data Studio Dashboard
– Open Google Data Studio.
– Connect your Google Sheets as a data source.
– Design charts for key KPIs: CTR, CPC, conversion rate, cost per conversion across campaigns.
– Use filters and date controls to enable dynamic exploration.
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## Common Errors and Tips to Make It Robust
– **API Rate Limits:** Both Facebook and Google Ads APIs have rate limits. Use incremental loads, cache last run timestamps, and batch requests efficiently.
– **Authentication Expiry:** OAuth tokens may expire. Set up proper authentication refresh flows or alert on failures.
– **Data Inconsistencies:** Cross-check campaign names and IDs between platforms to avoid mismatches.
– **Google Sheets Quotas:** Large datasets can hit Google Sheets API limits. Consider partitioning data or moving to BigQuery when scaling.
– **Error Handling:** Use Make’s error handling steps — retries, notifications, logging — to ensure failures don’t go unnoticed.
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## Scaling and Adapting the Workflow
– **Multiple Platforms:** Add modules for other ad channels (LinkedIn Ads, Twitter Ads) by replicating steps.
– **Advanced Metrics:** Integrate Google Analytics data for full-funnel analysis.
– **Automated Alerts:** Add Slack or email notifications for unusual campaign performance (e.g., spikes in CPC).
– **Database Integration:** For very large datasets, replace Google Sheets with a cloud data warehouse (BigQuery, Snowflake).
– **Custom KPIs:** Use Make’s functions or Google Sheets formulas to calculate ROI, ROAS, or audience metrics.
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## Summary and Bonus Tip
Automating campaign performance tracking enables marketing teams to focus on data-driven decisions rather than manual reporting. Using Make, Google Sheets, and Google Data Studio establishes a scalable, flexible pipeline connecting multiple ad platforms transparently.
Bonus Tip: Set up scheduled exports of raw data and backup your Google Sheets regularly to avoid data loss. Additionally, invest time in creating reusable Make scenario templates for new campaigns or channels to accelerate your automation maturity.
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By following this guide, automation engineers and marketing operations teams can build a robust and actionable campaign performance dashboard with real-time data pipelines, reducing manual overhead and improving responsiveness to campaign dynamics.