Data Calculations

Use Equations to Create Your Own Metrics

Take your analysis to the next level. Use Data Calculations to add, subtract, divide and/or multiply metrics. Calculate sums, rates, ratios or even your ROI—right in Databox and with metrics from multiple sources.

5 min read

After reading this guide, you’ll understand…

  • How to combine metrics from different data sources to create entirely new metrics
  • What kinds of metrics you can create with data calculations 
  • How to create custom metrics to meet client needs
Why Data Calculations?

Do More With Your Data

There are tons of basic metrics in Databox to help you get started. But the native metrics offered by each integration may be limiting your data analysis in a few ways…

  • Lack of visibility—You need advanced insights into your data that may not be offered natively with your different data source connections. 
  • Manual rate calculation—Need rates or more complex financial metrics? You might be calculating these by hand, or in a spreadsheet. 
  • Restricted client metrics—You have extensive dashboards and reports for your clients, but how can you quickly check the performance of the most important metrics?

When you use data calculations to create metrics, you’re suddenly able to…

  • Get a more complete picture of your data—Combine metrics from different data sources to create metrics that reflect your business more accurately.
  • Track more complex insights—Get insights into meaningful metrics like ROI, LTV, and more by calculating rates. 
  • Give clients better metrics—Give your clients more meaningful insights into their data and the work you’re doing for them. 
How to Use Data Calculations

Combine Data from Different Sources

Your team is likely tracking some metrics, like Revenue, from a few different sources. For example, let’s say your team pulls in revenue through a few channels—Stripe (for credit card transactions), PayPal, and Quickbooks (for invoices). Adding these metrics up manually can be time-consuming, lead to errors, and result in limited visibility.

To simplify, you can use Data Calculations to create one master Revenue metric. This metric makes total revenue easier to track at a glance and share with your team or client. 

To create a combined metric using data calculations, navigate to the Metrics page from the left-hand navigation and select on the Calculated Metrics at the top of the screen.

Click on the green + New Calculated Metric button in the upper right corner. You’ll be taken to a screen where you can select the metrics you want to calculate, as well as how you want to calculate them.

Here’s some ideas to get started:

Total Ad Spend
Total Revenue

See example below:

 

Once you have created your metric, you can add it to a dashboard and select the visualization you want to use.

Create Rates & Complex Metrics 

There are likely insights you’re looking to draw that just aren’t available from the metrics available in your data sources. 

You may want to create rates to understand the change in a metric over time, relative to another metric. For example, you might want to calculate the conversion rate of website visitors to leads or the churn rate of customers. These rates give you a better way to measure the effectiveness of different strategies and track progress towards goals. These rates can be calculated using metrics from the same data source, or different data sources. 

Creating these metrics can also help you better measure the impact performance of your activities. For instance, you might need to calculate the average order value per customer or the revenue per employee. These metrics can provide a more comprehensive view of your business performance, and help identify areas for improvement.

Here’s how you can use data calculations to create those metrics: 

 
Tips & Tricks

3 Tips & Tricks

  1. Customize your calculations

    You can adjust the mathematical symbol in your data calculations to create any kind of metrics you need. Simply click on the ‘+’ button and select the symbol you need to create your calculation. 

  2. Use alerts and goals to track calculated metrics

    Using alerts and goals for calculated metrics can help users stay informed and focused on the metrics that matter most to their business. Here are a few things you can do with alerts and goals: 

    • Quickly identify and respond to changes in your metrics
    • Track progress towards specific targets and goals
    • Prioritize your efforts to optimize resources and drive better results 
  3. Create data calculations… using data calculations

    You can use calculated metrics in other data calculations to perform more sophisticated and meaningful analysis of your data. By building on top of existing calculated metrics, you can create even more complex and customized metrics that reflect the unique needs of your business.

     

    For example, you might have a calculated metric that measures the conversion rate of website visitors to leads. You can then use this calculated metric as a building block to create a more advanced metric, such as the conversion rate of website visitors to paying customers. This metric can provide a more comprehensive view of your business performance. 

     

    Simply select a calculated metric as one of the metrics in your data calculation, as shown in the image below. 

Need more guidance? Check out…