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Campaign Drilldowns And Filters

Learn Campaign Drilldowns And Filters for free with explanations, exercises, and a quick test (for Marketing Analyst).

Published: December 22, 2025 | Updated: December 22, 2025

Table of Contents

Why this matters

Marketing Analysts answer questions like: Which channel drove yesterday's sign-ups? Which campaign wasted spend last week? How did ROAS change by region? Well-built drilldowns and filters let stakeholders explore these answers without asking you for a custom export each time.

  • Daily work: build a KPI summary and let users click into Campaign → Ad Set → Creative.
  • Ad hoc analysis: filter by device, audience, region, and date to spot issues quickly.
  • Decision support: compare current period vs previous to check optimization impact.

Concept explained simply

Drilldown lets you start broad and go deeper step by step (e.g., Channel → Campaign → Ad Set → Creative). Filters limit the data you see (e.g., last 30 days, Mobile only, US only). Together, they turn a static report into an explorable map of performance.

Mental model

Think of your dashboard as a set of nested boxes:

  • Top box: overall KPIs (Spend, Clicks, Conversions, ROAS).
  • Inside boxes: Channel → Campaign → Ad Set/Ad Group → Creative.
  • Filters act like colored lenses you place over the boxes (Date, Region, Device, Audience, Source/Medium).

Use two types of filters:

  • Dimension filters: include/exclude values like Channel = Paid Social or Country = US.
  • Measure filters: numeric thresholds like Spend > 0, Impressions > 1000.

Data setup you will need

  • Columns: date, channel, source_medium, campaign_name, ad_set, creative_id/name, device, region/country, audience, spend, impressions, clicks, sessions, leads, purchases, revenue.
  • Derived metrics (handle divide-by-zero): CTR = clicks/impressions; CPC = spend/clicks; CPA = spend/conversions; ROAS = revenue/spend.
  • Standardize names via UTM mapping or a campaign dictionary to keep hierarchies clean.
  • Include an "Unattributed" or "Other" bucket instead of dropping unknowns.
  • Pre-aggregate a fact table by day and by hierarchy level to improve performance.
Recommended hierarchy
  • Level 1: Channel (Paid Search, Paid Social, Display, Email, Affiliate, Organic)
  • Level 2: Campaign
  • Level 3: Ad Set / Ad Group
  • Level 4: Creative

Worked examples

Example 1: Channel → Campaign → Ad Set drilldown

  1. Create a summary table by Channel with metrics: Spend, Clicks, Conversions, ROAS.
  2. Enable drill-to detail on row click (or use a dedicated detail page) using the field hierarchy Channel → Campaign → Ad Set.
  3. Pass the clicked value as a filter to the next view (e.g., Channel = Paid Social).
  4. On the detail view, show Campaign rows with a trend line and spark metrics.
  5. Allow one more click to Ad Set level for the selected campaign.
Why this works

Stakeholders start broad and narrow focus without losing context. Fewer filters are needed, and intent flows from the previous selection.

Example 2: Core filter panel with sensible defaults

  1. Add filters: Date range (default: last 30 days, rolling), Channel (multi-select), Region (multi-select), Device (multi-select), Spend > 0 (measure filter).
  2. Set default Channel to Paid (exclude Organic) for media spend analyses.
  3. Add a toggle filter for Brand vs Non-Brand (search) if applicable.
  4. Show current period vs previous period deltas on key tiles.
Why this works

Defaults answer the most common questions instantly while leaving room for exploration.

Example 3: Creative performance deep dive

  1. From a selected Campaign, show a gallery-style table: Creative, Impressions, CTR, CPC, CPA, ROAS.
  2. Add a Device filter to compare Mobile vs Desktop creatives.
  3. Provide a Top N control (e.g., Top 20 by Spend) with an "Other" row to manage cardinality.
  4. Include a checkbox-style filter for Status (Active, Paused) when available.
Tip: Handle sparse data

Low-impression creatives distort rates. Apply a measure filter Impressions >= 500 (tune to your volume).

Who this is for and prerequisites

  • Who this is for: Marketing Analysts, Growth Marketers, and BI Developers supporting marketing stakeholders.
  • Prerequisites: Basic SQL or data prep knowledge, familiarity with campaign metrics, and a BI tool that supports hierarchies and filters.

Learning path

  1. Define your marketing data dictionary (channels, UTMs, naming rules).
  2. Build the hierarchy and core metrics.
  3. Add filter panel and defaults.
  4. Implement drilldowns and cross-filtering.
  5. Optimize performance and handle edge cases (unattributed, sparse data).

Common mistakes and self-check

  • Too many filters: overwhelms users. Self-check: Can a new user answer top 3 questions in under 30 seconds?
  • Dropping unknowns: removes reality. Self-check: Do totals match raw exports within 1–2%? Is there an "Unattributed" bucket?
  • Unclear hierarchy: mixed naming breaks drilldown. Self-check: Does every campaign map to exactly one channel?
  • Rate metrics on tiny samples: misleading CTR/CPA. Self-check: Are minimum thresholds applied (e.g., Impressions >= X)?
  • Default date too wide: slow dashboards. Self-check: Is default last 30 days with an option to widen?

Practical projects

  • Project 1: Media overview with drill-to-campaign and filters for Region/Device.
  • Project 2: Search brand vs non-brand dashboard with quick toggles and spend>0 filter.
  • Project 3: Creative leaderboard with Top N control and a quality threshold (Impressions).

Hands-on exercises

Complete the exercises below. Everyone can take the quick test; only logged-in users have their progress saved.

Exercise 1 (ex1): Build a 3-level drilldown

  1. Create a summary table by Channel with Spend, Clicks, Conversions, ROAS.
  2. Enable drill to Campaign when a Channel is selected.
  3. From Campaign, enable drill to Ad Set.
  4. Ensure filters persist (Date, Region, Device) when drilling.

Expected output: Clicking a Channel filters to its Campaigns, then to Ad Sets, with metrics and the same active filters.

Exercise 2 (ex2): Design a clean filter panel

  1. Add filters: Date (default last 30 days), Channel (default Paid only), Region (All), Device (All), Spend > 0.
  2. Add a Top N control for creatives on detail pages and an "Other" row.
  3. Include a period comparison (Current vs Previous) on KPI tiles.

Expected output: The dashboard loads fast with meaningful defaults and allows quick narrowing.

Build checklist

  • [ ] Hierarchy defined: Channel → Campaign → Ad Set → Creative
  • [ ] Default date is rolling last 30 days
  • [ ] Spend > 0 measure filter applied where relevant
  • [ ] Unattributed bucket visible and documented
  • [ ] Top N + Other for high-cardinality visuals
  • [ ] Period comparison enabled on KPIs

Mini challenge

Your CPC spiked this week. Use your dashboard to filter to Paid Search, Non-Brand, Mobile, and drill to creatives. Identify one concrete action (pause a keyword, adjust bids, swap a creative) and note the metric that justifies it.

Next steps

  • Instrument UTMs consistently to improve drilldown quality.
  • Add cohort filters (e.g., New vs Returning users) if data allows.
  • Create a simple “Reset filters” button or instruction for users.

Quick Test

Ready to check your understanding? Take the quick test below. Everyone can take it for free; only logged-in users will see saved progress.

Practice Exercises

2 exercises to complete

Instructions

  1. Create a summary table by Channel with metrics Spend, Clicks, Conversions, ROAS.
  2. Enable drill to Campaign on row click or via a dedicated detail view. Pass the selected Channel as a filter.
  3. Enable drill from Campaign to Ad Set, preserving all active filters (Date, Region, Device).
  4. Add a small trend line for Conversions at each level to keep time context.
Expected Output
Selecting a Channel reveals its Campaigns; selecting a Campaign reveals its Ad Sets. Date/Region/Device filters persist across levels.

Campaign Drilldowns And Filters — Quick Test

Test your knowledge with 6 questions. Pass with 70% or higher.

6 questions70% to pass
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