10. Add Spend
Upload spend for any channels that do not integrate with Northeam.
There are two main ways to do this:
- Spend API (preferred)
- Spend Sheet
This will allow you to:
- See cost-based metrics (ex. ROAS, CAC, CPC) for non-integrated channels
- Include ALL advertising costs to give you a full picture of total business performance
Background
Northbeam integrates with most major ad platforms and is able to fetch spend data. Platforms include Facebook, Google, TikTok, Snapchat, Pinterest, etc. See Channel Tracking Overview for full list.
For any channels that don't integrate, you're able to upload spend data using the Spend API or a Spend Sheet.
| Method | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Spend API | Send spend data directly to your dashboard in an automated fashion through Spend API. | Data needs to live in an internal database (ex. AWS, Snowflake, Databricks, Azure, Domo, etc.) and will need a Reverse ETL to move it out. |
| Spend Sheet | Enter your data into a Spend Sheet (gSheet), which will be connected to your dashboard. | Less technical method, but will require manual input. |
What is the Spend API?
The Spend API enables our customers to programmatically upload daily spend, clicks, and impressions metrics at the ad level of their choice (Campaign, Adset, Ad) for Ad platform integrations that we do not natively support. A common example is an email marketing platform (e.g. Mailchimp, SendGrid).
Read more about the Spend API here and the API reference here.
When to use the Spend API?
If you want to associate spend with campaigns that Northbeam is tracking from platforms that we don't natively integrate with, upload spend data associated with those campaigns using the Spend API. To correctly associate spend with campaigns, you need to provide:
- The date the spend was committed
- This name of the platform to associate the spend with (this label will apply to the spend object in the dashboard)
- The campaign ID and name that the spend is for
- The currency and amount spent on the campaign
How to track Spend
Northbeam offers two ways to track spend data:
- Northbeam Spend API (Recommended)
- Google Sheet (Not Recommended)
| Spend Sheet | Spend API | |
|---|---|---|
| Import ad spend data from any platform | ✅ | ✅ |
| No dev resources required | ✅ | ❌ |
| Minimal ongoing overhead to support | ❌ | ✅ |
When to use the Spend API instead of the Spend Sheets
Spend Sheets allow you to share spend data for ad platforms that we do not natively support via a Google Sheet. This can be rather cumbersome when there are either:
- a lot of ad platforms to support via sheets, or
- a lot of campaigns (deeper levels) of hierarchy per platform. Spend API was developed to address these difficulties.
Consider using the Spend API instead if:
- you have developer resources that can assist you for implementation, and
- your spend is complex enough that manually updating the sheet periodically will be burdensome.
| Method | |
|---|---|
| Northbeam Spend API | ✅ Enables faster and less error prone data uploads ✅ Makes it easy to track multiple channels simultaneously ✅ More robust solution ✅ Easier troubleshooting and better support from our team ✅ Ability to track metrics at the Adset and Ad level (in addition to Campaign level) |
| Google Sheet | Only use a Google Sheet if your brand does not have an engineering team to configure the Spend API |
Want to use a Spend Sheet?
Learn how to set up a Spend Sheet here.
Updated about 2 months ago