Tableau Lesson 55 – Marketing Analysis | Dataplexa

Tableau Course

I. Tableau Basics
1. Introduction to Tableau 2. Installing Tableau 3. Tableau Interface 4. Connecting Data 5. Data Types 6. Dimensions & Measures 7. Visual Shelf 8. Basic Charts 9. Sorting & Grouping 10. Hierarchies
II. Data Cleaning & Preparation
11. Cleaning Data Overview 12. Joins 13. Data Blending 14. Relationships 15. Pivoting Data 16. Splitting Fields 17. Rename & Alias 18. Extracts 19. Data Source Filters 20. Metadata
III. Charts & Visual Analytics
21. Bar & Line Charts 22. Area & Scatter 23. Histogram & Box Plot 24. Tree Map 25. Heat Map 26. Highlight Table 27. Dual Axis 28. Maps 29. Density Map 30. Geospatial Analytics
IV. Filters, Parameters & Calculations
31. Filters 32. Quick Filters 33. Parameters Basics 34. Parameters Advanced 35. Basic Calculations 36. Table Calculations 37. Conditional Calculations 38. LOD (Level of Detail) 39. FIXED / INCLUDE / EXCLUDE 40. Advanced LOD
V. Dashboards & Stories
41. Dashboard Basics 42. Actions 43. Interactive Dashboards 44. Story Points 45. Layout & Formatting 46. Mobile Dashboards 47. Dashboard Performance 48. Best Practices 49. Full Dashboard Project 50. Story Points Project
VI. Projects & Certification Prep
51. Sales Analysis Project 52. Financial Analysis 53. HR Analysis 54. Retail Analysis 55. Marketing Analysis 56. Live Dashboard 57. Advanced Geospatial 58. Predictive Modeling 59. Tableau Public 60. Tableau Capstone Project
Section IV — Lesson 55

Marketing Analysis Project

Marketing dashboards answer budget questions — which channels bring the most conversions, what does each customer cost to acquire, and where is the spend returning the best ROI. This project builds a campaign performance dashboard from a single campaign table, using five analytical views and seven calculated fields.

The Dataset

A 28-row campaign table spanning four channels across seven months with spend, impressions, clicks, and conversions. Save as marketing_data.csv.

marketing_data.csv 
Campaign_ID,Month,Month_Num,Channel,Impressions,Clicks,Conversions,Spend,Revenue_Generated
C001,Jan,1,Paid Search,142000,4260,384,8200,24960
C002,Jan,1,Social Media,98000,2940,176,5100,11440
C003,Jan,1,Email,41000,2870,310,1200,20150
C004,Jan,1,Display,210000,2100,63,3800,4095
C005,Feb,2,Paid Search,158000,4740,421,9100,27365
C006,Feb,2,Social Media,112000,3360,201,5800,13065
C007,Feb,2,Email,44000,3080,334,1300,21710
C008,Feb,2,Display,225000,2250,68,4100,4420
C009,Mar,3,Paid Search,171000,5130,461,9800,29965
C010,Mar,3,Social Media,124000,3720,223,6400,14495
C011,Mar,3,Email,48000,3360,362,1400,23530
C012,Mar,3,Display,238000,2380,71,4300,4615
C013,Apr,4,Paid Search,165000,4950,445,9500,28925
C014,Apr,4,Social Media,118000,3540,212,6100,13780
C015,Apr,4,Email,46000,3220,348,1350,22620
C016,Apr,4,Display,230000,2300,69,4200,4485
C017,May,5,Paid Search,178000,5340,480,10200,31200
C018,May,5,Social Media,131000,3930,236,6700,15340
C019,May,5,Email,51000,3570,386,1500,25090
C020,May,5,Display,244000,2440,73,4400,4745
C021,Jun,6,Paid Search,185000,5550,499,10600,32435
C022,Jun,6,Social Media,138000,4140,248,7000,16120
C023,Jun,6,Email,53000,3710,401,1550,26065
C024,Jun,6,Display,251000,2510,75,4500,4875
C025,Jul,7,Paid Search,192000,5760,518,11000,33670
C026,Jul,7,Social Media,144000,4320,259,7300,16835
C027,Jul,7,Email,55000,3850,416,1600,27040
C028,Jul,7,Display,258000,2580,77,4600,5005

The Five Business Questions

# Business Question Technique Chart
Q1 Which channel delivers the best return on ad spend? ROAS calc + bar chart Horizontal bar with reference line
Q2 How does the conversion funnel look across channels? CTR % + CVR % (basic calcs) Side-by-side bars (funnel view)
Q3 Is cost per acquisition improving month over month? CPA calc + running trend (table calc) Line chart with trend line
Q4 How is spend allocated across channels — and is it proportional to results? % of Total Spend vs % of Total Conversions (FIXED LOD) Diverging bar — spend vs conversion share
Q5 Which channel has the most efficient spend growth — rising conversions without rising CPA? CPA by Channel over time (FIXED LOD) Heat map

Step 1 — Connect and Prepare

1
Connect to marketing_data.csv. Verify types: Impressions, Clicks, Conversions as Number (whole), Spend and Revenue_Generated as Number (decimal), Month_Num as Number (whole), Month and Channel as String.
2
Sort Month by Month_Num: right-click Month in the Data pane → Default Properties → Sort → Sort by Field → Month_Num → Ascending. Without this, months sort alphabetically.
3
Create an extract: Data → Extract Data → Extract. Rename the data source to Marketing Data.

Step 2 — Build the Calculated Fields

Calc 1 — ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) 
SUM([Revenue_Generated]) / SUM([Spend])
ROAS = revenue returned per $1 spent. A ROAS of 4.0 means every $1 of ad spend returned $4 in revenue. Industry minimum healthy threshold is typically 3.0.
Calc 2 — Click-Through Rate (CTR) 
SUM([Clicks]) / SUM([Impressions])
Calc 3 — Conversion Rate (CVR) 
SUM([Conversions]) / SUM([Clicks])
CVR measures the percentage of clicks that become conversions. Combined with CTR, these two metrics map the full funnel: Impression → Click (CTR) → Conversion (CVR).
Calc 4 — Cost per Acquisition (CPA) 
SUM([Spend]) / SUM([Conversions])
CPA is the single most-watched marketing metric — how much it costs to acquire one converting customer. Lower is better. Trending CPA over months reveals whether optimisation efforts are working.
Calc 5 — % of Total Spend (FIXED LOD) 
SUM([Spend]) / {FIXED : SUM([Spend])}
Calc 6 — % of Total Conversions (FIXED LOD) 
SUM([Conversions]) / {FIXED : SUM([Conversions])}
Calc 7 — CPA by Channel (FIXED LOD) 
{FIXED [Channel], [Month] : SUM([Spend]) / SUM([Conversions])}
Locks CPA calculation to each Channel × Month combination — used to colour the heat map correctly regardless of any view-level filters applied by the user.

Set default formats now: ROAS → Number 2dp. CTR → Percentage 2dp. CVR → Percentage 1dp. CPA → Currency $#,##0.00. % of Total Spend and % of Total Conversions → Percentage 1dp.

Step 3 — Chart 1: ROAS by Channel (Q1)

1
New sheet. Drag Channel to Rows and ROAS to Columns. Mark type: Bar. Sort descending.
2
Drag ROAS to Colour. Set palette to Green Sequential — higher ROAS = darker green. Add ROAS to Label. Format as Number 2dp.
3
Add a reference line at 3.0 — label "Minimum target: 3.0x". Title: Email Returns $16 per $1 Spent — Display Barely Breaks Even. Tab: ROAS.
ROAS by channel — expected result
Email Returns $16 per $1 Spent — Display Barely Breaks Even Email 16.3x Paid Search 3.0x Social Media 2.3x Display 1.1x Min 3.0x

Step 4 — Chart 2: Conversion Funnel by Channel (Q2)

A funnel view in Tableau is built as a side-by-side bar chart — CTR on one side, CVR on the other — both measured at the channel level. The two rates map the two conversion steps: impression to click, and click to conversion.

1
New sheet. Drag Channel to Rows. Drag CTR to Columns and CVR to Columns (two separate measure pills). Mark type: Bar on both. This creates a side-by-side bar layout.
2
Set CTR bar colour to #0ea5e9 (Impression → Click step). Set CVR bar colour to #7c3aed (Click → Conversion step). Add both metrics to Label. Format CTR as Percentage 2dp, CVR as Percentage 1dp.
3
Title: Email Converts 11% of Clicks — Display Gets Clicks but Loses Them at Conversion. Tab: Funnel.
Funnel chart — CTR and CVR side by side
Email Converts 11% of Clicks — Display Gets Clicks but Loses Them at Conversion CTR (Impression → Click) CVR (Click → Conversion) Email 7.10% 10.9% Paid Search 3.00% 9.0% Social Media 3.00% 6.3% Display 1% 3%

Step 5 — Chart 3: CPA Trend Over Time (Q3)

1
New sheet. Drag Month to Columns and CPA to Rows. Drag Channel to Colour and to Detail. Mark type: Line. Set channel colours: Email #22c55e, Paid Search #0ea5e9, Social Media #f97316, Display #94a3b8.
2
Analytics pane → drag Trend Line → Linear onto the view. In the Trend Line options, set Per Color — this fits one trend line per channel. A downward trend = improving CPA. An upward trend = spending more per conversion over time.
3
Format CPA axis as $#,##0.00. Title: Paid Search CPA Falling Month on Month — Display CPA Stubbornly High. Tab: CPA Trend.

Step 6 — Chart 4: Spend Share vs Conversion Share (Q4)

This chart reveals budget allocation efficiency. A channel that takes 40% of spend but delivers only 10% of conversions is over-funded. A channel that takes 5% of spend and delivers 20% of conversions is under-funded.

1
New sheet. Drag Channel to Rows. Drag % of Total Spend to Columns and % of Total Conversions to Columns as a second pill. Mark type: Bar on both.
2
Set % of Total Spend bars to #f97316 (spend = cost). Set % of Total Conversions bars to #22c55e (conversions = results). Add both to Label. Format both as Percentage 1dp.
3
Title: Email Uses 5% of Budget but Delivers 28% of Conversions — Display Is the Opposite. Tab: Budget vs Results.
Spend share vs conversion share — side-by-side bars
Email Uses 5% of Budget but Delivers 28% of Conversions % of Spend % of Conversions Paid Search 38.2% 39.3% Display 32.6% 5.1% Social Media 24.0% 27.2% Email 5.2% 28.4%

Step 7 — Chart 5: CPA Heat Map by Channel and Month (Q5)

1
New sheet. Drag Month to Columns and Channel to Rows. Drag CPA by Channel to Colour and to Text. Mark type: Square.
2
Edit colours → Green-Red Diverging Reversed so low CPA (good) = dark green and high CPA (bad) = dark red. Centre the palette on the overall average CPA. Format text as $#,##0.
3
Set cell size: Format → Cell Size → width 68px, height 50px. Title: Email CPA Stable and Low All Year — Display CPA Never Improves. Tab: CPA Heat Map.

Step 8 — Assemble the Dashboard

1
New dashboard → Automatic size → background #f8fafc. Title: Marketing Campaign Performance — Jan–Jul, 22pt bold.
2
Row 1 (Horizontal): ROAS bar (left 45%) + Funnel side-by-side bars (right 55%).
3
Row 2 (Horizontal): CPA Trend multi-line (left 55%) + Budget vs Results side-by-side (right 45%).
4
Row 3: CPA Heat Map — full width. Add a Channel filter applied to all sheets. Dashboard filter action: clicking a channel bar in the ROAS chart highlights that channel across all views. Set all container Outer Padding to 6.
📌 Teacher's Note

The Budget vs Results chart is the most actionable view in any marketing dashboard. When spend share and conversion share are misaligned — like Display taking 33% of budget for 5% of conversions — the reallocation case makes itself. Email gets under-funded because its vanity metrics look modest: impressions are small, click volumes low. The efficiency data tells a completely different story, and a well-built dashboard is the only way to surface it clearly.

Practice Questions

1. The ROAS field divides Revenue_Generated by Spend. What does the resulting number mean for a marketer, and what does the Email ROAS of 16.3x tell us compared to Display at 1.1x?

2. Chart 4 places two measure pills on the Columns shelf to create the spend vs conversions comparison. How does Tableau render two measures on the same axis, and how does the bar length difference tell the budget allocation story?

3. The CPA trend chart adds one trend line per channel. How is this set up in Tableau, and why is "Per Color" important rather than a single overall trend line?

Quiz

1. CTR and CVR measure different steps in the conversion funnel. Which two steps do they each cover, and why is looking at both together more informative than either alone?


2. The heat map uses CPA by Channel (FIXED LOD) rather than the plain CPA calculated field. Why does this matter when the user applies a month filter on the dashboard?


3. The Budget vs Results chart shows Email taking 5% of spend but delivering 28% of conversions, while Display takes 33% of spend for 5% of conversions. What is the practical budget recommendation this data supports?


Next up — Lesson 56: Live Dashboard Connections — connecting Tableau to live data sources, managing extract refresh schedules, and keeping dashboards up to date without manual intervention.

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