Documentation

‍MCDM schema objects

MCDM schema consists of different objects that help you structure provided data.

MCDM Mapping dictionary

The mapping is the core logic of data unification provided within MCDM. It defines how a field from each data source is "translated" into a common model. MCDM Mapping Dictionary is a live documentation that explains how each field of each data source is being converted into MCDM value.

‍

There are two types of MCDM Mapping Dictionary provided by Improvado:

• General mapping dictionary - contains built-in MCDM Mapping, and that's applied for all customers by default. It’s available as live documentation here.
• Customer-specific mapping dictionary - contains mapping used for specific MCDM customers, including all implemented MCDM configuration changes.

Customer-specific mapping dictionary is provided as a table called mcdm_mapping together with other MCDM tables. It’s updated daily.

To simplify work with a Customer-specific mapping dictionary, Improvado provides GDS dashboard template. You can follow the instructions below to use it.

MCDM GDS dashboard template

The dashboard template is provided as part of the MCDM package for a quick start of BI analytics on top of MCDM data.

MCDM categories supported:

• Paid ads
• Paid Search
• Organic

Required MCDM dashboard templates are provided by Customer Success Manager during onboarding.

Please follow the instructions below to reuse this template:

‍The first step is to apply the template datasources for GDS (alternative instruction: link) to your data

1. Open each data source link from the required category in the table below:

‍

2. In the upper right of the opened datasource, click Make a copy.

3. In the confirmation dialog, click Copy Data Source.

4. In the data source configuration page, select the data set for the new data source.
5. Click RECONNECT.

6. Rename this data source.

‍The second step is to apply your new google data studio datasources to the dashboard template. 

1. Open the dashboard template.
2. In the top right, click “:”, and then click Make a copy.

3. Сonnect your new Data Sources from the previous step.

4. Click Copy Report.

5. Rename this dashboard. 
6. Click on View, then click Share.

7. Select Anyone with the link can view.

MCDM GDS video instruction

This video tutorial shows how to copy data sources, copy a dashboard, and share a dashboard.

MCDM Tableau Dashboard template

Customer Success Manager provides you with required MCDM dashboard templates during onboarding.

1. Open provided dashboard with Tableau desktop
2. In the Tableau desktop, connect your database  
3. Come back to the Tableau desktop.
4. At the top of the control panel, hover over Data, and while hovering over the data source, click on Edit Data Source.

5. The current data source will be removed by clicking and dragging it over to the Table block.

6. Select the data source you need by selecting fields (Database, Schema, and Table).
7. While holding the table, move it to the Drag tables here area

8. Repeat these steps for each data source connected to the current dashboard.
9. Click on the dashboard at the bottom of the screen.

MCDM Power BI Dashboard template

1. Open this dashboard with Power BI desktop.
2. In the Power BI desktop, connect your database.
3. Click on the block Fields on the table and on "...".
4. Click Edit query.
5. Click on a settings cog on the Navigation button.

6. Select the required table. Repeat these steps for each data source connected to the current dashboard.

7. Close the app.

8. Reconnect connectors.

9. You can see the dashboard in the Power BI Desktop app.

FAQ

Question: How can I understand what field is used in mapping?

Answer: Depending on specific questions, a search can be started: 

• by filtering by data source (understand how a specific data source is mapped) 
• by mcdm table (understand what fields from different data sources are used by a single mcdm table). 

After applying proper filters, you can find mcdm_field as the field used in the output mcdm table and the original field as the “raw data” field of a specific data source.

‍

Q: How often and when do MCDM tables are loaded to my DWH?

A: The MCDM table is loaded to the DWH daily after successful daily extraction for all source tables. The source table here is the “raw data” report type of data source used to provide data for MCDM.

‍

Q: How can I understand what data source is the source for this campaign or metric value?

A: There is an MCDM field data source that contains the data source name, so it’s always possible to correlate values to the value of this column.

‍

Q: How can I reuse the Google Data Studio (GDS) dashboard template?

A: The first step is to copy the GDS data source. There is an instruction for it: link.

Make sure to connect your data sources to relevant tables in your DWH while copying.

The second step is to copy the dashboard. Please follow this instruction for this step.

‍

Q: What extraction templates should I use to load data for MCDM?

A: Please use extraction templates with MCDM in their name. There might be several templates for each data source as MCDM covers a wide range of granularities, and usually, more than 1 table is needed to provide full coverage.

‍

Q: Will I receive “raw data” tables with MCDM or only MCDM?

A: MCDM is always loaded as an additional set of tables to the “raw data” tables. So you will have both aggregated tables of MCDM and tables containing information on each data source separately.

‍