Access to all reports is located in the Reporting Center menu on your left-hand side. From this menu, you can generate your own report by clicking the Reports tab, or use one of the Emperor’s ready-made templates by clicking Templates.
When you open Reports, you will see the list of the existing reports, or an empty dashboard if you don’t have any reports created at the time. You can generate a report by clicking the Create new report in the middle of the empty dashboard, or by clicking the purple button Create new custom report in the top right corner of the screen.
When creating a report, first you’ll have to define the general settings – the name of the report and teams who are assigned. Use an intuitive name, a name that is straightforward and tells your team members and your clients what will be in this report. For example, the name The New Yorker - Impressions Jan 2025 - Report clearly states that the report will represent impressions for this brand within January 2025.
Next, select all teams assigned to this brand and/or accounting, client management, and marketing teams who need access to this report. Only users within those teams will be able to see the report.
Next, select the entity/entities for which you are creating the report – advertisers, orders, line items, brands, newsletters, or specific placements.
NOTE: You can only select one type of entity (e.g. brands or newsletters), not both. Within one entity type, you can select multiple items.
For example, we have now decided to create a report for The New Yorker brand. However, we could have created a full report for multiple brands or all brands if needed.
Report timeframe and aggregated data
Now, it is time to select the timeframe – the scope of the report. Select one of the many options from a dropdown menu:
- Today
- Yesterday
- Last seven days
- Last thirty days
- Last month
- Last quarter
- Year to date (from Jan 1st to the current date)
- This quarter
- This month
- This week
- Custom.
If you select the Custom option, the fields for the Start date and End date will open for you. There, you can either enter the numbers (dates) manually in the text boxes or open the calendar icon on the right within each box to select the date from a visual calendar.
Emperor allows for an unlimited time scope of the report, which is where our awesome aggregating superpowers come in very handy.
Emperor enables you to set any timeframe and aggregate the data per day, week, month, or for the entire period. In the context of Passendo reporting, aggregating data refers to how the performance metrics of in-mail advertising campaigns are grouped over time in the report.
When refining a reporting timeframe, you can choose:
- Daily aggregation – Shows ad performance per day (e.g., CTR per day).
- Weekly aggregation – Groups data by week (e.g., total impressions per week).
- Monthly aggregation – Summarizes performance for each month.
- Full Period aggregation – The report will show a single summarized value for the entire selected timeframe.
Daily reports are useful for monitoring short-term trends or troubleshooting dips/spikes in performance. Weekly/monthly reports provide a broader view of ad effectiveness and trends over time.
Full period aggregation, instead of breaking data down daily, weekly, or monthly, provides total numbers for the entire reporting period. It is used when you need a peek into an overall performance, or if you’re comparing campaigns, publishers, or ad formats without needing day-to-day variations.
Dimension selection
Now that you’ve decided what the scope of the report will be time-wise, it is time to select all the dimensions you need (out of a comprehensive list of 29). The dimensions offered in a dropdown menu are related to the
- Advertisers (ID, Name)
- Orders (ID, Name, Start and End Date, Status)
- Line Items (ID, Name, Start and End Date)
- Creatives (ID, Name, Start and End Date, Status)
- Placements (ID, Name)
- Brands (ID, Name)
- Newsletters (ID, Name)
- Targeting (Country, City, Device and Proxy, Segment ID)
- Priority
- Format
- Date.
You can select as many dimensions as you need. In our case, we will select the dimensions related to the brand we are looking into (brand ID and name), the newsletters under that brand (newsletter ID and name), and two more dimensions – Format and Device and Proxy, in order to compare the impressions on different devices under different formats for each newsletter.
If you have clicked on a dimension you don’t need, you can remove it from the list by clicking the X button next to the dimension name in the Dimensions field.
Metrics selection
For example, for a brand that is running an in-mail ad campaign, the report might track key performance indicators (KPIs) like:
- Impressions (how many times the ad was displayed)
- Clicks (how many times users clicked the ad)
- CTR (Click-Through Rate) (percentage of clicks relative to impressions)
- Conversions (if conversion tracking is enabled)
- Revenue or eCPM (if revenue tracking is available)
Emperor enables you to create reports for as many dimensions and metrics as you need. When it comes to metrics, there is a dropdown menu for you to choose which to include:
- Impressions
- Unique impressions
- Clicks
- Unique clicks
- Pixels
- Revenue
- eCPM
- CTR
- CPA
- Conversion Rate.
In our case, we are creating an impressions report, so the metrics we want to see are Impressions.
Now, you can see that there are two metrics – Impressions and Unique Impressions. What is the difference between the two, and why does it matter to track both?
In Emperor reporting, impressions and clicks are two key metrics used to measure the performance of in-mail advertising. The distinction between total and unique values helps in understanding how users interact with ads.
Impressions refer to the total number of times an ad is displayed in an email. If a user opens an email multiple times and sees the ad each time, each view counts as a separate impression. This means that a single recipient can generate multiple impressions if they engage with the email more than once. In contrast, Unique Impressions count number of distinct users that viewed an ad, no matter how many times they open the email. This metric provides a clearer picture of how many distinct recipients were exposed to the advertisement.
Similarly, Clicks measure the total number of times an ad is clicked within an email. If a user clicks on the ad multiple times, each click is counted separately, contributing to the overall click total. Unique Clicks, on the other hand, count only the number of distinct users that viewed an ad, regardless of how many times they engage with it afterward. This helps distinguish between overall engagement levels and the number of unique users interacting with the ad.
Understanding the difference between total and unique values is important for performance analysis. High total impressions but low unique impressions may indicate that a smaller group of users is repeatedly opening the email rather than a broad audience being reached. Similarly, a high number of total clicks but a low number of unique clicks suggests that a smaller group of users is clicking multiple times rather than widespread engagement. These insights help advertisers refine their campaigns, optimize targeting, and improve ad performance.
In conclusion, what we want to see in this report are both metrics – Impressions and Unique Impressions.
If a metric gets selected by accident, you can remove it from the list by clicking the X button on the right side of the metric name in the Metrics field.
Report configuration
Next, let’s configure who receives the report, in which file format and date format. First of all, you will have to insert at least one email address to which the report will be sent. If this report is going out to your internal operations as well as your clients or stakeholders, you can enter multiple addresses in this field.
Then, let’s select the format of the file in which the recipient will receive our report. Emperor allows you to select one of the following – Csv, Json, or Xlsx, from a dropdown menu File format. The variety of formats enables you to use this data within 3rd party software for data analysis – performance analysis, accounting, and revenue forecast.
Formatting options for time zone, date, and numbers are particularly important for publishers who are doing business internationally – and have international stakeholders and/or a worldwide audience. By paying attention to the time zones and country-specific formats, you will show extra care for those you are sending reports to.
Moreover, if a 3rd party software you use has a set format for dates and numbers, you can adjust your report format to match the software’s requirements and spare yourself the hassle of converting at a later stage manually.
Finally, you can turn the Include Totals switch on. “Include totals” means that the report will provide a summary of the overall performance metrics for the selected time period, rather than just showing a breakdown of individual data points.
For example, if you’re generating a performance report for an in-mail ad campaign, the report might include detailed daily, weekly, or monthly data. However, when the "include totals" option is selected, the report will also summarize the total impressions, total unique impressions, total clicks, total unique clicks, and other key metrics for the entire reporting period.
This makes it easier to analyze overall performance at a glance, without having to manually sum up all the data. It’s especially useful for quickly assessing the campaign’s reach, engagement, and effectiveness without digging into the detailed breakdowns.
Emperor report filters
Filtering in Emperor reporting allows you to refine and narrow down report results based on specific conditions. By applying filters, you can focus only on relevant data, ensuring that your report provides meaningful insights.
Each filter consists of two parts:
- Attribute – The category of data you want to filter (e.g., Order Status, Creative Type).
- Value – The specific condition applied to that category (e.g., “Delivering” for Order Status).
This helps to track specific aspects of ad performance, such as impressions for a particular brand, ad type, or priority level.
In Emperor reporting, the following attributes and respective values are available:
- Order status – Filters based on the status of an ad order (Draft, Ready, Delivering, Inactive, Delivery Completed, Archived).
- Line item status – Filters based on the status of a line item within an order (No Active Creatives, Ready, Delivering, Inactive, Delivery Completed, Archived).
- Creative status – Filters based on the ad creative’s status (Waiting, Ready, Delivering, Inactive, Delivery Completed, Archived).
- Creative type – Filters based on the format of the creative (Landscape, Portrait).
- Line item type – Filters based on how the ad is delivered (Native, Display).
- Priority – Determines the priority level of a campaign (higher priority means a greater chance of being displayed). The scale ranges from 5 (Sponsorship) to 80.
- Landscape size – Filters based on predefined ad sizes for landscape creatives, such as 566x450, 728x250, 680x680, 536x105, etc.
- Portrait size – Filters based on predefined ad sizes for portrait creatives, such as 566x450, 728x250, 680x680, 536x105, etc.
- Include entities with no data – Controls whether to include items that have no recorded data (True – Includes all entities, even if they have zero impressions; False – Excludes entities with no recorded impressions).
In our example, to analyze impressions for The New Yorker’s in-mail advertising campaign, we could apply the following filters:
- Order status: Delivering – Ensures the report only includes ads currently being served.
- Include entities with no data: False – Excludes any creatives that did not generate impressions.
By applying these filters, the report will provide a refined view of The New Yorker’s active ads that are currently delivering impressions. This eliminates irrelevant data, making it easier to assess ad performance efficiently.
To implement these filters, click + Add filter sign.
The filter fields for attributes and values will open. From a dropdown menu Atribute, find and select “Order status”.
Then, look for and select “Delivering” from a dropdown menu Value.
Now that we have defined our first filter, let’s create the second one. Click the + Add filter button again to create another filter.
Repeat the process by finding “Include entities with no data” under the Attribute dropdown menu, and “False” under the Value menu.
Emperor allows you to add as many filters as you need, in order to refine your data and make it most useful. However, the system does not set logical limitations and allows for duplicates and contradictions. Double-check the filters before you generate the report, to make sure you receive exactly what you want.
Scheduling reports
Finally, Emperor enables you to set the scheduling of your custom-made reports. This means the reports will be delivered regularly, following a set schedule, to the email addresses you have listed as recipients. Moreover, this report will be generated on the set schedule within the Reporting Center in Emperor as well, and remain visible to the teams you have selected.
To turn on the scheduling feature, click the Enable scheduling switch.
When you enable scheduling, the fields for these settings will become available: Start date, End date, and Frequency. Enter the Start date and End date manually, by typing the numbers in a set format within the textboxes, or click the calendar icon to open a visual calendar and find and select the dates you want.
When it comes to frequency, Emperor allows three options:
- Daily
- Weekly on Monday
- First day of the month (monthly).
Select the desired tempo from a Frequency dropdown menu.
If you don’t enable scheduling, the report will go out when you click the Send button in the bottom right corner.
If you create a report on a schedule, you will be able to save the scheduled report by clicking the Save button in the bottom right corner.
But, if you wish to schedule a report and send it in the set moment as well, you can do that by clicking the Send this as a one-time report as well switch at the bottom of the Scheduling details setting section.
When enabling this switch, the purple action button in the bottom right corner will become Save & send, helping you create a one-time report and use the same report to schedule reporting till the end of time.
Of course, if your report is not ready or you are not satisfied with the report you’ve made, you can always hit the Cancel button in the bottom right corner and the report will be deleted. However, in case you click this button by mistake, a dialogue box will open asking you to confirm if you are sure you want to leave the report without saving the changes you have made thus far.
