The Metrics Dashboard holds the numbers you want to check every day. Build a metric once, and Ontraport tracks it for you. Each metric is a snapshot: one number for a set time frame, like new leads this month. The Metrics Dashboard is available on Basic and above.
Click Dashboard in the main navigation, then click the Metrics tab on the left. All your metrics sit together on one grid, and you can drag and drop them to change their order.
Click New metric and give it a name that describes what it measures. That's how you'll spot it on the grid. Then choose the object type: contacts, or one of your custom objects. If you pick a custom object, the contact-specific metric types aren't available.
Next, pick one of seven metric types. Number of contacts who did something counts unique people, like contacts who got a refund on a product. Number of times something happened counts every occurrence, like each submission of your lead magnet form. Average number of times something happened per contact shows how often contacts typically do something, like buying again during a promotion. Conversion rate shows how well something converts, like landing page visitors into buyers. Average time between two things happening measures the time between two events, like Added to database and Purchases product, which gives you your sales cycle. Total value of something across contacts adds up value, like year-to-date revenue. And Average value across contacts shows value per contact, like your average order value.
Two types have an extra setting. For conversion rate, choose Once to count only a contact's first conversion, or Repeating to count every one. For average time, choose Use first occurrence to start from the first time a contact ever did the first event, or Both events must happen in timeframe to include only contacts who did both inside your time frame.
Then pick a trigger. The trigger is what Ontraport counts, and each metric type has its own set.
Conditions are optional. They narrow the data, so the trigger only counts when the condition is met. For example, to see new leads from Canada, choose Number of contacts who did something, the trigger Added to database, and the condition Field is this value, with the Country field set to Canada. Click Add condition to add more, joined by AND, where both must be true, or OR, where either can be.
Last, choose a time frame, like Today, Last 7 days, This month or Year to date, or set a custom date range, and click Save. Last 7 days and Last 30 days end yesterday, and every time frame uses your account's time zone.
To compare periods, like refunds this month against year to date, you don't need to start over. Hover over the metric, click the copy icon, change the time frame on the copy, and put the two side by side.
By default, This week, This month and Year to date include today, so those numbers change during the day. To count only completed days, go to the profile icon, then Administration, Data, Dashboard, and select no.
If a number looks off, check three things. First, timing. Metrics start updating when you visit the dashboard or create or edit a metric. That takes about five minutes for metrics without conditions, about half an hour for metrics with conditions, and about an hour for conversion rate and average time. Second, dates. Ontraport keeps historical data from the beginning of last year, so choose periods that start after that. Third, deleted contacts. Metrics count every contact that existed in the time frame, even ones you've since deleted. To match your sales reports, add the condition Contact still exists.
So: build a metric for every number you check often, refine it with conditions, and copy it to compare time frames. Next up: the Trends Dashboard, where you'll see how your numbers change over time.