Top 10 Google Sheets Features for Marketing (Including Tips + Tricks)

Have you ever taken a moment to think about the many types of metrics that affiliate media buyers handle every day? These marketing professionals have to track click-through rates, ad spend, conversions, returns on investment, and a host of other statistics, so keeping them organized and up to date can be a challenge.

By using Sheets, media buyers can organize all their marketing campaigns in one place. And although Microsoft Excel paved the way for modern spreadsheets, Google Sheets has become one of the leading alternatives because it is a free, cloud-based platform built for collaboration.
Besides keeping your campaigns organized, Google Sheets functions can help you automate and simplify certain processes involved in affiliate media buying. However, as with all affiliate tools, you need to learn which Google Sheets functions are most essential so you can start enjoying their benefits right away.
Let’s explore the benefits of using Google Sheets and the top 10 spreadsheet functions that all affiliate media buyers need to know.

What Are the Benefits of Using Google Sheets for Marketing?

Before diving into the most important functions in Google Sheets, it is important to discuss the benefits of using this tool to manage your campaigns.
First, you should know that Google Sheets is extremely versatile. Although it is not as powerful as Microsoft Excel, this cloud-based tool can be used for a wide variety of applications. Moreover, many Google Sheets functions can be combined to automate complex calculations and give you more time to focus on other areas of your campaigns. So, if you dedicate a substantial amount of time to learning and practicing, you will discover hundreds of different applications.

With the above in mind, the most common uses of Google Sheets in affiliate media buying include:

Project Management

Working with several offers across different networks while running hundreds of ads can require meticulous attention to detail. To make the process easier, Google Sheets can serve as a project management tool that lets you estimate the time needed to achieve your goals.

Many media buyers use a Gantt-style layout to help them visualize the steps they need to take to build their campaigns. The first column should contain the project name, the second should detail the steps to take, and the following columns should show the ideal time frames for completing everything.

Google Sheets allows you to keep multiple sheets in a single file, so you can have an overall organizer as well as versions dedicated to each campaign.

Offer or Traffic Source Database

The affiliate media buying ecosystem is complex even on a good day, especially when you consider the number of offers you may have to track. Google Sheets can serve as an offer database that acts as a customer relationship management (CRM) tool for media buyers who need to keep records of the affiliate programs or traffic sources they work with.

Depending on how sophisticated you want your CRM to be, you can include company names, revenue generated, conversion rates, date ranges, and other statistics that help you assess your campaigns’ performance.

Performing Custom Calculations

Every affiliate media buyer is different. The combination of traffic sources, affiliate programs, budgets, and other resources is unique to each marketing professional. However, Google Sheets is the perfect addition to your toolkit because you can set it up to perform automatic custom calculations based on the information you upload.

The 10 Best Google Sheets Functions for Marketing

Spreadsheets are so deeply embedded in online marketing that many affiliate tools allow you to export documents in Excel format. As a result, having a basic understanding of how Google Sheets works will allow you to create more efficient workflows and speed up data analysis.

Remember that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of functions in Google Sheets; you can browse Google’s list here.

Below, we will look at the top 10 Google Sheets functions to cover everything affiliate media buyers need to know.

1. Growth

Analyzing historical performance and making predictions are important parts of the media buying process. The Growth function in Google Sheets allows you to do both, as it uses performance data to predict exponential growth trends over a specific period.

Function:

• = GROWTH (known_data_y, [known_data_x], [new_data_x], [b])

2. Substitute

As the name suggests, this function allows you to replace existing content with new text throughout your spreadsheet. This is especially useful if you want to use the same ad copy for two brands that manufacture the same product.

Function:

• = SUBSTITUTE (text_to_search, search_for, Replace_with, [wipe_number])

3. Split

If you are copying a list of keywords from a document into your spreadsheet, separating them into individual cells can take a lot of time. With the Split function, you can separate these values instantly and ensure that each occupies its own space.

Function:

• = SPLIT (text, delimiter, [split_by_each])

4. Vlookup

The Vlookup function allows media buyers to search their spreadsheets for specific information and transfer it to another set of rows or columns. This is especially useful if you have a large collection of traffic sources that you want to evaluate. Simply use Vlookup to identify traffic sources with conversion rates below your overall average, allowing you to easily identify top performers.

Function:

• = VLOOKUP (search_key, range, index, [is_sorted]).

5. Concatenate

The Concatenate function is relatively simple, as it allows you to combine multiple values found in different cells into one area. For example, you might want to link a traffic source’s name with the total cost of running a campaign on that platform and the revenue generated within a specific time frame.

Function:

• = CONCATENATE (Value1, “”, Value2)

6. Countif

The average media buyer spends an unreasonable amount of time performing overly simple tasks such as counting cells in Google Sheets. Fortunately, the Countif function allows you to count the number of cells that meet a specific requirement. For example, you can count blank cells in a row, cells containing values above or below a specific amount, and set other custom conditions that must be met for a cell to be counted.

Function:

• = COUNTIF (range, criterion)

7. Find

All web browsers allow you to find a specific word or phrase in Google Sheets, but this feature is neither case-sensitive nor flexible. The Find function, on the other hand, can help you locate phrases and words using case-sensitive search terms.

Function:

• FIND (search_for, text_to_search, [started_at])

8. Average

Needless to say, all types of marketers need to calculate various averages. Whether for ROI or other types of calculations, the Average function can help you determine the arithmetic mean of a specific range.

Function:

• = AVERAGE (range)

9. Sum

When it comes to simple calculations, adding values may be the most basic of all. However, this process can become tedious if you have to count hundreds of rows. Instead, you can use Google Sheets to add your values with the Sum function.

Function:

• = SUM (range)

10. Dcounta

Finally, Dcounta is similar to the Countif function in that it allows you to determine the number of cells in a field. The main difference is that the Dcounta function counts columns containing values, but it can also be adjusted to include only cells with specific characteristics.

Function:

• = DCOUNTA (database, field, criteria)

Google Sheets Tips and Tricks

In this section, you will find additional tips and tricks to help you improve your marketing activities with Google Sheets.

Creating Pivot Tables

Simply put, a pivot table contains a summary of the information found in a larger, more complex table. Pivot tables can help you sort, rearrange, group, count, or perform advanced calculations using values found in a more complex chart to improve the usability of your data.

Google Sheets allows you to create complex pivot tables in a few simple steps. In the navigation menu, simply click “Data” and then select the option labeled “Pivot table”. You can then choose the number of rows, columns, and values they will contain, as well as make changes to how the data is used.

Finding the Best Templates

You will certainly have to create some of the complex Google Sheets functions you use from scratch. With that in mind, the internet is a wonderful place filled with almost every resource you need, including Google Sheets templates commonly used in affiliate media buying and online marketing in general.

If you want to find the best templates at no cost, you should check out:

• Template Gallery
• Hubspot’s Marketing Spreadsheet
• Buffer

Awesome

As you may have gathered from the previous section, there are many different add-ons you can use to enhance Google Sheets’ functionality. You will need to browse the Chrome Web Store to see the full list of Google Sheets add-ons, but some of our favorites include:

• AdStage - Import information from your PPC platforms into Google
• Smartsheet - A list of marketing templates for Google Sheets
• SuperMetrics - A powerful reporting solution for SEO, social media, and paid campaigns
• Clearbit Sheets - Quickly build lists for email marketing and lead qualification
• DataEverywhere - Share and collaborate on spreadsheets across Excel, Google Sheets, and other platforms without importing or exporting files

Conclusion

Google Sheets is one of the many tools at your disposal to help you create better campaigns and manage your time more effectively. The list of Google Sheets functions we discussed above will help you automate different parts of your campaigns and make the optimization process more efficient. 

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