What is Data Blending in Data Studio?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Data Blending is the ability to \u2018blend\u2019 or \u2018combine\u2019 multiple data sources into one single chart or graph in Data Studio. A common use case you may be familiar with is having multiple Google Analytics Views setup for your website. You may have a Desktop and Mobile only GA View and you would like to see that data combined into one singular graph so you can easily consume both data sets rather than having multiple visuals from both sources in the same report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In order to blend multiple sources together each data source must contain a \u201cjoin key\u201d which is a commonly shared dimension amongst both data sets. Data Studio will try and automatically detect a join key for you and if it is unable to detect a join key you will see that the join key says \u201cMissing\u201d in the Data Blend Panel, but you can manually change if needed. And do note that all blends in Data Studio are left outer joins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also note that when creating blends you have to manually set up which dimensions and metrics you would like from each source, it does not join the entire data sources as a whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do I Blend Data in Data Studio?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
There are currently a few different ways to go about blending data and depending on your needs one may be easier than the others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Option 1 \u2013 Manage Blended Data<\/h3>\n\n\n\nStep 1 \u2013 Create New Data Blend<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
What may be the most familiar option when managing data sources is to use the \u201cResource\u201d menu from the top of your Data Studio report to access the new feature \u201cManage blended data\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From this new screen you will be able to setup a new blend (which is currently labeled as \u201cData View\u201d) by clicking on \u201cADD A DATA VIEW\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n You will be taken to a new screen where you will setup your blend by choosing multiple data sources from either existing sources added to the report or by adding new data sources. Simply choose your first data source to start your blend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When setting up your blend you need to specify exactly which metrics and dimensions you would like to have. This does not blend the entire data sources together. To choose your metrics and dimensions, start dragging them from the list of \u201cAvailable Fields\u201d to the \u201cFields to include in data source\u201d. Very similar to the drag and drop functionality when editing a visualization in your Data panes today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n *Note that since all blends are left outer joins, depending on what data you are joining can dictate which data source you setup first as it will be the \u2018left\u2019 data source of the join. You can also change this later if need be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you have added your metrics and dimensions for your primary left data source you can then select \u201cADD ANOTHER DATA SOURCE\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n After adding your secondary data source you will need to follow the same steps by adding your dimensions and metrics needed by dragging from right to left for this new source. You\u2019ll also see that a new option is available to dictate what your join key is. Data Studio will try to automatically choose the best join key for you, but you do have the option to manually edit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The right hand side of the \u201cBlend Data\u201d screen will allow you to name your blended data source, preview your dimensions and metrics, and allow you to save. If it all looks good, click save and create your first blended data source!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now that you have your new blended data source you can create a visualization like normal and choose this new blend from the Data Pane when selecting your source.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In our case we created 3 tables that contain Sessions for the months of January \u2013 June from three Google Analytics Views: Desktop View, Mobile View, and Tablet View. This is something common you may have in existing reports if you\u2019ve ever tried to show data from multiple Google Analytics Views at once. Now we can combine them into one single table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In our case since we combined three tables that all contained the metric \u201cSessions\u201d our resulting table has three columns all labeled \u201cSessions\u201d and we now need to relabel them to make sense of the Table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In typical Data Studio fashion there are several ways to go about this. You could simply select the blended visual and rename the metrics from the right hand \u201cData Pane\u201d, we could select the visual and choose to edit the blended data source and relabel each metric from here, or even access this same window by going to Resource > Manage blended data > Edit Your Blend. But honestly it\u2019s probably easiest to just select your visual and rename your metrics from the \u201cData Pane\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Say you have an existing report with some tables that you\u2019re just dying to add some additional data to. In this case you can select your visual and in the \u201cData Source\u201d section of the \u201cData Pane\u201d you can click on \u201cBLEND DATA\u201d which will take you to the \u201cBlend Data\u201d window seen in the previous steps where you can then setup your blend the exact same way. Note that after clicking Save on this new blend, your visual will automatically update and start using the blend as the data source.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you have created your data blends you do have several edit options on the blend itself. By clicking on your blended visual and then clicking on the Pencil\/Edit icon next to your blended data source you can bring up a new Blend Data Panel at the bottom of your screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This screen will look pretty familiar as it mirrors pretty closely the Data Pane you may already be familiar with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019ve previously talked about the need for companies to be able to track and blend Salesforce and Google Analytics data together<\/p>\n\n\n\n In our example we discuss how to capture the Google Analytics Visitor ID directly in Salesforce to provide a deeper analysis on your customer\u2019s journey through your website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using the new Data Studio Blending feature you can easily take an export from Salesforce and blend it with your Google Analytics Visitor ID!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The long wait is finally over and data blending is now available in Data Studio. The possibilities are endless and hopefully this makes everyone\u2019s analysis in Data Studio that much better!<\/p>\n\n\n\n This post was originally written by Data blending is now available in Data Studio! One of the most heavily requested features just launched and truly enhances the power of Data Studio that much more. Have you ever wanted to combine multiple Google Analytics Views or join Google Analytics with Salesforce data directly in Data Studio? The power of data blending is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6348,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_eb_attr":"","content-type":"","ub_ctt_via":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[201,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-g4","category-data-studio"],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/e-cens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/data-blending-thumb.png","author_info":{"display_name":"Bashar Hafez","author_link":"https:\/\/e-cens.com\/author\/bashar\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/e-cens.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/e-cens.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/e-cens.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e-cens.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e-cens.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/e-cens.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1019\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e-cens.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/e-cens.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e-cens.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e-cens.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Data](\"https:\/\/www.cardinalpath.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/data-blending1.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n![\"Data](\"https:\/\/e-cens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/data-blending2.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nStep 2 \u2013 Add Multiple data sources<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Step 3 \u2013 Add Dimensions, Metrics and additional data sources<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.e-nor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/data-blending4.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nStep 4 \u2013 Review your Blend and Save<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Step 5 \u2013 Create Visualizations with your Data Blend<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Option 2 \u2013 Blending Multiple Existing Visualizations<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Step 1 \u2013 Create two or more visualizations that are identical to each other but use different data sources<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Step 2 \u2013 Shift Select your visualizations and then Right Click and choose the \u201cBlend Data\u201d option at the bottom and a new single blended table will be created.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Step 3 \u2013 Edit Blended Visualization if Needed<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Option 3 \u2013 Blend to an Existing Visualization<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Example Data Studio Report<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How to Edit Your Data Blends<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Example Data Studio Report \u2013 Blending Google Analytics and Salesforce<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n![\"Mike](\"https:\/\/e-cens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/5cfef9e761c74abf36efafcfa7e57a6c.jpeg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Mike Anderson<\/strong>
Data Visualization & Reporting Architect, e-nor<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"