Creating Your First Report
Let's build your first report: Meta Ads data for the last 7 days with key metrics.
Prerequisites
Make sure:
- Meta Ads is connected and active in the Integrations section
- You're on the LightLead home screen
Step 1: Open the Builder
- Click Create Report on the home screen or go to Reports → New Report
- Enter a report name, e.g.: "My Weekly Ad Spend"
Step 2: Choose a Data Source
- In the Data Sources block, click Add
- Select Meta Ads from the list
- Choose your ad account
Step 3: Set the Period
- In the Period block, select Last 7 days
- Make sure the timezone matches yours
Step 4: Choose a Dimension
- In the Rows block, select the Campaign entity
- This means each row of the report will correspond to one campaign
Step 5: Choose Metrics
Add the following metrics:
- Spend — how much was spent
- Impressions — how many times ads were shown
- Clicks — how many clicks were received
- Leads (if available for your campaigns)
Step 6: Select Write Mode
- In the Output block, select Replace mode
- This means data will be fully refreshed on each run
Step 7: Run the Report
- Click Save and Run
- LightLead starts pulling data from the Meta Ads API
- Status changes to "Running," then "Completed"
How to verify
- A new sheet with the report name appears in your Google Sheet
- Data should be structured: columns Campaign, Spend, Impressions, Clicks
- The Spend total should match what you see in Meta Ads Manager
Common Issues
Report completed but no data
- Make sure there were impressions/clicks during the selected period
- Check that the correct ad account is selected
- Try a longer period (last 30 days)
Data doesn't match Meta Ads Manager
- The Meta Ads API updates with a delay of up to several hours
- Timezones may differ — check your timezone setting
- Some metrics are calculated differently in the API vs. the interface (see Meta Ads Data Differences)