Facebook Ads Transformation dbt Package (Docs)

Union multiple connectors

If you have multiple facebook_ads connectors in Fivetran and would like to use this package on all of them simultaneously, we have provided functionality to do so. The package will union all of the data together and pass the unioned table into the transformations. You will be able to see which source it came from in the source_relation column of each model. To use this functionality, you will need to set either the facebook_ads_union_schemas OR facebook_ads_union_databases variables (cannot do both) in your root dbt_project.yml file:

vars:
    facebook_ads_union_schemas: ['facebook_ads_usa','facebook_ads_canada'] # use this if the data is in different schemas/datasets of the same database/project
    facebook_ads_union_databases: ['facebook_ads_usa','facebook_ads_canada'] # use this if the data is in different databases/projects but uses the same schema name

NOTE: The native source.yml connection set up in the package will not function when the union schema/database feature is utilized. Although the data will be correctly combined, you will not observe the sources linked to the package models in the Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG). This happens because the package includes only one defined source.yml.

To connect your multiple schema/database sources to the package models, follow the steps outlined in the Union Data Defined Sources Configuration section of the Fivetran Utils documentation for the union_data macro. This will ensure a proper configuration and correct visualization of connections in the DAG.

Passing Through Additional Metrics

By default, this package will select clicks, impressions, cost, conversion, and conversion value (using the default attribution window) from the source reporting tables (BASIC_AD, BASIC_AD_ACTIONS, and BASIC_AD_ACTION_VALUES) to store into the output models. If you would like to pass through additional metrics to the output models, add the below configurations to your dbt_project.yml file. These variables allow for the pass-through fields to be aliased (alias) and transformed (transform_sql) if desired, but not required. Only the name of each metric field is required. Use the below format for declaring the respective pass-through variables:

Note Please ensure you exercised due diligence when adding metrics to these models. The metrics added by default (taps, impressions, spend, and default-attribution window conversion values) have been vetted by the Fivetran team maintaining this package for accuracy. There are metrics included within the source reports, for example metric averages, which may be inaccurately represented at the grain for reports created in this package. You will want to ensure whichever metrics you pass through are indeed appropriate to aggregate at the respective reporting levels provided in this package.

vars:
    facebook_ads__basic_ad_passthrough_metrics: # add metrics found in BASIC_AD
      - name: "new_custom_field"
        alias: "custom_field_alias"
        transform_sql: "coalesce(custom_field_alias, 0)" # reference the `alias` here if you are using one (otherwise the `name`)
      - name: "another_one"
        transform_sql: "coalesce(another_one, 0)"
      - name: "cpc"
    facebook_ads__basic_ad_actions_passthrough_metrics: # add conversion metrics found in BASIC_AD_ACTIONS
      - name: "_7_d_click"
        alias: "conversion_value_7d_click"
      - name: "_1_d_view"
    facebook_ads__basic_ad_action_values_passthrough_metrics: # add conversion metrics found in BASIC_AD_ACTION_VALUES
      - name: "_7_d_click"
        alias: "conversion_value_7d_click"
      - name: "_1_d_view"

Configuring Conversion Action Types

By default, this package considers the following kinds of custom, purchase, and lead action_types to be conversions and pivots their metrics (raw event frequencies and monetary values) as columns in each *_report end model:

These metrics will also be summed together into conversions and conversions_value fields in each *_report end model.

However, you may choose your own action_types to consider as conversions. To do so, provide each action type to the below facebook_ads__conversion_action_types variable. For each action type, provide either an exact name OR a consistent pattern of naming convention. You may also provide an optional where_sql argument for each action type, in case you would like to dynamically choose conversion actions based on other columns (ie source_relation if you are running the package on multiple advertisers' datasets).

# dbt_project.yml
vars:
  facebook_ads__conversion_action_types: # case-insensitive
    - name: exact_conversion_action_type_name # will grab `basic_ad_actions` and `basic_ad_action_values` records where action_type = 'exact_conversion_action_type_name'
    - pattern: onsite_conversion% # will grab all `onsite_conversion%` records
    - name: offsite_conversion.custom.my_custom_conversion_123
    - name: very_specific_conversion_action
      where_sql: source_relation = 'specific advertiser source' # will grab `basic_ad_actions` and `basic_ad_action_values` records where (action_type = very_specific_conversion_action and {{ where_sql }})
    - pattern: subscribe%
      where_sql: source_relation = 'advertiser who only cares about subscriptions' # will grab `basic_ad_actions` and `basic_ad_action_values` records where (action_type like 'subscribe%' and {{ where_sql }})

Note: Please ensure to exercise due diligence when adding or removing conversion action types. The action types added by default have been heavily vetted by our friends at Seer Interactive and the Fivetran team maintaining this package for accuracy. There are many ways to accidentally double-count conversion values, as some action types are hierarchical/aggregates or overlap with others. Reference the action type descriptions in the Meta API docs to ensure you select action types that appropriately and accurately fit your use case.

Change the build schema

By default, this package builds the Facebook Ads staging models (8 views, 8 tables) within a schema titled (<target_schema> + _facebook_ads_source) and your Facebook Ads modeling models (6 tables, 2 intermediate views) within a schema titled (<target_schema> + _facebook_ads) in your destination. If this is not where you would like your Facebook Ads data to be written to, add the following configuration to your root dbt_project.yml file:

models:
    facebook_ads_source:
      +schema: my_new_schema_name # leave blank for just the target_schema
    facebook_ads:
      +schema: my_new_schema_name # leave blank for just the target_schema

Change the source table references

If an individual source table has a different name than the package expects, add the table name as it appears in your destination to the respective variable. This is not available when running the package on multiple unioned connectors.

IMPORTANT: See this project's dbt_project.yml variable declarations to see the expected names.

vars:
    facebook_ads_<default_source_table_name>_identifier: your_table_name 

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