Master improve in 2026: Marketers’ Setup Guide

Mastering your marketing strategy in 2026 demands precision, and knowing how to get started with improve can be the differentiator you need to dominate the digital landscape. I’ve seen firsthand how this platform transforms raw data into actionable insights, but only when you set it up correctly from day one. Ready to turn data chaos into clarity?

Setting Up Your improve Account: The Foundation for Insight

Look, I’ve seen too many marketers jump straight into dashboards, hoping for magic. That’s a recipe for garbage in, garbage out. The real power of improve lies in its foundational setup. We’re talking about ensuring every piece of data is connected, clean, and ready to tell a story.

1. Initial Account Creation and Team Onboarding

First things first, get your improve account established. Navigate to app.improve.com/signup. You’ll enter your company details, primary contact information, and choose your subscription tier. I always advocate for the ‘Enterprise’ tier if you’re serious about attribution and advanced analytics – the ‘Pro’ tier often hits a wall on custom model complexity for larger organizations. Once your account is live, head to the main dashboard.

1. Invite Your Team: On the left-hand navigation pane, find ‘Settings’ (it’s the gear icon). Click on it, then select ‘User Management’. Here, you can invite team members by email address and assign roles. For example, your paid media specialists should have ‘Analyst’ access, while department heads might need ‘Admin’ privileges to create new dashboards or manage integrations. We found that giving everyone ‘Admin’ access initially led to a chaotic mess of duplicated dashboards and conflicting report configurations at one of my previous firms; clear roles are non-negotiable.
2. Configure Basic Account Settings: While still in ‘Settings’, click ‘Account Preferences’. Set your default currency, time zone, and primary reporting period. This might seem trivial, but inconsistent time zones between your ad platforms and improve will give you headaches trying to reconcile spend and conversions. I’ve spent hours debugging reports because a client had their Google Ads account on PST and improve on EST – a preventable error.

Pro Tip: Before inviting anyone, define your team’s access levels based on their reporting needs and data manipulation responsibilities. This prevents accidental deletions or misconfigurations later on. Think of it like setting up user permissions in a CRM – crucial.

Common Mistake: Neglecting to set a consistent time zone across all integrated platforms. Always double-check this, especially for global teams.

Expected Outcome: A fully operational improve account with your core team members onboarded and basic account settings aligned with your organization’s operational standards.

2. Connecting Your Data Sources: The Lifeblood of improve

This is where the magic (and the heavy lifting) begins. improve is only as good as the data you feed it. We need to connect all your marketing and sales data sources. I’m talking about your ad platforms, CRM, web analytics, and even email marketing tools.

1. Integrate Advertising Platforms

From the improve main dashboard, locate ‘Data Connectors’ in the left-hand navigation (it’s usually represented by a plug icon). Click on it. You’ll see a list of available integrations.

1. Google Ads: Select ‘Google Ads’. Click ‘Connect’. You’ll be prompted to log into your Google account and grant improve the necessary permissions. Ensure you select the correct Google Ads Manager Account (MCC) or individual accounts you wish to pull data from. It’s vital to connect at the MCC level if you manage multiple ad accounts, otherwise, you’ll be connecting each one individually, which is inefficient and prone to errors.
2. Meta Ads (Facebook/Instagram): Choose ‘Meta Ads’. Click ‘Connect’. Log into your Meta account and grant access to your Business Manager and ad accounts. Make sure you select all relevant ad accounts, especially if you run campaigns for different brands or regions under one Business Manager.
3. Other Platforms: Repeat this process for any other platforms you use: LinkedIn Ads, Pinterest Ads, TikTok Ads, etc. improve has direct connectors for most major platforms.

2. Connect Web Analytics & CRM

1. Google Analytics 4 (GA4): Back in ‘Data Connectors’, find ‘Google Analytics 4’. Click ‘Connect’, log in, and select the specific GA4 properties you want to link. This is critical for understanding on-site behavior and conversion events.
2. CRM Integration (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot): If you use a CRM like Salesforce or HubSpot, find its connector. These integrations are paramount for closing the loop between marketing touchpoints and actual sales outcomes. For Salesforce, you’ll typically need to provide your API credentials and specify which objects (Leads, Opportunities, Accounts) and fields you want improve to sync. I strongly recommend syncing at least ‘Lead Status’, ‘Opportunity Stage’, and ‘Revenue’ fields. Without this, your marketing ROI calculations will be incomplete, relying solely on front-end conversions.

Pro Tip: Always verify that data is flowing correctly after each integration. improve usually provides a ‘Connection Status’ or ‘Last Sync’ timestamp. If you see any errors, consult the platform’s documentation or support. Don’t assume it’s working!

Common Mistake: Not connecting all relevant ad accounts or sub-properties within a platform. This leads to incomplete data sets and skewed performance metrics.

Expected Outcome: All your primary marketing and sales data sources are actively syncing with improve, providing a unified data stream for analysis.

3. Configuring Attribution Models: Beyond Last-Click

This is where improve truly shines, moving you past the simplistic (and often misleading) last-click attribution. As a marketer, I can tell you, relying solely on last-click is like giving all credit for a touchdown to the person who carried the ball over the line, ignoring the entire offensive line and quarterback. It’s just wrong.

1. Accessing Attribution Settings

In the left-hand navigation, click on ‘Attribution Settings’ (often depicted as a chain link icon or a funnel). You’ll see a list of default models and the option to create custom ones.

1. Review Default Models: improve provides standard models like ‘Last-Click’, ‘First-Click’, ‘Linear’, ‘Time Decay’, and ‘Position-Based’. These are good starting points, but rarely sufficient for complex customer journeys.
2. Create a Custom Model: Click ‘+ New Custom Model’. This is where you define how credit is distributed across touchpoints. For B2B, I almost always start with a ‘U-shaped’ or ‘W-shaped’ model, giving more weight to the first touch, last touch, and key mid-journey interactions (like a demo request or whitepaper download). You can drag and drop touchpoint types (e.g., ‘Paid Search’, ‘Organic Social’, ‘Email’) and assign percentage weights or define rules based on interaction type. For instance, you might assign 30% to the ‘First Touch’, 30% to the ‘Last Touch’, and distribute the remaining 40% based on engagement type or position in the funnel.
3. Define Conversion Events: Within ‘Attribution Settings’, ensure your key conversion events are correctly mapped. These are the actions you want to attribute value to – form submissions, purchases, demo requests, etc. improve will pull these from your GA4 and CRM integrations. Double-check that events like ‘purchase’ or ‘lead_submission’ are accurately recognized.

Pro Tip: Don’t just pick a model and forget it. I recommend A/B testing different custom attribution models against your business goals. Run a ‘Linear’ model next to your custom ‘W-shaped’ model for a quarter and compare the insights. You’ll be surprised how different the channel performance looks. According to a HubSpot report, companies using advanced attribution models see a 30% improvement in marketing ROI compared to those sticking to last-click. That’s not a small number!

Common Mistake: Sticking to default last-click attribution. This undervalues upper-funnel activities and leads to misallocation of budget.

Expected Outcome: A custom attribution model tailored to your customer journey, providing a more accurate understanding of which marketing touchpoints truly contribute to conversions and revenue.

4. Building Your First Dashboard: Visualizing Performance

Now that your data is flowing and your attribution is configured, it’s time to build a dashboard that actually tells you something useful. No more sifting through spreadsheets!

1. Creating a New Dashboard

From the main dashboard, click on ‘Dashboards’ in the left navigation, then ‘+ New Dashboard’. Give it a descriptive name, like “Q3 Paid Media Performance” or “Lead Generation Funnel.”

1. Add Widgets: Click ‘+ Add Widget’. This opens a library of pre-built visualization types.
2. Configure Your First Widget (e.g., Attributed Revenue by Channel): Select a ‘Bar Chart’ or ‘Table’ widget.
• Metric: Choose ‘Attributed Revenue’ (this is where your custom attribution model kicks in!).
• Dimension: Select ‘Marketing Channel’.
• Date Range: Set to ‘Last 30 Days’ or ‘Current Quarter’.
• Attribution Model: Crucially, select your custom attribution model from the dropdown (e.g., ‘My Custom W-Shape Model’). If you don’t select it, it will default to last-click, and that defeats the whole purpose.
3. Add More Widgets: Repeat the process for other key metrics:
• Widget 2: Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) by Campaign: Use a ‘Table’ widget. Metric: ‘Attributed CPA’. Dimension: ‘Campaign Name’.
• Widget 3: Conversion Rate by Landing Page: Use a ‘Line Chart’. Metric: ‘Conversion Rate’. Dimension: ‘Landing Page URL’ (sourced from GA4).
• Widget 4: ROI by Campaign: Use a ‘Table’ widget. Metric: ‘Attributed ROI’. Dimension: ‘Campaign Name’.

Pro Tip: Focus on dashboards that answer specific business questions. Don’t just dump every metric onto one screen. Create separate dashboards for different stakeholders – a high-level overview for executives, a granular campaign performance view for your media buyers. I had a client last year whose executive team was overwhelmed by a single, sprawling dashboard. We broke it down into three focused views: ‘Overall Business Performance’, ‘Marketing Spend Efficiency’, and ‘Sales Pipeline Contribution’. The clarity was immediate.

Common Mistake: Overcrowding dashboards with too many metrics or using irrelevant visualizations. Simplicity and clarity are king.

Expected Outcome: A functional, insightful dashboard that provides a clear, attributed view of your marketing performance, allowing for data-driven decisions.

5. Leveraging improve for Scenario Planning and Forecasting

This is the advanced play – moving beyond just reporting what happened to predicting what could happen. improve’s scenario planning module is a game-changer for budget allocation.

1. Accessing the Scenario Planning Module

In the left-hand navigation, click ‘Scenario Planning’ (it often looks like a crystal ball or a projection icon). You’ll typically start with an empty canvas or a list of previously saved scenarios.

1. Create a New Scenario: Click ‘+ New Scenario’. Give it a name like “Q4 Budget Increase – Paid Search Focus” or “Reduced Social Spend – Impact Analysis.”
2. Define Your Baseline: improve will usually prompt you to select a historical period as your baseline (e.g., ‘Previous Quarter’ or ‘Last 90 Days’). This provides the data your scenario will build upon.
3. Adjust Variables: This is where you play “what if.” improve allows you to:
• Adjust Budget: Increase or decrease spend for specific channels (e.g., increase Google Ads budget by 20%, decrease Meta Ads by 10%).
• Modify Conversion Rates: If you anticipate a new landing page or creative will boost performance, you can manually adjust expected conversion rates for specific campaigns.
• Change CPA/ROAS Targets: Set new targets to see the projected impact on overall revenue.
4. Run the Simulation: Once you’ve set your variables, click ‘Run Simulation’. improve’s AI-driven engine will process the data, applying your custom attribution models, and project the likely outcomes for revenue, conversions, and ROI.

Pro Tip: Don’t just run one scenario. Create multiple “what if” scenarios. What if we shift 15% of our budget from organic social to programmatic display? What if our average order value increases by 5%? Compare these scenarios side-by-side. We ran into this exact issue at my previous firm when planning for a holiday season. Our initial plan was a blanket 20% increase across all channels. After using improve’s scenario planner, we realized a targeted 35% increase in specific high-performing Google Shopping campaigns, combined with a 10% reduction in underperforming display, yielded a projected 15% higher ROI. The insights were undeniable.

Common Mistake: Only using the scenario planner for budget increases. It’s equally powerful for understanding the impact of budget cuts or reallocations.

Expected Outcome: Data-backed projections for future marketing performance under various conditions, enabling proactive, strategic budget decisions rather than reactive adjustments.

Getting started with improve isn’t just about plugging in data; it’s about building a robust, intelligent system that fuels your marketing strategy. By diligently setting up your account, integrating all relevant data, customizing attribution, building focused dashboards, and leveraging scenario planning, you’ll transform your marketing from guesswork into a predictable, high-ROI engine. The upfront effort pays dividends in clarity and confidence. This kind of data-driven approach is essential for 2026 marketing success, allowing you to convert attention to ROI and achieve significant marketing wins.