Custom Dimensions (New)

Overview

Custom dimensions let you create your own groupings and categories from existing data in your Branch widgets. By defining conditional logic, you can combine values from one or more columns into meaningful groups that reflect how your team thinks about your data.

You create custom dimensions at the widget level. They're especially useful when the default columns available in your data source don't capture the exact breakdown you need. For example, you can group creative IDs from different ad partners into a single category, or bucket campaigns by theme regardless of naming conventions.

To learn more about Analysis dashboards, widgets, and data sources, read our Dashboards Overview and Analysis Data Sources Reference articles.

Attention

Branch's new experience is rolling out in phases, so your interface may differ. This article covers the Analysis page in the new experience. To learn more, see New Branch Overview.

Key terms

The following terms are used throughout this guide.

Types of custom dimensions

There are two types of custom dimensions you can create in Analysis: column sets and query sets. You create both from within the widget editor.

Column sets

A column set groups values from a single column into custom categories. This is the simplest type of custom dimension and is ideal when you want to re-label or consolidate values within one field.

For example, you could use the "Branch Channel" column and create a group for paid channels and a separate group for organic channels.

Query sets

A query set groups data using conditions across multiple columns. This is more powerful than a column set and is useful when your grouping logic depends on more than one dimension.

For example, you could select "OS," "Feature," and "Campaign Name" as your base query, then create a group where "OS" = Android, "Feature" = paid advertising, and "Campaign Name" = spring_solstice.

Create a custom dimension

To create a custom dimension:

1. Navigate to the dashboard containing the widget you want to add a custom dimension to.

2. Create a new widget or edit an existing one.

3. Select + Add.

4. Select Column set or Query set depending on your needs.

5. For a column set, select the base column you want to group values from. For a query set, select all the columns your conditions will reference.

6. Under Columns, give the default group a descriptive name that reflects the values it contains. Or select + Add group to add a new one.

7. Define the group by selecting or entering the values (for column sets) or the conditions (for query sets) that should be included.

8. Add more groups as needed by repeating steps 6–7.

9. Optionally, create a final group to capture all remaining values that don't match your other groups (for example, "Other" or "Miscellaneous").

10. Name the custom dimension under Set name.

11. Optionally, add a note describing its purpose under Set description.

12. Select Go to run the data for your widget.

13. Select Pin to save the widget to your dashboard.

Edit a custom dimension

To edit an existing custom dimension:

1. Navigate to the dashboard containing the widget with the custom dimension you want to edit.

2. Hover over the widget and select the three-dot icon that appears.

3. Select Edit.

4. In the Columns section, expand Sets and find your custom dimension.

5. Select the custom dimension to open its configuration. From here, you can add, remove, or rename groups, and update the values or conditions within each group.

6. When you're finished, select Go to refresh the data, then select Save.

Delete a custom dimension

To delete a custom dimension:

1. Navigate to the dashboard containing the widget with the custom dimension.

2. Hover over the widget and select the three-dot icon, then select Edit.

3. In the Columns section, expand Sets and find the custom dimension you want to delete.

4. Hover over the custom dimension and select the X icon to remove it.

5. Select Save to confirm your changes.

Use cases

Custom dimensions are flexible and support a wide range of reporting scenarios. Below are common use cases to help you get started.

Creative-level reporting

One of the most impactful uses of custom dimensions is creative-level reporting. Marketers frequently run the same creative asset across multiple ad partners, but each partner assigns its own creative ID and may store different creative names. This makes it difficult to answer a simple question: how is this specific creative performing across all my campaigns?

Custom dimensions solve this by letting you define groups that map different creative IDs back to a single creative concept.

The problem

Imagine you're running the same ad image across three ad partners. Each partner generates a unique creative ID when you upload the asset, and your team may have used slightly different naming conventions for the creative name across each platform.

Without custom dimensions, you'd need to manually look up and add together the performance metrics for each of these separate entries. With dozens of creatives and partners, this becomes impractical.

The solution

Using a column set based on the "Creative ID" column, you can group all the IDs that correspond to the same visual creative into a single category. To do this:

1. Create or edit a widget.

2. Select + Add and select Column set and choose "Creative ID" as the base column.

3. Create a group (for example, "3-Day Trial Red Creative") and select all the creative IDs from different ad partners that correspond to that creative.

4. Repeat for each creative you want to track.

5. Optionally, add a catch-all group called "Other Creatives" for everything else.

6. Name the custom dimension (for example, "My Creative Sets") and select Go.

7. Add a measure like "Clicks," "Installs," or "Revenue" alongside your new custom dimension to see aggregated performance by creative.

Your widget now displays a single row per creative group with the combined metrics from all matching IDs, regardless of which ad partner they came from. This gives you the unified view you need to compare creative performance and make optimization decisions.

Channel grouping

Use a column set based on "Branch Channel" to group your channels into high-level categories like "Paid" and "Organic." This simplifies reporting when you want to compare paid versus organic performance at a glance without drilling into individual channels.

Campaign theming

Use a query set to group campaigns by theme or initiative. For example, create a group that captures all campaigns where "Campaign Name" contains "spring" and "Feature" is "paid advertising," and another group for "summer" campaigns. This lets you compare seasonal performance across ad partners and channels.

Platform-specific reporting

Use a query set that combines "OS" and "Feature" conditions to create groups like "Android Paid," "Android Organic," "iOS Paid," and "iOS Organic." This is useful for understanding how platform and acquisition source interact in driving performance.

Best practices

• Use descriptive names: Name your custom dimensions and groups clearly so that teammates can understand the logic without needing to inspect the configuration.

• Add notes: When creating a custom dimension, use the notes field to document what it tracks and why. For example: "Tracking Q1 creative performance across Moloco, Snap, and Facebook."

• Include a catch-all group: Adding an "Other" or "Miscellaneous" group ensures all data is accounted for and avoids missing values in your widget.

• Keep groupings updated: When you onboard a new ad partner or launch a new campaign, remember to update your custom dimensions with the new IDs or values.

• Start simple: Begin with column sets for straightforward groupings. Move to query sets only when your logic requires conditions across multiple columns.

FAQ