RCE and Analytics reporting different numbers

[Robb_Barrett]

Hi there -

I ran a report in RCE for email opens and clicks.  I'm comparing it to a report that I ran in Analytics for email performance and my Delivered and Open numbers are very different.  

Can someone explain the variance and which report I should use?

[Paul_Su2]

I had the same issue a couple months back that I had Marketo Premiere Support do a deeper dive to figure out the reason for this (I believe it's the same issue you are asking about): 

https://community.marketo.com/MarketoDiscussionDetail?id=90650000000Pu5hAAC

[Justin_Norris1]

Yes that's very annoying.

I recall there can be discrepancies for a few reasons -- analytics reports will keep record of activity even if the lead is deleted, whereas smart lists do not.

But that doesn't explain this because smart list is higher.

I would push this one to support and ask them to explain it. (Once you are sure that time filters and other critieria are absolutely identical in all cases).
 

[Robb_Barrett]

Here's an example:

I created a Smart List, an Analytics Report and an RCE report for the same email.

Smart List: 14,651 deliveries
Analytics: 14,039 deliveries
RCE:  14,589 deliveries

Which one do I use and how can I trust any of these reports?

[Robb_Barrett]

I don't think that's it.  Some numbers are higher, some lower.  I ran both reports this morning.  

[Justin_Norris1]

Hey Robb,

One quick explanation is that RCE imports data nightly whereas Analytics will be more up to date.

If that alone does not explain the variance you'd have to dig deeper into the criteria for each report. If you want to post the specs for each we could puzzle it out.

Justin Norris | Perkuto