> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.sourcemedium.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Common Analysis Template

> A reusable structure for running analyses in SourceMedium: define the question, the metric, the grain, and the filters

Use this template when you’re not sure how to structure a question, or when you want to standardize analyses across stakeholders.

## 1) Define the question

Examples:

* “Which cohorts have the highest LTV after 90 days?”
* “Which products are most often purchased together?”
* “Why did ROAS drop week over week?”

## 2) Choose the primary metric

Pick one metric to optimize the analysis around (revenue, orders, CPA, retention rate, etc.). Decide the revenue definition up front (gross vs net).

## 3) Pick a grain and time window

* Grain: day / week / month / customer / order / order line
* Time window: last 30/90 days, QTD, by cohort month, etc.

## 4) Apply the baseline filters

Start with the “clean” baseline and only relax it intentionally:

* `is_order_sm_valid = TRUE` (where applicable)
* Focused channel selection if you’re comparing to a channel-specific source report

## 5) Add one breakdown at a time

Add dimensions one-by-one and validate after each step (channel → platform → campaign → creative).