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Marketing Spend Entry SOP

How to enter marketing expenses in Litify (Monthly Marketing Spend object) so the Marketing Center reports stay accurate. Follow this every time a marketing invoice is recorded.

Required fields on every spend record

Field Rule
Source The marketing source the spend belongs to. Use the existing Source picklist. Lexington and Louisville LSA are separate — never combine them.
Spend The dollar amount for that line item (one network/vendor/month per record where possible).
Start Date The month the spend applies to (use the first of the month). Reporting buckets by this date.
Spend Type Pick one of the four standard types below. This is mandatory.
Spend Category Currently unused — start populating (see below).
Description Network/vendor + month, e.g. WDRB Ad Buy March 2026. Broadcast reporting parses the network from this field, so keep the network name first.

Spend Type — what counts as what

  • Advertising — paid media that buys impressions/clicks/airtime. TV/radio/OTT ad buys, Google Ads, LSA, billboards, social ads, print. This is "ad spend."
  • Sponsorship — brand placements that aren't direct response: event sponsorships, weather sponsorships, jersey/venue deals, charity placements.
  • Production Cost — creative/production: video production, creative design, photography, ad creative.
  • Management Fee — agency retainers, agency commissions, platform management fees, agency agency fees.

If a single invoice mixes types (e.g., a TV buy + an agency fee), split it into separate records so each type is clean.

Spend Category — start using this field

The Spend Category field is currently empty on every record, which blocks category-level reporting. Going forward, set it to the channel family:

  • Broadcast (TV, OTT/CTV, radio)
  • Digital (Google Ads, LSA, SEO, social, OTT-digital)
  • Out of Home (billboards, bus, signage)
  • Print (newspaper, magazine)
  • Sponsorship/Events
  • Production (creative/video)
  • Agency (management/agency fees)

Why it matters

Every number on the Marketing Center dashboard — total spend vs. ad spend, spend by source, by month, by network, and cost-per-signed-case — is derived from these fields. Inconsistent entry (missing Spend Type, combined Lexington/Louisville, blank Category, or networks not named in the Description) silently breaks the reports.

Known data-quality items to fix

  • Sponsorship attribution: Sponsorship spend shows zero attributed signed cases due to a source-label mismatch between Monthly_Marketing_Spend.Source and Matter.Source. Align the labels.
  • Spend Category: backfill historical records where feasible.