Comprehensive guide to setting up and using Annotations in Fospha, with specific instructions and best practices.
About Annotations
You can now add annotations to performance over time in Reporting and Optimization, to capture the key business moments that influence your performance.
Why it Matters
We know that there are multiple factors that influence performance.
Product launches, promotions, or seasonal peaks all affect outcomes. Annotations turn Fospha into your context layer for decision-making, combining data with business insight so every performance shift has a story behind it.
You’ll gain:
Sharper insights: Use Annotations to communicate the ‘why’ around shifts in performance
Smarter collaboration: Give Finance, Marketing, and Growth teams shared visibility into key business moments, making analysis easier and decisions more aligned.
How It Works
You can add annotations directly to your performance over-time charts in Reporting and Optimization in a few simple steps:
Navigate to Reporting or Optimization
Click the Annotations icon in the Reporting/Optimization Dashboard, then select Add Annotation.
Categorize the annotation
Select a Type (e.g. Sale, Product Launch or Brand Activation).
Add contextual tags
Market (e.g. UK, US, DE)
Channel (e.g. Meta)
These tags help filter annotations so you only see what matters for your current view.
View your annotations in dashboards
Annotations automatically appear on performance over-time charts and update based on dashboard filters, so you only see the relevant events.
Edit or manage existing annotations
Go to Manage → Annotations to update the type, date, market, or channel at any time.
Types of Annotations
Type | Definition | Use Case | Example |
Brand Activation | Marks brand-building activity that aims to increase awareness or consideration. | To capture brand-building activities that influence upper-funnel metrics. | Sponsored influencer campaign or launching an offline campaign. |
Product Launch | Indicates when a new product, collection, or feature goes live. | Tag new product launches to separate baseline demand from launch-driven spikes, making it easier to attribute changes in traffic, revenue, or conversion metrics. | Launch of a new product line or limited edition item. |
Campaign Launch | Marks the start of a new paid marketing campaign or creative push. | Mark campaign start and end dates so you can link investment windows to changes in ROAS, CAC, CPP, and other core performance metrics. | Creating a new Meta campaign or switching from static to video creative on TikTok. |
Experiment Launch | Captures the start of a test or experiment. | Log tests or learning phases to isolate their true impact on performance and build confidence in which strategies drive meaningful lift. | Testing YouTube Ads for the first time, or trialling a new bidding strategy on Google PMAX. |
Sale | Highlights promotional or discount periods that may temporarily boost performance | Annotate sale periods to distinguish short-term promotional spikes from longer-term trends — useful for forecasting, post sales evaluation, and planning future promotions. | Black Friday promotion, sitewide 20% off sale, or limited-time offer. |
Seasonal Peak | Identifies recurring, high-demand periods. | Tag key seasonal moments (e.g., Black Friday, Christmas, Back-to-School) to benchmark year-over-year trends and account for expected fluctuations in demand. | Cyber week, Boxing Day Sales or Valentine’s Day. |
Data Issue | Flags a tracking or data issue that may impact reporting accuracy | Use annotations to flag tracking gaps or data anomalies so teams don’t misinterpret performance changes caused by incorrect or missing data. | GA4 campaign tracking data affected. |
Other | Use for any business event or factor that doesn’t fit the predefined categories but still influences performance. | Use “Other” to add context and keep a complete record of what influenced performance. | Unexpected market shift or site downtime. |
FAQ’s
Does adding an annotation change my modelled data?
No, annotations don’t will not affect any outputs from our modelling. They are designed to help you interpret modelled data with more context.
Do sale dates impact Incremental Forecasting?
Yes, if you’ve excluded sales periods in Incremental Forecasting, any existing or newly added sale annotations will be factored into that exclusion.
I’ve entered sale dates before, will they transfer?
Yes, your previously saved sales data will be reflected in annotations automatically.
How do dashboard filters impact what I see?
Tags help make sure your annotations only appear where they’re most relevant.
If you add a tag (for a market or channel):
When no filters are applied on the dashboard, your annotation will always be visible. For example, if you tag an annotation with "UK", it will still show when viewing all markets. If you tag an annotation with "Paid Social", it will still show when viewing all channels.
When filters are applied, your annotation will only show if the selected filter matches the tag you added.
For example, an annotation tagged with "UK" will appear when you filter to UK, but not when you filter to US.
An annotation tagged with "Paid Social" will appear when you filter to Paid Social, but not when you filter to Paid Search.
If you don’t add a tag:
Your annotation will always be shown, no matter which filters are applied. For example, if you add a note about a global campaign without tagging a market or channel, it will be visible in every view.
Next Steps
Start adding annotations ahead of key business moments — like upcoming campaigns or seasonal peaks — to help your future self and team interpret performance with complete context.
👉 Log in to Fospha and start annotating today