How to Build a Helpful Marketing Analytics Dashboard

The world of technology has created so many opportunities. However, many small businesses are struggling to embrace that opportunity because while they have the tools, they might not be quite sure how to make them the most useful. Dashboards are one of those tools. The marketing dashboard should provide insight on the various marketing initiatives that you have in place and help you make strategic decisions. 

In order to do that, of course, it needs to be well-planned and designed. Although most of the marketing platforms you find out there will boast their easy-to-use dashboards, it’s going to be up to you to actually make them useful. How can you do that? It starts by knowing what a marketing analytics dashboard should be, and then you can work on the steps to get yours to that place. 

What should a marketing analytics dashboard do?

There are several functions and purposes of this dashboard, but they’re all focused on providing you with performance insights and data. You can select the analytics and reports that you want to track, and track several things at once. That allows you to:

• See how campaigns are doing
• Find the things that need tweaked
• Track performance 
• Measure investments and returns (ROI)
• Make informed decisions

The items that you have on your dashboard will vary, but should be whatever KPIs you are focusing on, as well as performance tracking for overall results for all of your marketing campaigns. Depending on your KPIs, your reports may have different metrics than another business—that’s okay, as long as you’re getting the reports that matter to you. 

Tips for building a better marketing dashboard

If you want to make your marketing analytics dashboard as effective as it can be, you have to know how to maximize your efforts. To that end, here are some tips to help you along the way. 

Tell a story 

Analytics aren’t just static reports and metrics, or at least they shouldn’t be. Your marketing analytics dashboard should be a story, of sorts. It should contain all of the relevant reports and metrics that you need to monitor. When you choose the objectives and KPIs for each dashboard, you’ll be choosing the story that you’ll tell. Make sure that you choose wisely. 

Determine your KPIs 

Even though your key performance indicators (KPIs) will change from time to time, you still have to define them as best you can. Define the ones you want to track now, the ones you want to track in the future, and so forth. If different people are responsible for keeping tabs on different KPIs, an integrated marketing analytics dashboard will allow them all to do their part by customizing their own interface. 

Visualize data 

Analytics give you a lot of data. That’s great, but it’s only actually helpful if you can understand and interpret it properly. Fortunately, most software platforms include visualization tools so that you can display metrics in charts, graphs, and other visual forms for easy consumption and dissemination. 

Use the right software platform

There are several tools out there to assist you in monitoring your marketing analytics more effectively. Even Google Analytics has a marketing dashboard that you can use to keep tabs on your metrics. You can also find other platforms and tools out there. Before you buy anything, check your existing martech stack—you might already be sitting on a great dashboard tool.

What to include in your marketing analytics dashboard 

As mentioned, you’ll have your own metrics that need to be tracked, but there are some elements that need to be on everyone’s mind (and dashboard). These include any combination of the metrics below:

• Email marketing campaign metrics 
• Website performance analytics 
• Traffic sources 
• Conversion funnel metrics 
• Social media 
• Digital ad campaigns 

If you follow these suggestions and the tips above, you’ll be well on your way to the benefits that come along with having a well-designed, effective marketing analytics dashboard. 

The benefits of a solid marketing dashboard 

When you do it right, you’ll find that your new marketing analytics dashboard provides several improvements and perks for both management and employees, in the marketing team and beyond. These dashboards save time and effort by collecting and displaying all of the information that your marketing team needs in one place. 

This also offers real-time data tracking and reporting, which means decision-makers can course-correct and make changes to campaigns immediately so that less money is lost. Then, those funds can be reallocated to campaigns that are successful, or toward new efforts altogether. 

Other perks of having a good marketing dashboard include:

• Easy customization and campaign-level tracking, which means the right people can monitor the right metrics, all the time. 
• Visualization of data for easy understanding of complex insights, as well as easier identification of patterns in marketing efforts.  
• Enhanced visibility of marketing efforts and their performance. This means less micromanaging and checking in with different team members. 
• Increased efficiency, since marketers and management aren’t wasting valuable time looking up individual reports or analytics. You can see everything in one place. 
• Better forecasting and decision-making, thanks to the information at your fingertips.
• Enhanced monitoring of all KPIs, making it faster and easier to make improvements.

As you can see, there are plenty of reasons to invest in a solid marketing analytics dashboard. 

While you’re monitoring campaigns, who’s fielding the leads?

A marketing analytics dashboard is going to make your marketing more effective. That, in turn, will create more leads and improve conversions, which means you’ll need a team ready to field the calls (and emails, form submissions, etc.). Partner with the virtual receptionists at Smith.ai and you’ll get a 24/7 answering service to handle it all, along with support for outreach campaigns, lead intake, and appointment scheduling, too. 

To learn more about how Smith.ai can streamline your lead generation and supplement your marketing efforts, schedule a consultation or reach out to hello@smith.ai. 

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