If you’re a marketing agency, then it goes without saying that your success depends on managing and measuring key performance indicators (KPIs). But compiling data from various sources can be an exhausting task.
To help make life easier for busy marketers, we’ve put together this guide. See how to build a comprehensive dashboard of KPIs tailored to your agency’s needs.
Let’s walk through each step together!
Table of Contents
What is a marketing KPI dashboard?
A marketing key performance indicators dashboard is the command center for data-driven marketers, giving them insight into:
- company performance
- customer behavior
- overall marketing effectiveness
It serves as an extremely useful tool for understanding what’s working and what isn’t in a campaign, allowing for more effective strategies that drive measurable value.
⚠️ With the help of a marketing KPI dashboard, marketers can stay on top of specific key metrics and quickly identify areas for improvement to maximize their campaigns.
In today’s fast-paced world, putting data first is the way forward – and such a dashboard just might be your winning ticket.
Common mistakes agencies make when creating KPIs dashboards
Before we dive into the overall process of creating marketing KPI dashboards, let’s examine what may be going wrong at the beginning. And there is no better way to improve your performance than taking conclusions from the mistakes (even better if they’re not yours).
Setting unrealistic objectives
While it may seem like a no-brainer to create an effective KPI dashboard, many agencies find themselves stuck in the mud of misjudged performance metrics and misguided goals.
Overloading with too many metrics
By creating overly complex dashboards that don’t really provide the insights needed, agencies can easily fall into the trap of developing ineffective reporting that fails to tell any kind of story.
Leaving KPI tracking only to leaders
While it’s true that leaders in the agency should be actively monitoring KPIs, they shouldn’t be the only ones doing it. Every single person in a marketing team should have their own measurable goals and know what they need to do to achieve them.
The elements of an ideal dashboard to track marketing KPIs
Creating the perfect dashboard to track marketing KPIs is not an easy mission. It requires a good eye for detail, the ability to interpret data, and, most importantly – a user-friendly UI.
After all, when we’re looking at data and performance, we want something that’s easy on the eyes and to use so that actionable insights come quickly.
A checklist of Key Performance Indicators marketing dashboard elements:
✅ Day-to-day operations management
With so many moving pieces, it can be hard to keep track of everything. Having the right marketing dashboard will not only help you manage KPIs but also keep your team organized.
✅ Trackable data metrics with visuals
It’s not enough to just have data – it needs to be presented in a way that’s easy to interpret. With the right visual representation, it can be easier to spot trends and draw conclusions from the numbers.
✅ Cross-client visibility
Some agencies handle multiple clients, so it’s vital to have visibility into the performance of each client. Create a dashboard that enables seamless switching between them.
✅ Time tracking
If you use time tracking to monitor how much time you (or your team) are spending on various tasks, include it in the dashboard as well. The data helps you identify where to allocate the resources so that you can streamline operations and reduce inefficiencies.
✅ Budget management features
Controlling your marketing expenses is surely a major priority when tracking your marketing key performance indicators. As such, an ideal dashboard should include this functionality. Simple and effective would be best.
✅ Automated reports & alerts
Automate any reports you’re creating – it will save you a lot of time and ensure you always have the latest data at your fingertips. Also, set up alerts to get notified of any changes.
✅ Data sources integration
Integrating data from multiple sources into a single dashboard will help you get an accurate, holistic look at your KPIs. This is essential for building an accurate picture of your marketing performance.
How to create a marketing KPI dashboard?
So, where to start with? For a hassle-free development process, you can follow these vital steps. Believe us, a little effort upfront can go a long way.
1. Set clear goals
It’s the best place to start. Why? You’ll gain a better understanding of what your agency really needs. It helps you notice the places that you might miss otherwise.
Think SMART: make sure the goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely. That’ll help you better evaluate your returns on investment – and will also give you more clarity into how to spend your budget.
2. Collect and organize your data sources
Setting up an effective and modern KPI dashboard requires careful planning. Before you can get to the exciting stuff, like creating graphs and charts, you’ll need to collect and organize all the data.
Working with a range of typical customer data, from website visits to social media engagements, can feel like trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle. Taking your time here will help you see where you should focus your marketing initiatives in the long term – trust us, it’s worth it.
Note: You might find it useful if your marketing dashboard can also gather data from external tools, such as Google Analytics. Think about such integrations while developing the solution.
3. Decide which dashboard sections are necessary
Not every section will be appropriate for everyone – what works for other organizations might not be suitable for yours. So, try to tailor your dashboard specifically while keeping the data relevant to you.
Take the time to decide what information is truly useful and which parts of the daily workflow your marketing dashboard should streamline. Whether you want to include team performance, time tracking, or documents library – make sure it makes sense for your marketing teams.
Keeping this in mind will prevent you from having a cluttered workspace full of useless information. It’s the aspect that can have a huge impact on your team’s performance. Ultimately, they’ll be the ones using its features.
Remember – the key here is to maintain a dashboard that is simple and easy to use for all its users.
4. Focus on a user-friendly approach
You should focus on designing something that is intuitive, interactive, and doesn’t require a lot of training. Your aim is to simplify things rather than complicate them further.
Here are a few things you should keep in mind when it comes to your marketing dashboard UX (User Experience):
- Layout
- Navigation
- Interactivity
- Design
- Data visualization
- Tone of voice
When done correctly, the end result should be simpler than you ever imagined – your dashboard becomes an integral tool in your marketing efforts.
5. Automate whenever possible
Automation is here to save the day. You don’t need to spend hours manually collecting and compiling data – there are plenty of tools designed specifically for this purpose.
However, it’s not a solution without flaws. Functionalities like this can be extremely costly (especially if they are created from scratch by outsourced developers).
Still, with automated processes that can sync data from multiple sources, create reports or analyses, or make calculations using a marketing KPI dashboard becomes much easier.
6. Integrate with your current tool stack
For best results, your dashboard needs to integrate well with whatever tools your team uses currently. It allows for a seamless transition and makes it easier for everyone to use the dashboard.
You’ll be able to check the performance of your marketing campaigns while also managing customer relationships, all in one integrated package. Best of all – you won’t have to go back and forth between multiple tools, so you can keep your focus on what’s important.
7. Review and revise
Before you launch your new marketing KPI dashboard, take the time to test it thoroughly. It includes checking for bugs and verifying that everything is running smoothly.
You should also spend some time with your team members to get their feedback and make sure they understand how to use it.
Once the dashboard has been tested, take a look at the data and see if there are any changes or improvements you can make. Don’t forget to review your relevant KPIs regularly, too – that way, you’ll make sure you’re getting the most out of your marketing dashboard potential.
Allfred: Powerful marketing dashboard builder
What if we told you that there is already a tool that you can successfully use as your marketing dashboard? And you don’t have to go through each step of the process above on your own?
The Allfred platform can be your great alternative to building modern KPI report dashboards from the ground up.
With its help, you can create a robust project management platform for your business. Build a professional KPI dashboard to keep tabs on planning, expenses, and time – allowing for customizations that cater specifically to each team’s unique needs.
With its useful features, you’ll not just have greater productivity for your marketing department – it’s like having a superpower that will enable effortless control of every aspect of your business operations (even including invoicing).
🚀 Not only will you get the best KPI dashboards, but also save a lot of money that would be otherwise spent on costly developer services.
Bonus: Key metrics not to miss in your marketing KPI dashboard
There’s one more thing we would like to share with you. You will find here relevant business metrics that help you complete your marketing KPI dashboard example with no gaps.
Customer metrics
- Cost per lead: How much is the new customer acquisition cost.
- Conversion rate: How often do your leads convert into new customers.
- Customer retention rate: The percentage of customers who make repeat purchases over a given period of time.
- Average customer lifetime value: How much value a customer generates over the course of their relationship with your brand.
- Churn rate: How often customers unsubscribe or stop buying your products or services.
Social media metrics
- Reach/Impressions: The number of people who see your social media posts and campaigns.
- Engagement rate: How many people engage with the content on your social media channels, such as liking or commenting on it.
- Conversion rate from social media: The number of people who take an action after viewing your content on social media, such as purchasing a product or signing up for the newsletter.
Website key metric
- Bounce rate: How often visitors leave your website after viewing only one page.
- Average session duration: The amount of time visitors spend on your website before leaving.
Search engine optimization (SEO) metrics
- Total organic traffic: The number of visitors who find your website through a search engine.
- Organic clicks: How often people click on your website when it appears in the search results.
The campaign’s financial metrics
- Return on investment (ROI): The return you get from your campaigns and marketing efforts. A high ROI means that each dollar spent is generating more profit than it costs.
- Total sales revenue: It’s the key performance tracking indicator also for the sales team, which shows the total amount of revenue generated from sales.
- Net profit margin: The percentage of profits left after deducting all costs associated with your campaigns.
Ready to take off
Having all the KPIs in one place can open you a door for getting meaningful insights into important metrics. It’s a great way to monitor and measure progress of your business performance, as well as identify areas for improvement.
Ready for that new level? Create a dashboard with all your marketing KPIs in one place and start improving right now. If you need any help, the Allfred team is here to support you. 🛟
FAQ: Building Marketing KPI Dashboard with Key Metrics
Couldn’t find what you’re looking for? Here are some of the most common questions that may arise while creating a marketing KPI dashboard.
How does creating a KPI dashboard help my business?
If you make sure to keep a steady tracker that provides organizational insights, you’ll have all the information you need to make data-driven decisions. It can help discover trends, track progress, and provide details about specific initiatives or processes that would otherwise take time and effort to research. It’s like having an invisible assistant at your side analyzing every aspect of your company’s performance
How can I determine which KPIs to track for my business?
It really depends on your sector, team size, and business goals. To determine relevant measurements for success, start by asking yourself what factors are most likely to impact the performance of your business. From there, review past data or discuss with experts in the field and play around with different sets of indicators until what works best for your business becomes clear. Don’t forget about benchmarking, it also tells you a lot.
How can I best organize my data for better analysis?
Create a system of labels and categories that helps classify information according to its relevance. Also, consider breaking down data into smaller pieces to be able to identify individual aspects of a particular dataset (but be careful here not to clutter the dashboard too much).
What tools or technologies are available to help build KPI dashboards?
Businesses no longer have to break the bank to build KPI dashboards that meet their needs, as there are multiple tools and technologies that can provide relatively affordable solutions. From AI-powered analytics engines and machine learning to user-friendly drag-and-drop interfaces. Ultimately, the best dashboard tool is the one that works for you – so don’t hesitate to explore all the available technology and then select the solution that most effectively leverages your data.
To give you an example – Allfred is one of the tools that can really help you organize all your marketing efforts into one place. It’s great for building interactive dashboards which enable professionals to display graphical representations and drill down into specific details of all project steps. Not to mention, it offers collaborative capabilities making it easier than ever before to share ideas and access information.
Are there any security measures that need to be taken when building a KPI dashboard?
The most common security measures associated with KPI dashboards include restricting access to individuals on a need-to-know basis, backing up all data regularly, utilizing HTTPS encryption technology when exchanging confidential information, and providing physical security procedures when needed.
Of course, it’s also essential to stay informed of the latest updates in cybersecurity so you’re always ahead of any potential threats. By taking these precautions when building a KPI dashboard, organizations can rest assured that their data remains private and secure, allowing them to make better decisions with confidence.
