Most marketing reports are long lists of platform numbers: impressions, clicks, CTR, CPC. They're accurate, and they rarely help anyone decide what to do next.
A useful dashboard moves from platform metrics to business metrics, and shows only what someone will actually act on.
Connect spend to revenue
Cost per lead is useful, but cost per customer and revenue per channel tell you where to invest. That requires connecting ad data to what happens after the enquiry, usually through your CRM.
Pick a small set of headline numbers
We suggest a top row of no more than five figures that leadership looks at every week. Everything else sits underneath for whoever manages the channels.
- Total spend
- Qualified leads and cost per qualified lead
- Customers won and cost per customer
- Revenue or pipeline value by channel
- Speed to first response
Show trends, not snapshots
A single week's numbers are noisy. Show rolling four-week averages and year-on-year comparisons where seasonality matters, so decisions are based on direction rather than a lucky or unlucky few days.
Annotate changes
Note when you launched a new campaign, changed the website or ran a promotion. Without annotations, nobody remembers six months later why a line jumped.
Key takeaways
- →Lead with cost per customer and revenue by channel
- →Keep the headline row to five numbers
- →Use rolling averages to reduce noise
- →Annotate every significant change
Common questions
Which tool should we use?+
Looker Studio is a good free starting point. The tool matters less than reliable data going into it.
How often should we review it?+
Headline numbers weekly, deeper channel analysis monthly.
What if our numbers don't match between platforms?+
They rarely will exactly. Pick one source of truth, usually your CRM, for leads and revenue.
