It is essential to be able to monitor several key performance indicators (KPIs), and metrics in order to succeed in business today. It is impossible to manually analyze and interpret large quantities of data. Investing in data visualization software can help your company streamline data collection, analysis, and collaboration. Dashboards allow users to quickly and easily digest key information and make informed business decisions.
What is a data visualization dashboard?
A dashboard is a data visualization tool that displays, analyses, and tracks KPIs, metrics, as well as critical data points. Both technical and non-technical users can use dashboards to gain insight and make better business decisions. The analytics process involves users actively participating in compiling and visualizing trends and occurrences. This allows for a more objective view of performance metrics that is immediately understandable.
Also read: What is a Data Dashboard? Definition, Benefits, and Examples
Benefits of using dashboards
Visualize multiple KPIs at once
Many organizations use a variety of services to track KPIs. These include email marketing platforms, CRM tools, marketing automation platforms, and email marketing platforms. Each tool’s data can be difficult to analyze and monitor individually, wasting valuable time and resources.
A dashboard for data visualization allows users to see the data from all of these platforms from one central location. This gives them a quick overview and helps them understand the implications for their business. You can drill down into the data and compare it with established KPIs. This helps you to see what is working and what needs improvement.
Make data easier to understand
To use and understand a dashboard, you don’t have to be a data scientist. An average user can scan dashboards of data visualization quickly to get a high-level view without having to go through spreadsheets, emails, or other documents in order to find the answers to their business questions.
Increase accessibility and collaboration
The dashboards allow teams to collaborate regardless of whether they are working in the office or remotely. The dashboards are cloud-based and can be accessed from any browser. They keep everyone on the same page and help them work towards the same goals.
Users can also create links to their dashboards which can be shared with other stakeholders within and outside the organization.
Make reports on the fly
It’s important to stop generating reports at end of each month, quarter, and year in today’s global business environment. Your organization can quickly make changes to its business by using dashboards that are updated in real-time.
The leadership doesn’t need to wait for the management to give them reports. Everyone can access a dashboard to get insights and make intelligent decisions.
How to build a data visualization dashboard
Best data visualization dashboards can be created by asking a crucial business question. Let’s say you need to track sales revenue within your organization. An executive might want to know how much revenue the business generated this quarter. Did it exceed the previous quarter? What regions did the best?
You would then create your dashboard using data visualizations to answer these questions and present the data in an easy-to-understand and digestible way. Here are some ways you can get started.
Extract your data
You can import data from your data warehouse into your dashboard via web services such as Google Analytics or uploading old-fashioned Excel and CSV files.
You can use a modern data visualization tool. Take advantage of the integrations, which allow you to access data from hundreds of cloud platforms that your company might use.
Once the data has been collected, you can use your favorite analytics tool to analyze it. You’ll need to use that data set to create visualizations to answer your questions.
Calculate your KPIs
Which metrics will your data visualization dashboard track? Remember, Your dashboard should answer a specific business question. Keep this in mind as you determine the KPIs that are unique to your company, department, line, or business.
When designing your dashboard, keep your audience top of your mind. An executive might want to have a comprehensive overview of marketing channels’ performance. A marketing manager may prefer to focus on daily performance. However, the ROI of marketing investments may be an important metric that the entire department should know.
Also read: 8 Best Free Dashboard Software for 2023
Common types of dashboards
In today’s highly competitive business environment, it is crucial to foster a data-driven culture. This starts with making data accessible to all employees within the organization. Dashboards are a great place for employees to begin, as they raise deeper questions and stimulate their natural curiosity.
These are some common dashboards that can be used across business units.
MARKETING
Dashboards can be used to monitor the performance and results of your digital marketing programs, including social media engagement, SEO traffic, email open rates, and email open rate. You can also track leads generated through various channels to better understand how your marketing funnel is performing.
SALES
A dashboard can be used to track the performance of salespeople or track closed or lost sales, pipeline conversion rates, and scheduled demos. This will help sales staff understand their strengths and weaknesses and how to best target them to achieve company targets.
ENGINEERING
Dashboards are used by software engineers to monitor product usage and performance. Dashboards allow you to easily communicate important metrics and spot problems before they become major issues.
EXECUTIVE
Dashboards are used by decision-makers to monitor company goals, spot trends early, inform strategies, and determine if business efforts are paying off.
Data visualization Tools give you a quick overview of your business processes. It can also help to manage the company’s workflow. Dashboards allow you to visualize multiple KPIs from one location.
You can focus on key KPIs with real-time visualization dashboards that use interactive charts, graphs, and tables to show the state of your company. They also empower you to make data-driven business decisions that will give you a competitive advantage.
