Designing and implementing a Marketing Dashboard? There are some critical best practices to keep in mind. According to Pat LaPointe, author of Marketing by the Dashboard Light, one must keep the following elements in mind:

1. Build cross-functional alignment on the role of marketing
2. Map the knowledge base to identify possible critical metrics
3. Provide a financial framework to bridge short term results and long term results from investments in marketing
4. Build a comprehensive brand scorecard
5. Design a highly engaging UI

Pat discusses these 5 points in his article in Chief Marketer titled Keys to An Effective Marketing Dashboard.

In the beginning of the article, the author posits that the question still lingers in organizations of how exactly to measure the links between marketing spend (e.g. marketing programs, advertising, etc) and business results (leads, sales, public relations). The traditional way is through complex number crunching. This diagram is shown as a demonstration of the complexities that arise in the various components involved. Click on the image to enlarge and view details.

So is there an alternative to this messy model? The author suggests using enterprise dashboards to track the various metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) associated with marketing programs and their results. More on the details of such a marketing dashboard in the next post on Dashboards By Example