Guide
Build a simple monthly marketing dashboard
One page. Six numbers. Everything you need to know to decide next month's plan.
Use Google Sheets, not fancy tools
Fancy BI tools (Looker Studio, Tableau) are overkill for month 1. Start in Google Sheets, one tab called 'Monthly Dashboard'. Build fanciness later.
Row 1: Traffic (unique users, month)
Pull from GA4. Include: total, biggest channel, biggest source. Trend arrow (up/down) vs last month. Colour code: green up, red down.
Row 2: Conversion rate + total conversions
From GA4 Events. Both together, one without the other is misleading. Traffic can drop, but higher conversion rate can save revenue.
Row 3: Revenue + AOV
From Shopify/Stripe/your invoicing tool. Manually entered monthly is fine. Split by channel if possible (organic, paid, email, referral).
Row 4: New customers + CAC
How many new? What did you spend? CAC = spend, new customers. Track this even if it's rough.
Row 5: Top 3 winners + 3 losers of the month
'What worked?' 'What didn't?'. Bullet points, one line each. This is where insights live, not in the numbers.
Row 6: 1 experiment to run next month
'Try Instagram Reels for 30 days'. 'Test $10/day of Google Ads'. One experiment per month, actionable, small enough to attempt.
Review with your team (or yourself) monthly
First Monday of the month, 30 to 45 minutes. Never skip. Owners who do this consistently outgrow those who don't, every time.
That’s the whole thing.
Keep going
What to read next
- 01
Analytics & Metrics
Set up Google Analytics 4 correctly
GA4 is confusing on purpose. Here's a straightforward setup for a small business.
- 02
Analytics & Metrics
The 5 numbers every small business should track weekly
Ignore 50+ dashboards. These 5 tell you if the business is healthy.
- 03
Analytics & Metrics
Read a customer journey funnel
How to see where potential customers drop off, and fix the biggest leak first.