Online advertising can feel like a juggling act—you want to be sure you aren’t missing an important channel, but each platform you add is another thing to keep track of. If you’ve got a strict ad budget you need to stick to, you may feel even more overwhelmed by the responsibility of keeping up with your online ad campaigns. Logging in to each platform individually and then navigating to find the current data on your ad spend takes time—but not staying on top of that information risks wasting money on ads that aren’t producing value, or exceeding your overall budget.
Fortunately, there is a simple way to stay on top of your advertising data without it becoming a tedious chore. An automated dashboard can aggregate key information on all your ad channels, keeping it continually up to date and at your fingertips. Rather than only reviewing the big picture on your ad spend once in a while when you have hours to spare, you’ll be able to keep up with in it real time.
Working Smarter
Getting all your information into one place doesn’t require you to pull it all together by hand. It also doesn’t require you to spend money on specialty software. You can create a dashboard for yourself in Google Data Studio—a free data visualization tool—to show all your ad channels in one place. You’ll invest some time at the outset getting it set up, but you’ll save time and money on an ongoing basis once you do.
The key to making this a time-saver is setting up data connectors. These automatically import the data you need from your paid media platforms such as LinkedIn, Google, Facebook/Instagram, Klaviyo, or Pinterest. Once you have your data connectors set, they will supply current information every time you refresh your dashboard. This eliminates the need to hop from platform to platform checking up on your campaigns.
Tips for Optimizing Your Dashboard
Exactly how you configure your dashboard is going to depend on how many ad channels you’re monitoring, how your campaigns are organized, and what metrics you’re most concerned about tracking. However, there are a few universal best practices that will help make your dashboard a useful tool for ad management.
Make your monthly stand out: To stay in budget, you want to make sure your monthly spend isn’t a number that gets lost. Label it with a gauge on your dashboard so that it is instantly apparent if your spending is too hot.
Keep it simple: Your dashboard should of course include your most important key performance indicators. What’s less obvious is that it shouldn’t be bogged down with every bit of data you can import. Stick to the main insights you need to make decisions and resist the desire to get into the weeds with more, because getting wrapped up in the minute details will only slow you down.
Bookmark it: When you’ve set up your dashboard to give you a well-organized snapshot of where your accounts are in the moment, bookmark it so it is easy to retrieve. You’ll get the most use out of the tool you’ve set up to gather and analyze your data when you look at it and use it to inform your ad strategy on a regular basis. Ideally, checking your dashboard should be a daily routine.
Making Your Ad Spend Count
When you have a limited advertising budget, you want to be sure that every dollar is deployed as effectively as possible. At Connection Marketing, we’re dedicated to creating custom online marketing strategies for our clients that generate leads and boost sales with a close eye on the bottom line. If you’d like to know more about how Connection Marketing can ensure your marketing plan gets the most out of every asset at your disposal, contact us at info@connectionmarketing.com to schedule a free consultation.
