Date published 05 Aug 2020 We’re often asked what software we use when building a dashboard, especially when it comes to brand tracking. The answer is, there’s no ‘one size fits all’ solution. When weighed against specific objectives, audience and budget, each software option brings its own set of features and benefits, pros and cons. And that gets us asking a lot of questions on behalf of our clients as we compare, contrast and evaluate the options for them. What built-in visualisation features does the software offer? Is there the ability to do complex data manipulation, transformation and cleaning? Does the software have a highly developed real-time data interaction capability? These are just a few of the many factors we look at when assessing a particular software’s analytical and reporting capabilities, along with its ease of use, and its sharing and reporting functions. And let’s not forget speed, performance and reliability. It’s why we’re proudly ‘tech-agnostic’ when it comes to dashboards, working across a number of different platforms as needed. Not being married to any one particular piece of software means we can make a recommendation based purely on the best fit, from Power BI and Google Data Studio, to Tableau and Metrix Stories, our own proprietary dashboard platform. Working across many platforms offers extraordinary flexibility, along with the ability to find a solution that works seamlessly with a business’s existing technology stack. We should not forget that the technology is simply a platform for reporting and sharing the tracking results. What excites us most at Metrix Consulting is what you can learn – and subsequently action – off the back of a dashboard. We work with businesses large and small to translate the numbers, charts and graphs into insights and recommendations that inspire action. Deep-dive reports, delivered monthly, quarterly or even annually, provide the granularity, specific nuances and detail that sit behind an effective dashboard. Pulling in additional data sources can also provide another layer of detail, assessing the figures against trends and prevailing market conditions. It seems dashboards, while not new, are definitely on-trend right now. Here are 5 reasons why they’re a great fit for brand tracking: 1. You can reach a large audience Key information can be circulated to large groups of people quickly and efficiently, enabling them to respond accordingly. 2. They’re adaptable While consistency is important in terms of what you’re tracking, a dashboard allows you to add in more elements as needed, such as new competitors or product lines, or different data sources. 3. Regular as clockwork You decide how often you want the dashboard refreshed. Monthly can be ideal as it gives people chance to review the data and then make changes to, for example, tactics, strategies or marketing campaigns. 4. Suit any budget You don’t have to have a huge budget to build a dashboard. There are a lot of affordable options. 5. Democratising data: When done well, dashboards can be very collaborative and empowering, encouraging staff to take ownership and inspiring different departments to draw different insights from the same set of data. Back To News & Views