JI
JI
CASE STUDY · ANALYTICS

Building a Marketing Dashboard for Executive Reporting

A single-pane dashboard that replaced 4 weekly reports and shifted the executive conversation.

#analytics#dashboards#reporting#kpi tree
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

By defining a KPI tree tied to revenue and shipping a Looker dashboard the CEO opened daily, marketing gained credibility, budget, and speed.

A enterprise Fintech SaaS operating in the Fintech SaaS space.

OBJECTIVES
  • Give the executive team one place to see marketing performance.
  • Reduce weekly reporting time from 12 hours to under 2.
  • Anchor every metric to a revenue outcome.
CHALLENGES & INITIAL SITUATION

The team had inconsistent execution across channels, no shared dashboard, and no repeatable framework for prioritizing investment.

  • Every VP received a different weekly report — inconsistent numbers.
  • Marketing spent 12+ hours/week assembling exports.
  • No shared definition of 'pipeline sourced' between marketing and sales.
MARKETING AUDIT
  • No documented ICP or JTBD anchored to marketing programs.
  • KPIs tracked in isolation, not tied to revenue outcomes.
  • Tool sprawl with 4+ overlapping platforms and no single source of truth.
  • Content and paid teams operating on separate roadmaps.
STRATEGY
  • Built a KPI tree with one North Star and 3 second-level metrics.
  • Aligned marketing + sales on shared definitions.
  • Shipped a Looker dashboard with executive, operational, and diagnostic views.
  • Instituted a monthly data-quality audit.
IMPLEMENTATION TIMELINE
  1. 1
    Discovery & Audit
    Weeks 1–2

    Baseline every metric that matters.

    • Current-state audit
    • ICP + JTBD document
    • KPI tree
  2. 2
    Strategy & Planning
    Weeks 3–4

    Define bets, sequence, and ownership.

    • Quarterly roadmap
    • Framework selection
    • Executive review deck
  3. 3
    Implementation
    Weeks 5–12

    Ship the work in weekly cycles.

    • Campaigns live
    • Dashboards deployed
    • SOPs documented
  4. 4
    Measurement & Iteration
    Weeks 13+

    Compound gains with weekly review.

    • Weekly readouts
    • Experiment log
    • Next-quarter plan
EXECUTION
  • Kicked off with a 5-day baseline sprint to map current state and quick wins.
  • Locked scope for the first 90 days to prevent context switching.
  • Ran a weekly 45-minute execution review — decisions only, no status updates.
  • Stood up a live dashboard as the single source of truth for the leadership team.
CAMPAIGN ASSETS
  • Landing page system (hero, ROI proof, comparison, FAQ).
  • Email nurture sequence (7 emails across 21 days).
  • Sales enablement one-pagers and battlecards.
  • Executive dashboard with weekly and monthly views.
METRICS & RESULTS
Weekly reporting time
-88%
Before12 hrs
After1.5 hrs
Executive dashboard opens/wk
+38
Before0
After38
Time to answer exec question
-99%
Before3 days
After4 minutes
Approved budget increase
+$1.2M
Before$0
After+$1.2M
BEFORE VS AFTER
WEEKLY REPORTING TIME
12 hrs
1.5 hrs
EXECUTIVE DASHBOARD OPENS/WK
0
38
TIME TO ANSWER EXEC QUESTION
3 days
4 minutes
APPROVED BUDGET INCREASE
$0
+$1.2M
KEY LEARNINGS
  • Dashboards win budget faster than decks.
  • Shared definitions between marketing and sales are the pre-req for shared credibility.
  • The North Star metric must be one number, not three.
COMMON MISTAKES
  • Skipping the audit phase to 'move faster' — teams later rebuild the same work.
  • Confusing activity metrics with outcome metrics in weekly reviews.
  • Running too many experiments in parallel to reach statistical clarity.
RECOMMENDATIONS
  • Anchor every quarter to one primary outcome metric — everything else is a leading indicator.
  • Run a monthly framework review — retire what isn't producing decisions.
  • Give one owner accountability per workstream — shared ownership stalls output.
IMPLEMENTATION CHECKLIST
  • Document ICP and JTBD before writing any brief.
  • Publish a single KPI tree tied to revenue.
  • Ship the dashboard before the first campaign.
  • Run a weekly 45-min decision review with the DRIs.
  • Retrospect every 30 days; adjust bets accordingly.
RESOURCES USED
  • Site's Connected Growth System framework
  • SaaS SEO Roadmap Template
  • CAC & LTV Calculator
  • Marketing Maturity Assessment
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
How long does an engagement like this take?

Most SaaS engagements produce visible outcomes in 90 days and compound over 6–12 months.

Is this replicable at earlier stages?

Yes — the framework scales down. The number of workstreams changes, not the sequence.

What's the single biggest determinant of success?

Executive commitment to one primary outcome metric for the quarter.

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By defining a KPI tree tied to revenue and shipping a Looker dashboard the CEO opened daily, marketing gained credibility, budget, and speed.

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