Dashboards are decision tools, not scrapbooks
Most marketing dashboards are designed to look busy - dozens of metrics, no hierarchy, no decision attached. The useful dashboard has one job: tell you where to put the next rupee and the next hour. Everything else is decoration.
The twelve that matter
Acquisition: CAC, blended CAC, paid share of total acquisition. Conversion: conversion rate, CVR by source, cost per qualified action. Retention: repeat purchase rate, LTV, LTV-to-CAC. And the compounders: organic profit share, lifecycle profit share, payback period. Twelve numbers, one page, reviewed weekly.
The three that lie: impressions (nothing without engagement context), click-through rate as a goal (a good CTR on the wrong audience is a fast route to CAC ruin), and email open rates above 60% (a suspicious signal that your list is small or stale).
The weekly review rhythm
The dashboard is only worth its time if it drives a decision: every week, one number gets budget, one gets a test, one gets killed. When the dashboard feeds a decision loop, the metrics take care of themselves. When it is a scrapbook, it is a cost.
