• by Ray Schultz , May 6, 2019

Most marketers are satisfied with their data dashboards. But attribution remains a challenge for almost half, according to Visualizing Marketing Data with Dashboards, a study by Ascend2 and its Research Partners. 

Email marketers using dashboards are confronted by the same opportunities and challenges.

Of the executives polled, 43% say their dashboard strategies are very successful, and 54% report they are somewhat so. Only 3% are experiencing failure. 

Dashboard budgets are rising moderately for 70% of those surveyed, and 14% will post major hikes. Only 13% are expecting moderate decreases, and 3% plan significant cutbacks.

The main priority for 55% is improving their marketing decision-making. But 35% see that as a challenge.

Second is improving their dashboard — 49% cite this priority, but 42% see it as a challenge. 

The biggest challenge, indicated by 49%, is attributing revenue to marketing efforts. At the same time, 43% view that as an objective.

In addition, 44% hope to improve the usefulness of marketing data, while 39% call that a challenge.

Of those polled, 59% use a combination of outsourced and in-house resources, while 28% keep everything in-house. Another 13% outsource everything to specialists.

Here are the important questions marketers are asking about dashboard designs:

• What are the right metrics? — 54%
• How will the data be used?  —51%
• What data is being visualized? — 45%
• How is data prioritized? — 44%
• Who is seeing the data? — 38% 
• Is the data engaging/compelling? — 27%
• Will colors aid analysis? — 11%

The key performance indicators include:

• Marketing ROI — 56%
• Cost-per conversion — 46%
• Campaign performance — 45%
• Revenue per month — 38%
• Conversion funnel — 32%
• Web traffic source — 29%
• Social engagement — 24% 

Ascend2 and its research partners surveyed 307 marketing influencers.