A Practical Guide To Building Campaign Dashboards

Dashboards get talked about a lot, but they’re often misunderstood. Before we dive into metrics, goals and reporting, it’s important to align on what a campaign dashboard actually is. At its core, a campaign dashboard is simply a tool that turns raw data into a story — one that both marketers and stakeholders can read without needing to be data analysts. For the sake of clarity, I’ll be referring to campaign dashboards as ‘dashboards’ for this post.

Standard dashboards tend to be a collection of metrics from one or more platforms, organized in a way that answers the core questions that come up during a campaign. A good dashboard isn’t just a reporting tool; it’s a decision-making tool that helps teams understand what’s working, what isn’t and where to focus next. While dashboards work across industries, in this case, we’re focusing on how they support travel and tourism campaigns.

Metrics That Matter

There are tons of metrics across dozens of platforms, each with its own meaning. Knowing which ones to prioritize can feel overwhelming. The good news: Not all metrics are created equal, and there are a few that form the backbone of almost every effective dashboard.

When it comes to ad platforms specifically, these metrics stand out when measuring performance:

• Impressions – The number of times your ad was shown to your audience, indicating overall visibility and awareness.
• Clicks – A direct measure of engagement and an early signal of whether your creative and messaging are resonating.
• Spend – A core indicator of pacing and budget control, showing how your dollars are being used throughout the campaign.
• CTR – The ratio of clicks to impressions, offering a quick read on how effectively your ad is driving interest.
• Conversions – The final action you want users to take, confirming whether your ads are successfully delivering results.

These metrics stand out because they directly reflect visibility, engagement and cost — the three core pillars of campaign performance. They’re also universally tracked across all major ad platforms, giving you consistent, comparable data no matter where your campaign runs.

Beyond ad platform metrics, there are equally important signals on the website side. How many people continued past the landing page? How many filled out a form? Did they make a purchase after clicking the ad? These are tracked through tools like Google Analytics and help paint the full picture from impression to outcome.

Why These Metrics Matter

For marketers, these metrics act as levers — indicators they can adjust, test and optimize. They reveal audience behavior, platform performance and opportunities to improve results.

For stakeholders, these same metrics represent progress toward business goals. Their questions usually sound like:

• “Are we generating new traffic to the site?”
• “Are we reaching the right people?”
• “Are we getting enough guide requests/signups/purchases?”
  

In other words, marketers see metrics as the how, while stakeholders see them as the outcome. A great dashboard connects the two.

Conversions: The Outlier Of The Metrics

Conversions play a massive role in how marketers and stakeholders view a dashboard and its progress. Each campaign can have a different outcome depending on the intended conversion. Conversions can differ depending on the business model. Some examples include:

• Visitor Guide Requests
• Monthly Newsletter Sign-ups
• Purchases
• Downloads
• Lead Forms

Stakeholders tend to think in terms of outcomes: the number of customers or contacts generated. Marketers, on the other hand, think in terms of the funnel: the user journey from initial interaction to final conversion. With each stage, the audience naturally gets smaller, and marketers are always looking for ways to improve how many people progress from one step to the next.

Designing Dashboards For Two Audiences

For a dashboard to work for both stakeholders and marketers, it needs to include data that answers each audience’s specific questions. One common pitfall is overloading the dashboard with too many metrics, which can confuse or overwhelm both groups. Instead, dashboards should prioritize essential metrics that clearly address the most important questions. For a deeper view into the data, secondary tabs or additional dashboard pages can house more detailed information. Another way to reduce clutter is by establishing a clear visual hierarchy that highlights the most important insights first. For stakeholders, present key numbers up front and use simple, clean visuals to illustrate performance. For marketers, provide more detailed sections such as time-series charts, segmented views and other tools that support optimization.

Final Thoughts: Dashboards As Communication Tools

A dashboard isn’t just numbers; it’s a bridge between data and decisions. When it’s built with both audiences in mind, it becomes one of the most valuable tools in the marketing toolkit. In the travel and tourism space, especially, dashboards help steer campaign activity into clear signals. They give stakeholders the clarity they need while giving marketers the detailed insight required for optimization. At its best, a dashboard becomes a shared language — aligning teams, reducing confusion and helping everyone move toward the same goals with confidence.