We recently put out a call for business dashboards and we got some really interesting responses. The hope is that by shining a light on the different ways our customers are using Geckoboard, you will be inspired to try new ways of using your board, visualise your data and design your dashboards.

Business dashboard for data-driven performance marketing

The first business dashboard we’d like to feature is that of RED Performance, a data-driven performance marketing agency based in Norway. Here’s what Magnus Nilsson, Managing Director at RED Performance, had to say about their Geckoboard dashboards:

“Because we are running a large amount of campaigns it is key for us to be able to get an instant overview to track results and instantly spot risks. To achieve this we have created dashboards that show campaign activity on big screen monitors around the office. Four of these greets the team in the morning as they are fitted above their desks. Each monitor is powered by a jailbroken Apple TV running Firecore, which also means low power-consuption and an overall very cost-effective dashboard system. I read the post about Rasberry PI, but this renders much faster and is very stable. We love our gadgets, and especially cost-effective solutions that help us deliver results!” In total RED Performance monitor more than 20 websites at once using Geckoboard.

Their use comprises two main types of data: internal campaign data and external trend data:

Monitoring internal campaign data: conversions, clicks and costs

“The majority of our dashboards show internal campaign data such as conversions, clicks and costs”. For this they use the Google Analytics widgets in Geckoboard, which shows a Sparkline visualisation allowing them to see the current value and trends in that data over time. “They also monitor whether the client websites are online, or if we have to pause any campaigns. Uptime is a bigger problem than most companies are aware of (or even admit), and we are otherwise typically the last to know. Now we are the first”. This data uses the Pingdom widgets, showing a simple up/down indicator of the sites status, along with the current response rate and uptime length.

Understanding external trends

“We also have a dedicated monitor to help us keep tabs with external data such as trends and news. We developed our own custom widgets that help us pull in trend data from search engines, for example the most searched for car brands in Norway (so we can all cheer when our client Hyundai gains a position), or showing news alerts for other clients. This helps us to get a better understanding of performance, and also faster spot new opportunities”. The news information comes from an RSS feed powered by Google Reader, whilst the trend information is sourced from local search engines. The dashboard also tracks their social media presence, with Twitter and Facebook widgets from Geckofuel. Overall Magnus says “we’re extremely happy with the flexibility and power of Geckoboard.”

Get your business dashboard featured

You too can share your experience of using Geckoboard and get a free Geckoboard T-Shirt! If you’re interested in being a featured dashboard, then get in touch by emailing me at gareth at geckoboard dot com.