Everyone says they’re “data-driven.”
But if your dashboard looks impressive and still doesn’t help you make decisions.. you’re not.
Data only matters when it drives action - not decoration.
The Problem With Most Dashboards
You know the type:
Beautiful graphs, hundreds of numbers, and a weekly report that ends with the same question:
| “So… what do we do with this?”
Most dashboards are built to impress, not to inform.
They measure activity, not impact.
They tell you what happened, but not what to do next.
These are called vanity metrics, and they’re everywhere:
Page views without context
Social followers without engagement
Clicks without conversions
Ad impressions without ROI
They make you feel busy, but they don’t move the business forward.
The Shift: From Reporting to Decision-Making
A real dashboard isn’t a mirror, it’s a compass.
It should answer one simple question:
“Are we growing sustainably?”
That means tracking less, but understanding more.
Three filters before adding any metric:
1️⃣ Does it connect directly to revenue, retention, or cost efficiency?
2️⃣ Can someone act on it today?
3️⃣ Would we notice if it disappeared?
If the answer is no, it doesn’t belong on your dashboard.
What a Growth Dashboard Looks Like
A dashboard that drives growth is alive and it changes as your strategy evolves.
Here’s what we build at InGrowth for our clients:
| Category | Metric | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Acquisition | Cost per Qualified Lead (CQL) | Shows how efficient your paid channels really are |
| Activation | Landing Page Conversion Rate | Exposes friction in your funnel |
| Retention | Customer Repeat Rate | Predicts long-term revenue |
| Efficiency | CAC vs. CLV Ratio | Identifies the balance between investment and payoff |
| Momentum | Lead Velocity Rate (LVR) | Measures future growth, not past performance |
You don’t need 100 KPIs.
You need the right 10.
Common Mistakes:
❌ Tracking too many platforms
❌ Using different definitions across teams
❌ Ignoring lagging indicators (like retention)
❌ Focusing on design, not insights
The InGrowth Way
At InGrowth, we design dashboards that help teams make decisions - not presentations.
We integrate marketing, sales, and CRM data to reveal the cause and effect behind your performance.
Not just what’s happening, but why.
So when you look at your data, you don’t see noise - you see your next move.
