The Hack: They say that you can't manage what you don't measure. We say you can't avoid KPI's when they're right in your face! Use this hack to create a customized dashboard to measure and display your key performance indicators, and watch your bottom line grow

The Phase: Pre Launch

Difficulty: Intermediate

We Use: Ducksboard.com (Free for 30 days and then $19/month for 1 dashboard)

Haxplanation:

Data is very fashionable right now. You hear people talking about data driven marketing all the time. The main reason: never before has so much data been available to marketers, usually for free. There's so much data available, that the novice marketer feels totally overwhelmed, and gets hit with the proverbial fire-hose as soon as they dip a toe into their marketing data. The trick is simple and requires you to prioritize the 3 or 4 key performance metrics that are the most important to your company. Instead of getting intimidated attempting to track dozens of metrics, focus on the most important and track them obsessively. This hack will help.

Now Hack It:

• Sign up for a free account at ducksboard.com

• Define which Key Performance Indicators are the most important to be monitoring. This will vary based on your industry. The most common areas to focus on are
  • Funnel Statistics - website visitors, conversion rates, cost per acquisition, sales
  • Social Statistics - followers, growth, mentions
  • Site Performance - SEO, landing pages, blog
  • Project management - integrate Basecamp or Trello to keep track of projects

• Use the existing library of integrations to connect your accounts to Ducksboard. Most times, you will just need to provide your login credentials or an API key that's readily available.

• Start with just the most important KPI's and build out from there. Keep it simple, and get in the rhythm of tracking your KPI's. Don't get frustrated with the integrations; some take a few hours to track results. Otherwise, use Ducksboard support to help you get connected.

Pro Tip:

You can keep your entire team on the same page by displaying your Ducksboard on a TV on your office wall. Having your entire team following the same KPI's can be a big factor in creating a culture of growth.

Did you like this hack? Why not check out 65 more of them over at our Growth Hacking Sourcebook and learn how to be a Growth Jedi Master!