The Ultimate Google Ads Pacing Dashboard is a free data studio template designed to give you an edge over your competitors. Use it as a benchmark for how much time and effort you should spend on each marketing channel, so that you can optimize your efforts.
The “Google Ads Pacing Dashboard” is a free data studio template. It allows users to track their Google Ads budget and see how it’s progressing. Read more in detail here: google ad specialist job.
Editor’s note: As the year draws to a close, we’re counting down the top 12 most popular and useful expert posts on SagaReach Marketing this year.
Our editorial staff selected this collection based on the performance, usefulness, quality, and value provided for you, our readers.
We’ll reprint one of the finest articles of the year every day until December 24th, beginning with No. 12 and going down to No. 1. Today, we begin our countdown with our No. 4 column, which was first published on October 29, 2021.
Amy Hebdon’s article is jam-packed with information on why a Google Ads Pacing Dashboard is necessary, as well as how to design and configure one for free using Google Data Studio and Google Sheets.
Amy, you did an amazing job on this! Thank you so much for all you’ve done for SagaReach Marketing.
Enjoy!
We don’t always have all the tools we need to accomplish our jobs as paid search managers. Simple activities like Google Ads pacing might be much more difficult than they need to be.
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Because you can’t directly input your budget or conversion goals into the platform, this is the case.
It’s difficult to determine what action to take without the fundamental background of aims vs. actuals.
Most third-party tools and do-it-yourself pacing sheets aimed at solving this issue are ineffective for paid search managers.
They’re either too simple to yield insights, or they’re too cluttered to be read at a glance.
October 2021, author-created image
In this lesson, we’ll look at what a great pacing dashboard should include to aid you in your profession, as well as how to make your own automatic pacing dashboards for free using Google Data Studio and Google Sheets.
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Requirements for Dashboard Pacing
A pacing dashboard should make it simple to get data that informs strategic choices and actions.
Here’s my personal top-five list of features I’d want to see in a pacing dashboard:
- Snapshots of KPIs and their correlations. I need to know how what should happen (goals and month-to-date objectives) relates to what is really occurring (actuals).
- Show your progress on a daily basis. I’d want to know the daily pace objectives required to meet monthly KPIs, as well as if the account is reaching those targets regularly. What, if any, course corrections have taken place? What adjustments are still required?
- Set the scene. I’d want to compare this month’s results to previous and longer-term patterns.
- Automated. I shouldn’t have to edit or amend anything until my budget or revenue targets change in the middle of the month.
- It is both accessible and shared. Allow me to view and share information with my colleagues or clients without requiring logins, downloads, or attachments.
Data That Helps You Make Better Decisions
“Let the data decide” is a statement I dislike since data does not make choices. Yes, we do.
The beauty of this pacing dashboard is that it provides you with immediate access to the information you need to make smart, well-informed choices.
When campaign cost is high, a script may automatically suspend campaigns, but it can’t confer with your client about how to react to market developments.
Knowing precisely how expenditure and returns are pacing versus objectives may boost your management abilities, as most of us oversee accounts that need to accomplish conversion goals rather than just “spend X amount every month.”
Here’s how you can use dashboard analytics to promote yourself as a strategic partner for your customers.
Google Data Studio screenshot, October 2021
Opportunity is hot/hot.
When performance exceeds expectations, speak to your customer about boosting budget to match demand so you don’t miss out on sales and leads.
Optimize hot spend/cold returns.
It’s time to optimize for efficiency if you’re overpaying and don’t have anything to show for it. Bids and budgets should be reduced, and bad performers should be paused or removed.
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Investigate Cold Spending/Hot Returns.
When spending is modest but returns are higher than expected, it’s tempting to rejoice. Take a closer look at how you may utilize available money for top-of-funnel activities or higher returns before you do so.
Adjust your expectations if it’s cold or cold.
If the demand isn’t there, it may be appropriate to change the budget, reallocating money to a time when they are needed.
A Perfect Pacing Dashboard’s Anatomy
Returning to the dashboard.
I set developed these parts that provide me precisely what I need by converting the top five wishlist items above into a real pacing dashboard.
Section on KPI Relationships
The expenditure and return KPIs are at the top of the display. I know precisely what the month’s objective is, how we’re doing in real time, and how we’re doing.
When I compare my MTD goal progress to the month’s completion, I can see whether it’s time to observe or act.
Without having to mentally divide enormous numbers by 30.4, seeing my key performance indicators in several forms (raw numbers, ratios, and percentages) helps me grasp pacing and data correlations.
Google Data Studio screenshot, October 2021
The following are the charts and scorecards that were used:
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- Month progress: Today’s date, % finished, and remaining for the month.
- Revenue (or conversion) objective and monthly budget are two KPI goal scorecards.
- KPI Pacing Widget: A single-cell table that returns a pacing statement.
- MTD target scorecards show the value of the MTD target, the percentage of the MTD target that has been completed, and the overall monthly objective.
- KPI performance to date with progress display in a gauge with a range.
- MTD scorecards: calculate the difference between actual and desired performance.
Ratio of Returns
A section comparing expenditure to return is also included. The target is filled in automatically based on the objectives and does not need to be defined individually.
Depending on whether you’re using the Revenue or Conversion Dashboard, you’ll see a different area.
The ecommerce Revenue Dashboard shows the Return on Assets Sold (ROAS) (return on ad spend). CPL is shown on the Conversion Dashboard for lead generation and basic conversion monitoring (cost per lead).
Google Data Studio screenshot, October 2021
Progress And Course Correction On A Daily Basis
I like seeing how we’ve done in the past (average daily performance) and how we’re performing now (recent daily performance).
Google Data Studio screenshot, October 2021
My daily income will constantly fall short of the objective in the account shown in this display. That’s due to conversion lag time, which I’ll note but not be concerned about.
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The following are the charts and scorecards that were used:
- Daily pace goal: Divide the goal by the number of days in the month.
- Scorecards for today, yesterday, and the average.
- Cumulative performance vs. pacing aim in a time series graphic.
Extraneous details, such as tables with daily fluctuation, have caused me to lose focus on the broader picture (are we on track to meet our objectives?) As a result, I don’t have it on my dashboard.
You may absolutely include it in your report if you’re the kind of person who wants to examine the intricacies of previous daily performance every time you check in on pace.
Section on Past Performances
I don’t have a photographic recall when it comes to how seasonality impacts each account, so having a reference on the dashboard is very helpful.
Google Data Studio screenshot, October 2021
These historical graphs provide me with trend data as well as perspective for current performance.
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Graphs used:
- For KPIs, a time series chart of the last 30 days is shown.
- For KPIs, the time series chart shows the last 13 months.
Using the Google Data Studio Template to Create a Dashboard
It’s time to transform the fantasy into a reality now that we’ve received the blueprints for a pacing dashboard.
We’ll need two separate data sources, as well as a mechanism to aggregate and analyze the data, to completely automate the pacing dashboard:
- Account Performance Statistics (Google Ads): We can get real-time expenditure and conversion data, as well as historical trends, by connecting directly to a Google Ads account.
- Internal Goals and Targets (Google Sheets): We may fill month-to-date and daily pacing targets by entering KPI goals in a Google Sheet.
- Data Studio will merge our data into a single blended data source that can generate metrics from both Ads and Sheets.
Assign a “Tempo” to the pacing.
Google Data Studio is improving all the time, however it still struggles with date-based computations.
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As a result, we’ll utilize Google Sheets as a “metronome,” with extra fields for date and daily objectives that keep track of real engine performance.
The goal here is to get a glimpse of how we’re doing in terms of making steady improvement.
In November, budget could be set aside at the beginning of the month to spend during BFCM. The dashboard would indicate underpacing, highlighting the amount that has to be made up by the end of the month.
How To Get To Your Templates And How To Prepare Them
You may use this template to save time while setting up your dashboard.
To adjust the default example data in Sheets to your own account and KPIs, follow the instructions on the page. Because the “join key” of the Google Ads account name is used in the blended data, put it precisely in Google Sheets to avoid issues.
After that, open the Data Studio template, choose your data sources, and then click “Copy Report.”
Google Data Studio screenshot, October 2021
The Google Ads pace dashboard is now KPI-focused, displays daily progress and historical data, and is fully automated.
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The next stage in achieving “wishlist status” is to make it easy to distribute, which Data Studio excels at.
Your Dashboard Can Be Customized And Updated
These changes and tweaks will offer you complete control over the dashboard, allowing you to tailor it to your own requirements and tastes.
Pacing Targets at the Chart Level Should Be Updated
You’ll need to perform some little tweaking to make the chart ranges to fit your goals.
Axis of the Gauge Chart
To manually insert the axis of your gauge charts, follow these steps:
- In the dashboard, choose the gauge chart.
- The Style panel should be selected.
- Adjust the Axis Max to meet the month’s target, which is shown above the chart.
Google Data Studio screenshot, October 2021
Metric for pacing time series
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Follow these steps to set a consistent daily pace goal:
- In the dashboard, choose the daily pace time series chart.
- Select the computed pacing statistic from the data panel.
- To match the pacing aim above the chart, change the number in the calculation.
Google Data Studio screenshot, October 2021
Make changes to the KPI Pacing Widget.
A color-coded button indicates the pacing status next to each KPI. Colors, text, and intervals may all be changed.
Google Data Studio screenshot, October 2021
Change the phrase or interval in the computed field of the dimension. By default, the budget pacing field will look like this: WHEN (Cost/MTD Spend Target).9 THEN “Underpacing” WHEN (Cost/MTD Spend Target) >=.91 AND (Cost/MTD Spend Target) 1.1 THEN “On Track” WHEN (Cost/MTD Spend Target) >=.91 AND (Cost/MTD Spend Target) 1.1 THEN “On Track” WHEN (Cost/MTD Spend Target) >=.91 AND (Cost/MTD Spend Target 1.1 THEN “Overpacing” COMES TO AN END
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You may adjust the numbers if, for example, you want “on track” to be within 5% of your objective instead of 10%. You may also add new versions or make changes to the return statements.
Simply update the conditional formatting in the Style tab to alter the background and text color.
Google Data Studio screenshot, October 2021
Troubleshooting in General
Start by examining these places if anything isn’t functioning in your dashboard:
- Both your Sheets and Google Ads data sources must have the same “join key” for blended data.
- The account you wish to examine must be the data source.
- The date range should be bespoke (month to date, for example) rather than “auto.”
- Targets for the chart axis and pace fields must be hardcoded accurately.
You may make whatever changes you like to the template since it is completely configurable, from altering the currency to establishing alternative weekend/weekday or even daily pace targets. A single Google Sheet may also be used as a data source for all of your reports.
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Conclusion
You may become a more strategic paid search marketer by having fast access to performance targets and actuals.
You’ll finally be able to satisfy the needs of your own pacing wishlist and drive smarter management choices for your customers with our Google Ads pacing dashboard.
Christmas Countdown 2021 SagaReach Marketing:
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