How to Build the Perfect Executive Dashboard Using HubSpot's AI Reporting Tools

Executives constantly juggle the need to make data-driven decisions while showcasing the ROI of their efforts. If you’re in a similar boat, you know how impossible this can feel. With your data scattered across platforms (and the clock ticking or a presentation looming), how can you bridge the gap between raw data and actionable insights? 

Enter: HubSpot's AI reporting tools—game changers that not only simplify reporting but also generate single-object reports fast (seemingly by magic). 

All you need to do is ask.

The Executive's Dilemma: Bridging the Gap Between Data and Decision

Every dollar spent in business needs to show its value. This never-ending quest to demonstrate ROI can be a daily battle for your team: You’re fighting not just to prove the worth of your campaigns but also to make sense of disparate data spread across myriad analytics tools, CRMs, and ERPs. 

And time is of the essence. You can't wait for a week-long analysis. Opportunities are fleeting—and your data changes daily, anyway. 

Technical barriers don't make your mission any easier. Not every senior leader is a seasoned data analyst, and navigating complex reporting tools can be daunting.

What if there was a way to bypass these challenges? What if you could simply ask your data a question and get an instant, comprehensive report? 

HubSpot's AI reporting tools offer just that. 

HubSpot's AI Reporting Tools: A Game Changer for Executives 

HubSpot's AI reporting tools offer more than just your average analytics functionality. With these AI tools, you can use a conversational approach to building data visualizations. In response, HubSpot will generate a report (complete with an AI-generated description!), saving everyone involved precious time and effort. And, what’s more, its data visualization capabilities turn complex datasets into easily digestible charts and graphs, ensuring that insights aren't just reserved for the data-savvy.

That’s a hefty benefit list, but, if we’re being honest, the true magic comes into play with these features: 

The Ability to Converse with Your Data

One of HubSpot's standout new features is its intuitive query-based reporting. Curious about the ROI of last month's marketing blitz? Wondering about the traction your team achieved from that recent trade show? Pose a question. You’ll get answers. HubSpot will use your query and your data to craft a detailed, focused, and easy-to-read report, sidelining the need for intricate data analysis or structured query language (SQL) expertise.

The Ease of Dashboard Customization 

Every executive is unique. So are their data needs. HubSpot acknowledges this with its dashboard customization feature. Executives can drag and drop metrics such as website traffic and conversion rates to see what they want to see, ensuring their dashboard mirrors their priorities. From high-level KPIs that offer a bird's-eye view to attribution reporting that dives into the nitty-gritty, HubSpot’s AI tools and reporting capabilities will ensure you have one-glance access to relevance at all times. 

The Intuitive Cross-Platform Integration 

In today's interconnected digital landscape, data sprawl is real. Fortunately, HubSpot plays well with others—and its new AI tools are no exception. Whether it's Salesforce, Dynamics, or Pipedrive, HubSpot's vast integrations and developer-friendly API library ensure data from different platforms converge seamlessly. (And if you need help figuring out how to connect HubSpot to existing tools in your tech stack, we know someone you can call.) 

The Time-Saving Report Descriptions

When you’re building new reports, you can use HubSpot’s AI-assisted report descriptions to develop quick, accessible explanations of the report’s contents. This can help you communicate to your end users precisely what they’re looking at when they access the report. Without this feature, you need to build these descriptions yourself (which takes time) or meet with people to walk them through the report (... which takes more time). 

Now, all of this may sound appealing, but you may be suspicious of the required setup. 

Wondering how you can build your best dashboard (preferably without hours of coding or frustrating troubleshooting)? Glad you asked. 

Practical Tips: Crafting the Perfect Executive Dashboard 

Here are some practical tips to help you get the most out of HubSpot’s AI reporting tools. 

1. Assess your needs. Before diving in, take a moment to reflect on your goals. What are your primary KPIs? What data will show your progress toward reaching your goals?
2. Start simple. Begin with a few essential metrics—the ones you’ve identified as your must-know, ride-or-die datapoints (whether that’s profit margin, pipeline growth, or marketing-sourced revenue). Later, expand and refine your dashboard to include other info you routinely need. 
3. Prioritize visuals. A picture—or a well-designed chart or graph—is worth a thousand words. Use HubSpot's data visualization tools to make your data easily digestible. In our experience, bar charts and line charts work best to show velocity and direction.
4. Seek feedback. Share your dashboard with colleagues. Their insights might help you identify things you’ve overlooked. You can even have these reports automatically sent to the end user on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
5. Stay updated! HubSpot is ever-evolving. Keep an eye on new features and integrations to ensure you're maximizing its potential.

Why go to all this trouble? Doing this up front will help you ...

... save (a lot of) time and effort. Gone are the days of juggling data from multiple sources. HubSpot's AI reporting tools consolidate disparate data, offering a unified view. And the best part? No need for a long wait. Whether you require a deep dive or a quick overview, HubSpot will deliver without delay, helping you neatly sidestep the horrors of both doing time-consuming data analysis and failing to keep up with your data. Plus, HubSpot’s AI-driven report description feature can save you more minutes needlessly spent typing up descriptions every time you create a new report.

... demonstrate value to executive leadership. HubSpot's user-friendly design ensures that even those unused to building reports can generate impactful insights that support their department’s value. Whether you need a snapshot of a successful campaign or a deep dive into quarterly metrics to punctuate a perfect point, HubSpot can help you get the data you need to present with confidence. 

... differentiate between long-term and short-term impacts. Not all campaigns are created equal. Some are marathons. Others are sprints. With HubSpot's AI reporting tools, finding data to show the value of both is easy. Just ask a specific, focused question about what the data says about your campaign. This granularity ensures that executives can justify every dollar spent.

... tie ancillary metrics to core outcomes. While core metrics tend to offer direct, clear insights, ancillary metrics (such as brand awareness, email metrics, or web traffic) generally provide necessary supporting context. However, when pulled on their own, it can be difficult to connect the dots between ancillary metrics and the story you’re trying to tell. HubSpot's AI reporting functionality bridges this gap, ensuring that every metric, primary or ancillary, contributes to a comprehensive narrative.

Make Your Life Easier (and Your Grasp of Data Better) with Accessible Yet Innovative AI Tools 

Executives like you are constantly pressed to make swift, impactful decisions. The key to success? Finding a way to harness accurate data insights—and doing so efficiently. AI tools can help you do that. But we know being told to figure out yet another tool isn’t the fix you need. 

HubSpot's AI reporting tools represent a simple yet powerful solution from a platform you’re probably already using. These AI tools hold the potential to completely transform the way executives approach data, making decision-making more streamlined and effective than ever before. 

If you're looking to delve even deeper into the world of HubSpot and its latest features, join us in our SmartTake Webinar Series: What's New with HubSpot and elevate your decision-making to unparalleled heights.