If your marketing team’s projects are tracked in a mess of spreadsheets, Slack threads, and sticky notes, you’re not alone. The good news: you can build a clear, custom dashboard in Monday that actually helps your team spot what matters, track progress, and keep everyone sane (most of the time).
This guide is for marketing leads, project managers, or anyone in the trenches who wants a dashboard that works for real people—not just for show. We’ll skip the fluff and walk you through, step by step, what you need (and what you can ignore) to build a dashboard that’s actually useful.
Step 1: Get clear on what you want to track
Before you start clicking around, ask yourself (and your team): What do we really need to see, at a glance, to stay on top of our projects?
Don’t try to track everything. If you add too many widgets or columns, your dashboard will just become another thing people avoid.
For most marketing teams, you’ll want to track: - Campaign progress (what’s on track, what’s late) - Key deadlines and launch dates - Who’s doing what - Budget or spend (optional, but helpful) - Results (like leads, traffic, or whatever metric matters most)
Pro tip: Write these down. Seriously, make a quick list. This will keep you from getting lost in Monday’s endless features.
Step 2: Set up the right boards
Monday works around “boards.” A dashboard pulls in data from one or more boards. If your projects are scattered across several boards (say, one for content, one for paid ads), you’ll want to decide if you should combine them or keep them separate.
What works: - One main board for all marketing projects, with a status column for each phase (Planning, In Progress, Blocked, Done). - Or, one board per campaign type (Content, Social, Paid), if your team is big enough.
What doesn’t:
Boards for every little task. You’ll drown in boards and your dashboard will be a mess.
How to set up a board: 1. Click “+ Add” > “New Board.” 2. Name it clearly (“Marketing Projects” works fine). 3. Add columns: Task name, Owner, Status, Deadline, Priority, and any metrics you want (like Budget, Reach).
Ignore:
The fancy templates unless one is really close to what you want. Most are too generic or overloaded.
Step 3: Create your dashboard
Now for the fun part. Dashboards are like your control panel—they pull together the info from your boards into one place.
How to start: 1. Click “Dashboards” on the left sidebar. 2. Hit “+ New Dashboard.” 3. Give it a name (e.g., “Marketing Overview”).
You’ll be asked to select which boards to pull data from. Choose your main project board(s).
Step 4: Add the right widgets (and ditch the rest)
Monday offers a ton of widgets. Most of them you’ll never need. Here’s what’s actually useful for a marketing dashboard:
- Table widget: Shows a list of items filtered by status, owner, date, etc. Great for a “What’s overdue” or “This week’s launches” view.
- Timeline or Gantt widget: Visualizes project phases and bottlenecks. Super helpful for campaign planning.
- Chart widget: For tracking KPIs—leads, site visits, conversions, whatever you care about.
- Calendar widget: See upcoming deadlines or events.
- Number widget: Pulls totals or sums (e.g., total budget spent, number of campaigns live).
What to skip: - The “Battery” widget. It looks cool but isn’t all that useful. - The “Countdown” widget. Only needed for very specific launch events. - Anything that feels like eye candy but doesn’t actually help you answer a real question.
Pro tip:
Start with just 2-3 widgets. You can always add more, but too many will just create noise.
Step 5: Set up filters and views
A dashboard is only as good as its filters. Don’t just dump all your data in—make it easy to spot what’s important.
How to use filters well: - Show “Only tasks due this week” or “Only campaigns marked as Blocked.” - Filter by owner, so each team member can see their workload. - Create dashboard views for different needs (e.g., “Leadership Overview” vs. “Team Standups”).
What works:
Quick filters to see overdue or blocked work. This helps you spot problems before they blow up.
What doesn’t:
Making everyone use the same dashboard with no filters. People will just ignore it.
Step 6: Automate status updates (carefully)
Monday lets you automate a ton of stuff, like sending reminders for overdue tasks or moving items when a status changes.
Useful automations: - Notify the owner when a deadline is coming up. - Move completed tasks to a “Done” group. - Change status to “Stuck” if a task hasn’t been updated in X days.
What to avoid:
Too many notifications. People will ignore them if they’re getting pinged every hour.
Pro tip:
Start with one or two simple automations. Add more only if the team actually finds them helpful.
Step 7: Share and get feedback
Don’t build your dashboard in a vacuum. Share it with your team and ask: What’s missing? What’s confusing? Is anything cluttered or pointless?
- Invite team members to view or edit the dashboard.
- Ask for honest feedback—what do they actually use?
- Be ready to tweak it. No dashboard is perfect on the first try.
What works:
Iterating based on real usage, not what you think people want.
What doesn’t:
Locking down the dashboard and refusing to change it. It’ll just become another tool nobody uses.
Step 8: Review and adjust regularly
Set a reminder once a month (or quarter) to check if your dashboard is still working for you.
- Remove widgets no one looks at.
- Add new metrics if your team’s focus changes.
- Archive old boards or campaigns to keep things tidy.
Honest take:
Dashboards get messy if no one cleans them up. Treat it like the break room fridge—clear out the old stuff now and then.
A few things people get wrong (and how to avoid them)
-
Trying to fit everything in one dashboard.
You’ll end up with a cluttered mess. Make more than one dashboard if you need to. -
Using dashboards as a replacement for conversations.
They’re a tool, not a replacement for talking to your team. -
Chasing fancy features.
Focus on what you actually need. Most teams use the same 3-4 widgets. -
Over-automating.
More automations = more noise. Add them only when they solve a real problem.
Keep it simple and keep improving
Building a dashboard that actually helps your marketing team isn’t about using every bell and whistle Monday offers. It’s about showing the right info—nothing more, nothing less. Start simple, ask for feedback, and don’t be afraid to delete what’s not working. The best dashboards are the ones people actually use—so keep yours lean, clear, and always open to a little tweaking.