3 Steps to Get Started with Analytics Dashboards | Tableau from Salesforce | Salesforce Explained

What's up everybody? I'm Brian Tong, your guide to all things Salesforce. And this is Salesforce Explained. It's a series where we talk about Salesforce and technology without all the jargon or the buzzwords. So make sure to subscribe to the Salesforce channel and turn on those notifications so you never miss an episode. Okay, today we're going to talk about three easy ways to get started with analytics dashboards. Using tableau for from Salesforce, we're gonna define what analytics dashboards are, why they matter for your business, and then, yep, three easy ways for you to start working with them. So what is an analytics dashboard? It's a way of visually displaying different types of data in one place to tell a story using visualizations. So we're talking about tables, graphs and charts. A dashboard is often used to show different but related information, AKA data, in an easy to digest visual way. That's. That's unlike spreadsheets with only columns and rows. The visualizations reveal trends, patterns and insights. And fun fact. You can visualize and analyze any kind of data, personal or professional, in a dashboard. And I mean any kind. Like what's the most listened to songs on your favorite music platform or how your marketing campaign is performing. And then hey, what about days your fitness tracker says you took the most steps? Or what superhero films are people's favorites. So you're likely interested in building or interacting with dashboards that include things like KPIs, forecasted revenue, or other important metrics that your stakeholders need to see and understand so that they can do their jobs. Now, some examples include dashboards that help you understand sales performance by territory or region, review and adjust digital marketing budgets, or examine and improve service or call center times. That's just to name a few. Now you can interact with dashboards to see what has happened in a situation, why it happened, what could happen in the future, and what actions that you can take to change course. So for example, let's say you work for a bank or insurance company and you could potentially use an analytics dashboard to detect potential risks or fraud before it happens and then take action to monitor suspicious activity, ultimately improving the security and privacy of not only your company's investments, but but also your customers accounts. And why is this so important? Well, more and more people are learning how to work with data, preparing, analyzing, exploring and visualizing it in dashboards. And most people are not data analysts or have technical or mathematical skills. Maybe me, I'm one of those. Maybe one of those people. But look, times have changed and Knowing how to at least interact with data is becoming a basic requirement of most jobs you because the future of business is A1 plus data. Oops. AI. Not A1. I'm thinking like A1 sauce. Whoops. The future of business is AI plus data plus CRM. And thankfully, using a visual analytics platform like Tableau from Salesforce helps you make this happen and it makes it intuitive to work with data, building analytics dashboards that help drive customer success. You can apply advanced AI techniques with just a few clicks and not code with data stories. That's an AI feature that uses natural language generation or NLG to make data more approachable with plain language summaries of your dashboard so that anyone viewing it can confidently understand what's going on and make decisions based on the data that you've provided. So this is going to save you and your audience a whole lot of time and potential confusion. But by automating the analysis, build and communication of insights. So now here, why do analytics dashboards matter for your business? Well, they matter because 1. You can reduce costs and boost efficiency at your company. You can use data to better understand your business and operate more efficiently, saving money and time by automating workflows or shifting resources away from things that you've learned aren't effective or or profitable and you're increasingly making smarter data driven decisions. Now two, you can reduce complexity. Analytics dashboards help you understand your data in the right context so actionable insights can come to life. And tableau is for everyone, no matter your skill level, from the most advanced to a total newbie. Now you'll also be able to use data like a pro for any decision. In fact, customers report an average 27% decrease in and time needed to analyze information. And then three, you can increase productivity. Who doesn't want that, right? Tableau creates magic by combining the best of what people and technology can offer with out of the box and intelligent capabilities so that you can focus on driving your business forward with insights from data instead of being bogged down by manual processes. Now what does that look like? Well, it can look like an entire organization collaborating and acting on real time analytics to improve productivity and navigate change together as a team. Now, customers report a 29% average increase in productivity after implementing Tableau. And look, those numbers, they just don't lie. All right, now we've gone over what the why and now let's dig into the how. Right? Here are three easy ways for you to start building analytics dashboards. Now first, begin by focusing on your goals and audience. The point here is to create dashboards that are relevant and meaningful for your audience, helping them to understand key information. So if you build a dashboard and no one is around to use it, does it make an impact? Okay, all jokes aside, here are some questions that you're going to want to ask yourself. The goal of your dashboard is to emphasize trends or patterns in your data, so clarity that is key. Now, after your stakeholders view your dashboard, you'll want them to take action. For example, they could potentially repackage sales offers based on the successful practices of certain sales teams. Or they could adjust digital advertising spend, investing more money in the channels that your dashboard has revealed. Perform better than others okay, next, let's connect to your data set wherever it's housed. I mean, don't you have any raw data of your own? Because when you download a free trial of Tableau, you'll receive sample data sources to get you started. Or you can check out Tableau Public for more data sets, search for a topic you're interested in, browse for inspiration, and then download the workbook connected to the dashboard that you selected to access the data set. You can automate data prep without expensive IT resources, and by using Tableau Prep Builder, you can access, combine and clean disconnected data without writing any code and in just a few clicks. And finally, build your view with best practices in mind. Some basic do's and don'ts include do keep your chart type and design simple, at least until you've got more experience under your belt. Do use color carefully only with the purpose of calling out certain numbers or metrics, and don't overload your audience or confuse your message by including too many views. Okay, if you're feeling stuck, hey, don't worry. There are so many ways to get help with the free resources available to you, like reaching out to the Data fam. That's right, fam. These resources include pre built dashboards called tableau accelerators, templates, and how to videos. So check out the links in the description below. And if you want to learn more about how Salesforce uses Tableau, click the link on screen and we will see you all next time.