The essentials
- The issue: stop juggling ten tools (Google Ads, Meta, LinkedIn, Mailchimp, Search Console) to understand where the growth comes from and where to put the budget.
- The golden rule: three or four metrics per channel, a neutral source for the results, UTM conventions and shared definitions.
- Structure: one consolidated page (results and cost per result by channel), one page per channel, one measurement page; six to eight visuals per page.
- 2026 costs: €1,500 to €4,000 to build in Looker Studio with third-party connectors, €50 to €300 per month; or €40 to €200 per month on an integrated platform.
A small business active on several channels checks Google Ads, Meta, LinkedIn, Search Console, GA4, its email tool and its CRM every week, without ever seeing each one's contribution side by side. The multichannel dashboard solves that problem: it brings the channels together in a single interface, with shared definitions, to spot the synergies and arbitrate the budget. This article gives the method: sources, conventions, structure, metrics per channel, tools, costs and pitfalls. The choice between a single view and separate views is covered in a single dashboard or one per channel, and the general definition in digital marketing dashboard: a definition.
Step 1: list the sources and connect them
| Channel | Source | Connection | Data to extract |
|---|---|---|---|
| Site and results | GA4 | Native connector (Looker Studio), API, BigQuery | Sessions by source, conversions, value, audiences |
| SEO | Search Console | Native connector | Impressions, clicks, positions by page and query |
| GEO | AI citation tracking tool, GA4 referrals | Connector or export | Citations, traffic from the assistants |
| SEA | Google Ads | Native connector | Spend, clicks, declared conversions, impression share |
| Social ads | Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok | Third-party connectors (paid) or export | Spend, reach, clicks, declared conversions, frequency |
| Organic social | Native statistics or a management tool | Third-party connector or export | Reach, engagement, clicks |
| Email tool | Third-party connector or export | Sends, clicks, conversions | |
| Sales and leads | CRM, e-commerce platform | Connector, export, spreadsheet | Leads, opportunities, closed deals, orders, margin, originating source |
| Costs | Invoices, spreadsheet | Spreadsheet | Fees, creative, tools by channel and by month |
Third-party connectors for Meta, LinkedIn and email tools cost €30 to €150 per month in 2026; they are compared in the best Looker Studio connectors. For large volumes or a long history, exporting GA4 to BigQuery is the durable solution; see BigQuery and GA4.
Step 2: set the conventions that make the channels comparable
- UTMs: a written convention (source, medium, campaign, content) applied to every link, including email, organic social and QR codes; the method is in tagging your digital campaigns.
- The neutral source: the results (leads, sales) come from GA4 with data-driven attribution or from the CRM, never from the sum of the platforms' conversions, which exceeds reality by 30 to 80%.
- Definitions: a one-page glossary: conversion rate (on sessions), cost per result (full spend / results from a neutral source), qualified traffic (engaged sessions), and so on.
- The full cost: media spend plus fees, creative and tools, split by channel each month in an attached spreadsheet.
- The period and the time zone: identical across every source; the default comparison is the same month of the previous year.
Step 3: structure the pages
- Page 1, consolidated: a channel-by-channel table (full spend, results from a neutral source, cost per result, share of results, trend), the leadership metrics with targets, a stacked 12-month curve of results by channel.
- Channel pages: one per channel, with its three or four metrics and the detail (campaigns, pages, formats).
- Measurement page: key events per day, share of consented traffic, unattributed traffic, gap between the platforms' conversions and GA4, date of the last tag changes.
- Synergies page: optional, to read the cross effects: brand searches after a social campaign, assisted conversions by channel, multichannel journeys; see data-driven attribution.
Step 4: three or four metrics per channel
| Channel | Metrics kept | What stays in reserve |
|---|---|---|
| SEO | Non-brand organic sessions, organic leads, keywords in the top 10, pages in decline | Detailed positions, backlinks, crawl errors |
| GEO | Citations on the key queries, traffic from AI assistants, associated leads | Detail by assistant |
| SEA | Spend, cost per conversion (neutral source), impression share, brand share | CTR, CPC, quality score, terms |
| Social ads | Spend, cost per result on click, frequency, share of new customers | CPM, CTR, creatives |
| Organic social | Traffic to the site, inbound leads, engagement rate, reach | Followers, posts |
| Clicks, conversions, revenue, unsubscribes | Opens, deliverability (as an alert) | |
| Site | Conversion rate by source, funnel, speed | Page views, bounce |
The full list by advertising channel is in the KPIs to measure by advertising channel.
Step 5: choose the tool
| Tool | Suits | 2026 cost |
|---|---|---|
| Looker Studio with third-party connectors | Small businesses with internal skills or an agency, mostly Google sources | €1,500 to €4,000 to build, €50 to €300 per month |
| Looker Studio with BigQuery | Large volumes, long history, governance | €3,000 to €8,000, €20 to €100 per month for storage and queries |
| Power BI | Companies equipped with Microsoft, advanced modelling | €3,000 to €10,000, licences |
| Integrated marketing platform | Small businesses with no data skills, needing autonomy and alerts | €40 to €200 per month, minimal building |
The features of the most widespread tool are detailed in Looker Studio, and connecting GA4 and Search Console in connecting GA4 and Search Console in a dashboard.
The pitfalls of multichannel
- Adding up the platforms' conversions: the total exceeds reality; only the neutral source splits it.
- Forgetting the non-media costs: SEO looks free, LinkedIn looks ruinous; with the full cost, the ranking changes.
- Comparing different time frames: Google Ads produces in days, SEO in months; the comparison is made over the quarter and on mature channels.
- Too many metrics: ten per channel over seven channels makes 70 visuals; the rule is three or four.
- Connectors that break: every API change interrupts a source; the measurement page and a missing-data alert flag it.
- The agency's dashboard: built in their account, with their definitions; the multichannel dashboard belongs to the company.
How GreenRed helps
Rather than juggling several tools, GreenRed's overview brings these metrics together in a single dashboard, compares them over time and tells you which actions come first. You can try it free, with no card, from the Pricing.
Frequently asked questions
What is a multichannel dashboard?
A dashboard that brings together in a single interface the data from every marketing channel (SEO, GEO, SEA, social ads, organic social, email, site, CRM), with shared definitions and conventions, to compare each channel's contribution and cost per result and arbitrate the budget.
How many metrics per channel?
Three or four: for example spend, cost per conversion from a neutral source, impression share and brand share for SEA; non-brand sessions, organic leads, keywords in the top 10 and pages in decline for SEO. The other metrics stay in reserve in the tools or on secondary pages.
How do you make the channels comparable?
With a UTM convention applied to every link, a neutral source (GA4 or CRM) for the results, a glossary of definitions, the full cost per channel (media, fees, creative, tools) and an identical period across every source, compared with the same month of the previous year.
Which tool for a multichannel dashboard in 2026?
Looker Studio with third-party connectors for Meta, LinkedIn and email (€1,500 to €4,000 to build, €50 to €300 per month), BigQuery for large volumes, Power BI for Microsoft companies, or an integrated marketing platform at €40 to €200 per month for a small business with no data skills.
Why not add up the conversions from Google, Meta and LinkedIn?
Because each platform attributes to itself any conversion preceded by a click or a view within its window: the same purchase is counted several times and the total exceeds reality by 30 to 80%. Only a neutral source such as GA4 with data-driven attribution or the CRM splits the results between channels.