Guide 8 of 11 in Level 5: Grow

How to build a marketing dashboard with AI

To build a marketing dashboard with AI in Blackbox (blackbox.plus), click + next to Dashboards in the left menu. Pick Blank (questions) and click Create, then type a question in plain words, such as Which posts got the most saves and shares?, and Blackbox answers it from your brand’s connected ad and social accounts as a draft chart. Change its chart or size, then click Keep. Add a standard widget adds a ready-made number, trend, top posts, campaign table, ad set table, top ads or audience chart without asking anything. Or pick Channel report or Campaign report instead of Blank: tick the platforms or campaigns, and the dashboard arrives filled with spend, results, cost per result, the campaigns, the top creatives and who saw the ads. Export PDF and Export PowerPoint download a title slide and one slide per kept widget. Share gives a read-only link anyone can open without signing in, and Revoke Link turns it off. Each person can ask 50 questions a day.

You'll need
Time
About 5 minutes 10 steps Updated
You'll end with
A dashboard of your own questions, sent as a PDF or slides, or shared as a read-only link
Do it in Blackbox Open Dashboards, after you sign in
Example
A question asked in plain words, answered from the brand’s posts and kept

How to build a marketing dashboard with AI in Blackbox

  1. Step 1:Start a dashboard

    In the left menu, click + next to Dashboards.

    You'll see: The New dashboard window, with the Brand it is for.

    Open this in Blackbox

  2. Step 2:Pick a blank dashboard

    Click Blank (questions), then click Create.

    You'll see: Your new dashboard, with a box to ask a question.

  3. Step 3:Ask a question

    Type a question in plain words, such as “Which posts got the most saves and shares?”, and press Enter.

    You'll see: A Draft card that fills in with the answer as a chart.

  4. Step 4:Change how it looks

    On the draft, pick a chart such as Bar or Table, and a size: S, M or L.

    You'll see: The draft redrawn each time you pick, still marked Draft.

  5. Step 5:Keep it

    Click Keep.

    You'll see: The widget saved on the dashboard, with Export PDF, Export PowerPoint and Share above it.

  6. Step 6:Add a standard widget

    Click Add a standard widget, pick one such as Top posts or Audience, and click Add draft.

    You'll see: A new draft straight from your numbers, to keep the same way.

  7. Step 7:Download it

    Click Export PDF or Export PowerPoint.

    You'll see: A file with a title slide, then one slide per widget.

  8. Step 8:Share a read-only link

    Click Share, then Copy. Once a link exists, the button reads Share Link.

    You'll see: Anyone with this link can view this dashboard (read-only).

  9. Step 9:Check what they see

    Open the link in a private window.

    You'll see: The title and widgets, with Shared dashboard · Read-only view at the bottom.

  10. Step 10:Turn the link off

    Click Share Link, then Revoke Link.

    You'll see: Share on the button again, and the old link opens Dashboard Unavailable.

Good to know

  • Questions only read the brand the dashboard is for: its connected ad and social accounts.
  • Each person can ask 50 questions a day. Standard widgets, keeping a draft and changing the date range don’t count.
  • Kept widgets follow the dashboard’s date range, Last 30 days to start. Change it above the widgets.
  • Exports are made in your browser from the kept widgets; drafts are left out.
  • A share link works for a year for anyone who has it. Anyone who can open the dashboard can share it or revoke the link.
  • Only an admin or the person who made a dashboard can delete it: point at its name in the left menu, click the bin, then Delete.
  • Ads report, in the same New dashboard window, is a ready-made page of spend and results across every channel, ending with the top creatives and who saw the ads, with no questions to ask.
  • Channel report and Campaign report start filled for the platforms or campaigns you tick: spend, results and cost per result, a spend trend, the campaigns, Top creatives by spend and an audience chart. Add to them like any other dashboard.
  • Results count what each campaign is for: link or landing-page clicks for traffic, leads for lead generation, video views for video, purchases for sales. Cost per result follows.
  • Top ads and “spend and results by ad” show each ad’s picture, headline and format next to its numbers (Meta and LinkedIn). The Audience widget shows who saw the ads: job function, seniority, industry or company on LinkedIn, age, gender or country on Meta, for one of the preset ranges.
  • On LinkedIn the campaign table lists campaign groups, the campaigns your client knows; what Campaign Manager calls campaigns sit in the Ad set table.
  • Long campaign names in an agency’s naming style are shortened to the part that names the campaign; point at one to see it in full.
  • For a client report from LinkedIn Ads, see How to report on LinkedIn Ads.

If something doesn't work

The draft shows Try asking instead of a chart

Blackbox couldn’t answer that from your data. Click the suggested question, or rewrite yours in the box below it and click Ask.

I don’t see Export PDF or Share

They appear once the dashboard has a kept widget. Click Keep on a draft first.

It says I’ve reached today’s question limit

You’ve asked 50 questions today. Kept widgets still update when you change the date range, and new questions open again tomorrow.

The + next to Dashboards opens the plans page

Dashboards need an active plan. Start one, or start it again — see How to change or cancel your Blackbox subscription.

The shared link says Dashboard Unavailable

The link was revoked or is over a year old. Open the dashboard, click Share for a new link and send that one.

Which kind of dashboard should I pick?

Blank when you have questions of your own. Ads report for one page of spend and results across every channel. Channel report for only the platforms you tick, Campaign report for only the campaigns you tick, both filled from the start. Every kind takes more widgets afterwards.

Stuck at any step? Send us a message and we'll do it with you on a call. All of Level 5: Grow