CMO’s Perspective – Dashboard Affairs: Looker Studio vs. Power BI | Part 2

Confessions from a marketer casually dating two dashboards — with equal parts curiosity and caffeine...

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Dear Diary,

You know that feeling when your funnel report looks like a half-eaten croissant? Yeah. That’s my GA4-to-HubSpot setup right now.

But I did find something interesting comparing Looker Studio and Power BI for end-to-end campaign visibility.

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Note to self 1: Looker Studio Pros

✅ GA4 + Google Ads + LinkedIn Ads? Perfect trio.
✅ HubSpot integration means I can actually see how MQLs turn into SQLs.
✅ Real-time traffic and conversion updates — instant gratification for marketers.

Risks
⚠️ To Consider: Meta (Facebook & Instagram Ads) requires a 3rd-party connector (Supermetrics, Funnel.io, Windsor.ai, etc.).
⚠️ Limited flexibility for advanced multi-touch attribution. It still thinks linearly.
⚠️ If you need granular campaign-level reporting, you better bring BigQuery to the party.
⚠️ To Consider: Predictive insights possible via 3rd-party (e.g., BigQuery ML)

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Note to self 2: Power BI Pros

✅ Great for multi-touch attribution. You can model journeys from awareness to opportunity creation – and include even offline touchpoints like events or call tracking.
✅ Handles massive datasets.
✅ Predictive lead scoring and churn risk via Azure ML = ✨chef’s kiss✨.

Risks
⚠️ To Consider: Requires 3rd-party connectors for GA4 & ad data.
⚠️ To Consider: Refresh is not instant; patience is a virtue.
⚠️ Without BI support, marketers may start stress-baking.

Wizard, help me decode this love triangle — Looker Studio gives me instant funnel snapshots, while Power BI whispers sweet nothings about predictive modeling and offline attribution. Do I stick with quick campaign insights or commit to deep data therapy? And how do I stop my funnel from looking like a croissant every Monday morning? 🥐📈

I swear she says that every time. This lady’s obsessed with “source of truth.” I’m starting to think she’d build a shrine to DAX measures if I let her.

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Note to self: My Takeaway

The funnel isn’t broken — it’s just hungry for context.

Looker Studio keeps me nimble when I need campaign updates at a glance, but Power BI delivers when the story needs to stretch from awareness to opportunity.

Maybe the secret isn’t choosing one, but learning which layer of the funnel deserves which dashboard’s attention (and a fresh croissant on the side). 🥐💡

(Dashboard images: Microsoft Power BI, Google Looker Studio)

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Data visualisation empowers marketing to boost performance, and the lack of it leaves teams literally in the dark. I created this three-post quick assessment to understand how Looker Studio and Power BI can help connect marketing insights and pipeline value.