The Marketer’s Donut: From Manual Charts to AI Autopilot

Picture this: it’s Monday morning, your CEO wants to see which campaigns actually drove revenue last week, and you’re still dragging CSVs into Google Sheets. Let’s walk through how to build donut charts the traditional way, then progressively automate them until an AI computer agent does the heavy lifting for you.

‍

1. Manual ways to build donut charts in Google Sheets

‍

1.1 Basic donut chart for channel mix

Use when: You need a quick view of how each channel contributes to total leads or revenue.

1. In Google Sheets, create a table:
   • Column A: Channel (e.g., Google Ads, Meta, Email, Referral).
   • Column B: Leads or Revenue (positive numbers only).
2. Select the full range, including headers (for example A1:B6).
3. Click Insert → Chart.
4. In the Chart editor on the right, under Setup, change Chart type to Donut chart.
5. Sheets uses column A as labels and column B as values. If not, set Label to column A and Value to column B.
6. Go to Customize → Pie chart to:
   • Adjust Donut hole size (50–60% usually looks good).
   • Turn on percentages as labels.

Google’s official instructions for pie and donut charts are here: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/9143036

‍

1.2 Donut chart for regional performance

Use when: You report revenue or users by region.

1. Structure your data like Google’s “Sales by region” example:
   • Column A: Region (N America, Europe, APAC, etc.).
   • Column B: Percentage or absolute value.
2. Repeat steps from 1.1 to insert a chart, then pick Donut chart.
3. In Customize → Pie slice:
   • Assign intuitive colors (e.g., blue for North America, green for Europe).
4. In Customize → Chart & axis titles, set a clear title like “Revenue by Region – Q2”.

More detail on formatting and customizing: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/63824

‍

1.3 Comparing feedback or sentiment

Use when: You want to visualize survey or NPS outcomes.

1. Use a simple table:
   • Column A: Positive, Neutral, Negative.
   • Column B: Counts or percentages.
2. Insert a donut chart as before.
3. Under Customize → Legend, position the legend on the right or bottom for readability.
4. Optionally remove the legend and show only labels and percentages on slices.

This is almost identical to Google’s “Course feedback” example, just using a donut instead of a classic pie.

‍

1.4 Tips for cleaner manual charts

• Keep categories to 3–7 slices; beyond that, use grouping (e.g., “Other”).
• Avoid 3D effects; stay with flat donuts for clarity.
• Ensure all values are positive; zeros and negatives won’t show.

‍

2. No‑code ways to keep donut charts updated

Manual works for a one‑off. But for an agency, sales team, or recurring weekly report, you want data flowing in automatically while Google Sheets updates the donut chart.

‍

2.1 Use connected data and formulas

Good for: Teams already living in Sheets who just need less copy‑paste.

1. Connect your source data to Google Sheets using:
   • Import range from another sheet: =IMPORTRANGE("source_spreadsheet_url","Tab!A1:B100").
   • CSV URL imports if your tool exposes a file link.
2. Point your donut chart at a dynamic named range that grows as data updates.
3. When raw data updates, the donut recalculates automatically—no need to touch the chart.

Reference on chart ranges and data: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/190718

‍

Pros:

• 100% inside Google Sheets.
• No extra tools if your data is already in Sheets.

‍

Cons:

• Still requires you to set up imports.
• Breaks if sheet structures change.

‍

2.2 Zapier / Make / similar no‑code automations

Good for: Agencies and sales teams pulling from CRMs, ad platforms, or email tools.

Example: Automatically update a “Leads by Source” donut.

1. In your automation tool, set a trigger such as “New lead in HubSpot” or “New row in Airtable”.
2. Action: Create or update row in Google Sheets in a normalized table (Date, Source, Amount, etc.).
3. In Sheets, base a summary table on that data using QUERY or PIVOT TABLE to aggregate by Source.
4. Point your donut chart to the summary table.
5. Every new lead automatically lands in Sheets, updates the summary, and refreshes the donut.

‍

Pros:

• No coding. Connect many SaaS tools to Google Sheets.
• Great for small recurring workflows.

‍

Cons:

• Per‑task pricing can get expensive at scale.
• Still limited to structured APIs—anything outside those flows is manual.

‍

2.3 Apps Script “lite automation”

Technically code, but worth mentioning.

1. Use Extensions → Apps Script to write small functions that:
   • Pull fresh data from APIs.
   • Refresh pivot tables.
   • Rebuild or relabel charts.
2. Set time‑based triggers (e.g., hourly) so charts stay up to date.

Docs for scripts managing Sheets objects: https://developers.google.com/apps-script/guides/sheets

‍

Pros:

• Very flexible. Control every pixel of the chart.

‍

Cons:

• Requires JavaScript comfort.
• Not accessible to most marketers and sales reps.

‍

3. Scaling with AI computer agents (Simular)

At some point, your workflows spill beyond what APIs and zaps can touch: downloading CSVs, logging into dashboards, cleaning weird exports, or building one‑off donut charts for clients.

This is where Simular’s AI computer agents become your “reporting assistant” that actually uses your computer like a human.

‍

3.1 Agent builds recurring Google Sheets donut dashboards

Scenario: A performance agency creating weekly channel‑mix donut charts for 15 clients.

‍

With Simular Pro:

1. You specify the workflow in natural language: log into each ad account, export performance, open the right Google Sheet, paste or upload data, refresh the summary table, then insert or update a donut chart.
2. The Simular agent operates across your browser and desktop, clicking through the exact UIs you’d use.
3. Because Simular is designed for production‑grade reliability with thousands of steps, the same runbook can scale across many clients.
4. You inspect its transparent execution trace—every click and keystroke is logged and modifiable.

‍

Pros:

• Works even when tools don’t expose a clean API.
• Automates nearly everything a human can do around Google Sheets, browsers, and files.
• Easy to extend your workflow (e.g., export chart as image, drop into a deck, email to client).

‍

Cons:

• Requires an initial setup and testing loop.
• Best suited once you have a repeatable reporting pattern.

‍

3.2 Agent curates executive‑ready donut reports

‍

Scenario: A SaaS founder wants a daily donut chart of MRR by plan and leads by source, ready before their morning coffee.

Your Simular agent can:

1. Open your billing tool and CRM in the browser.
2. Export or scrape the latest data.
3. Open a Google Sheet dashboard, paste data into raw tabs.
4. Refresh formulas/pivots.
5. Update or recreate donut charts for MRR by plan, leads by source, or churn by reason.
6. Download the chart as PNG from Sheets and drop it into a slide deck or email draft.

You can then trigger this via a webhook from your existing pipeline, or on a schedule, so the dashboard feels “alive” without you touching anything.

‍

3.3 Choosing the right level of automation

• Manual Sheets only: Best for one‑off analyses or early‑stage teams.
• No‑code automations: Great for simple, API‑friendly workflows.
• Simular AI agents: Ideal when you’re repeating the same cross‑app process, working across messy UIs, or serving many clients with similar Google Sheets donut dashboards.

By starting with a single donut chart and gradually delegating the surrounding busywork to an AI computer agent, you turn reporting from a weekly time sink into a background process that simply delivers insight.

Heading 1

Heading 2

Heading 3

Heading 4

Heading 5

Heading 6

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.

Block quote

Ordered list

1. Item 1
2. Item 2
3. Item 3

Unordered list

• Item A
• Item B
• Item C

Text link

Bold text

Emphasis

^Superscript

_Subscript