Data Visualization for Marketers: 10 Expert Tips and 6 Best Tools

Entrepreneurs have entry to extra information than they want. Your time on this web page has already generated information on the pop-ups you shut, how briskly you learn, and the place your cursor stops. 

To extract worth from the numbers in your analytics tools and in your dashboard, it is advisable to manage them.

Bar graphs, pie charts, and matrices are information visualization instruments that reveal traits and key findings in an comprehensible and interesting format. 

On this article, you’ll be taught use data visualization to scale your group via accomplice networks, gross sales enablement, and product-led content material. We’ll additionally take a look at superior information modeling instruments to automate your information illustration. 

Easy methods to use information visualization to speed up development 

A graph that factors up and to the best shortly alerts development. Likewise, giant vs. small bars or bubbles assist viewers grasp comparisons sooner than they will glean them from a spreadsheet of numbers.

How you current info is essential to getting viewers to know what they’re taking a look at and getting buy-in, whoever the viewers could also be.

Entrepreneurs use information visuals in two methods:

• Internally. Representing information to stakeholders and group members to know the market, progress, financials, and many others.
• Externally. Demonstrating findings from analysis or analytics in content material.

Whether or not your viewers is a gaggle of inside stakeholders or clients, information visuals is usually a highly effective device to speed up development. Let’s take a look at how to do that via three channels: companions, gross sales, and product. 

Collaborate with companions on information

You should utilize information visuals to create sales enablement presentations and case studies for enterprise companions.

Find data points and analytics that align along with your companions’ enterprise targets. Use these to create graphics that deal with their challenges.

UK-based gymnasium Everyone Active and Weight Watchers (WW) shaped a model partnership in 2021.

WW research revealed that 41% of British individuals admitted to a weight improve through the 2020 Covid-19 lockdowns, and 65% of these surveyed gained seven kilos or extra.

Everybody Lively entrepreneurs used this information to emphasise the significance of figuring out on staying wholesome, creating a variety of advertising and marketing supplies and promotions that align the manufacturers.

Assist gross sales reps talk with leads and different departments

When designed as gross sales enablement property, information visuals can align sales and marketing teams.

Knowledge visuals make it simple to your gross sales groups to:

• Assist leads with decision-making by displaying them the way you’ve helped different companies (or people) develop their model; 
• Showcase trade traits via graphs and charts; 
• Converse the identical language because the advertising and marketing group and work in direction of the identical targets. 

Coordinate with gross sales to establish buyer issues. Then gather information for the associated metrics and create visuals.

Let’s say your organization sells an clever paid promotion device, however prospects will not be changing due to the time it takes to see outcomes.

The advertising and marketing group not too long ago observed that clients triple their gross sales after six months of use on common. Your gross sales groups can use this metric to indicate prospects precisely how lengthy it takes to see outcomes and the rise in gross sales previous that time. 

As an alternative of presenting gross sales groups with a bullet listing of “helpful metrics,” give them the information in visuals. This manner, they will collect the knowledge at a look whereas on a name or copy the graph instantly into an e-mail.

I interviewed Tina Donati, Head of Advertising at Alloy Automation, to find out how every advertising and marketing operate can use information visuals: 

Use information visuals internally—extensively.

You’ll be able to most likely take a look at the information with out visuals and perceive it, however individuals on different groups don’t have that very same context that you simply do in regards to the tasks you’re engaged on. 

So, having these visuals tells the story about why you labored on a mission and the way profitable it was. And helps you paint the argument about why sure tasks are value spending extra time on than others.

Knowledge visuals create a standard level of reference for groups throughout your group. 

With that in thoughts, listed below are extra methods to make use of information visualization internally and foster interdepartmental alignment:

• Present visitors distribution from completely different channels, campaigns, and advertising and marketing initiatives;
• Present outcomes of A/B testing content material and messaging;

• Point out ready-to-buy prospects and the way they measure in your lead scoring matrix;
• Categorize leads based mostly on demographics, geography, and firm dimension; 

• Perceive patterns of use (e.g., what clients love, what they appear previous, and what they have interaction with);
• Present the place clients cease utilizing your product or depart. 

We’ll take a look at methods to symbolize information and insights like this in a second. 

Share essential info with clients

You should utilize information visuals to share info like product enhancements, customer journeys, and trade traits that emphasize your product’s worth. 

You’ll be able to see customer-facing information visualizations in lots of locations: on net pages, in weblog content material, in YouTube movies, and on social media. Some of the widespread locations you see information visualizations is in lead magnets, like ebooks.

Gartner uses data visualization to symbolize their analysis findings:

As an alternative of “one more bullet listing,” assist your clients visualize information in a memorable—and shareable—approach.

Earlier than you begin visualization

You could possibly be creating an information visualization for a variety of causes: you’ve recognized an fascinating pattern in your analytics, you commissioned a research and wish to symbolize the outcomes, you’ve been requested to offer a presentation.

No matter your motivation: begin with the target in thoughts. 

Realizing why you’re creating the visualization will make it easier to (or your design group) select the best option to show it. For some, will probably be apparent as a result of it’s what they got down to be taught within the first place. Others might want to nail down an goal earlier than designing their information.

You’ll be able to uncover your goal by contemplating 4 questions:

• Who’s your viewers?
• What are their ache factors?
• What do you wish to obtain via the visualization?
• Which information factors are related to your viewers?

As with all advertising and marketing train, the solutions to those questions must be data-driven.

Let’s say you’re an organization with an HR resolution. You wish to create information visuals about workers who stop their jobs in 2021. By means of qualitative surveys, you would possibly be taught:

• Your viewers is HR leaders at firms producing not less than $2 million in ARR. 
• They’re struggling to retain workers after a development interval and their very own insights level to dissatisfaction within the size of time to promotions.
• You need these leaders to think about your continued-development device to assist workers upskill and promote via the ranks faster.
• You might want to present them information on the connection between function efficiency and entry to upskilling alternatives.

Your readers don’t wish to sift via the numbers. They need to be capable of get the message shortly out of your visuals. 

For instance, this visible by The Predictive Index signifies that firms that implement expertise optimization carry out higher of their roles:

Determine how a lot time and price range you’ll put into your information visualization forward of time. Knowledge for an inside presentation will seemingly have a special project management process to information offered for patrons.

For instance, if the target is to create shareable content material to generate brand awareness, you’ll have to do extra analysis to be taught what’s trending in your chosen channels, resolve the place you’ll promote the content material, and also you’ll most likely have to ebook a design group.

On this, former Head of Advertising at The Predictive Index and creator of the Analysis Report Playbook, Erin Balsa shares her recommendation:

Whenever you’re utilizing information visuals to share the findings of a survey or analysis publicly, work along with your designers to establish which findings and what shows might be fashionable on social channels. 

Then, put essentially the most effort into the inventive visuals on the touchdown web page as a result of these are the important thing to convincing your readers to obtain your full report.

Nail down your aims earlier than designing your information. This manner, you’ll see any extra steps that it is advisable to take to attain your objective with this information visualization.

6 examples of superior information visualization 

There are various forms of information visualizations. Static histograms and line graphs look antiquated and misplaced on a dynamic webpage or housed in a flashy e-book.

Massive information units don’t imply it is advisable to shrink back from beautiful data representations.

To have interaction your viewers, whether or not inside or exterior, think about placing your information into a few of as we speak’s extra fashionable information visualizations.

1. The magic quadrant

The magic quadrant, usually referred to as the two×2 matrix or the four-blocker, is nice for reporting variations (i.e. opposites) or information factors throughout two ranging scales.

The quadrants usually symbolize information factors that point out strengths vs. weaknesses, excessive variables vs. low variables, or good vs. unhealthy. It’s just like a scatter plot however with an added dimension.

Gartner’s magic quadrant is an instance of a branded 2×2 matrix that plots an organization’s skill to execute towards its completeness of imaginative and prescient.

Magic quadrants are helpful for conceptualizing complicated information the place an information level would possibly include as much as 4 traits.

Use a magic quadrant in instances like:

• Significance and urgency (excessive/low significance and excessive/low urgency);
• Price vs. advantages (excessive/low price and little/higher profit);
• Time vs. cash (much less/extra time and fewer/more cash). 

2.  Warmth Maps

Warmth maps, additionally referred to as warmth tables or density maps, present correlations, comparisons, distributions, and traits over time.

McKinsey makes use of a warmth map to indicate the frequency of synthetic intelligence methods throughout completely different industries:

Right here’s one other instance of warmth maps used to symbolize fashionable occasions of day that folks spend home searching:

And right here’s a density map in 3D representing the inhabitants of Manhattan:

You’ll be able to clearly see the densest areas the place individuals dwell and it’s way more participating than numbers in a desk. 

Use warmth maps to indicate information like:

• Prospects in a geographic space;
• Engagement throughout completely different social media channels; 
• Actions at particular occasions of the day or months of the 12 months; 
• Reputation of merchandise. 

3. Stacked Bar

A stacked bar is used to indicate comparisons between completely different classes of knowledge or when representing components of a complete. 

This graph exhibits a prediction about investments in gas varieties between 2019 and 2035:

You will get inventive along with your stacked bar charts, comparable to this illustration of loaf  substances:

Stacked bar charts can provide you plenty of info at a look. You’ll be able to clearly see relationships between components that make up a complete in addition to whether or not that entire will increase or decreases.

Use stacked bar graphs to indicate information like:

4. Sunburst diagrams

If you wish to boost your organizational graphs, think about choosing a sunburst diagram (additionally referred to as a hoop chart or multi-level pie chart) over a conventional hierarchy diagram.

These diagrams will let you symbolize comparisons of classes whereas additionally representing subcategories.

That is represented on this extremely shareable espresso taste wheel by the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA):

Right here’s an interactive information visualization representing the recognition of vacation days worldwide:

This vacation ring chart is a dynamic approach of presenting info; by clicking on any line, customers can see what number of international locations take part in every vacation. 

What might simply have been a bullet listing or a bar chart on a slide is now offered in a extra participating medium.

Its interactive nature makes it extra appropriate for non-presentation settings, comparable to internet hosting on landing pages or blogs or linking to it on social media.

Use sunburst charts to reveal information like:

• Fashionable merchandise by class and subcategories;
• Your present weblog catalog;
• Trade info;
• Social media segments throughout channels.

5. Stream charts

Stream charts are used to symbolize comparisons and distribution modifications over time. The variations are positioned on high of one another round a central axis.

Right here’s a stream chart representing the most typical complaints made to a New York public assist quantity over the span of 1 week:

And one other displaying the variety of Winter Olympic medals per nation over time:

It is a nice one to get inventive with utilizing model colours. Use the stream chart to reveal large variations, as minor modifications might be harder to see.

Use stream charts to indicate information like:

• How buyer segments have modified over a interval;
• Fashionable actions relying on the time of day;
• Behaviors throughout a 12 months.

6. Bubble charts and maps

Bubble charts show three dimensions of knowledge: an x-axis, a y-axis, and the scale of the information level. A bubble map shows the scale of the variable on a map somewhat than a grid.

Right here’s a bubble map of Banksy artwork worldwide:

Right here’s a bubble chart representing the connection between earnings and life expectancy in numerous international locations:

You’ll be able to symbolize complicated datasets in a understandable approach utilizing visualizations. It doesn’t have to take up a sizeable chunk of time and price range to take action both. 

Use bubble maps and charts to reveal information like:

• Reputation of actions or purchases in a geographic space;
• The variety of brick-and-mortar tales in a metropolis;
• The recognition of particular actions globally.

Most organizations have already got entry to spreadsheets that may create primary visualizations. Google Sheets and Excel are the go-to instruments to shortly create easy information visuals.

It’s extraordinarily simple to do and you need to use the free templates to make it even faster. If you happen to tweak your numbers, the template algorithms replace the graphs routinely. 

Nevertheless, these template charts are pretty primary. Essentially the most you are able to do to boost your graph is mess around with some primary design components, like font and colour.

For extra superior information visualization, you’ll wish to look outdoors these built-in spreadsheet instruments to information specialist platforms and add-ons. 

1. For inventive visualizations: Tableau

Use Tableau to make sense of complicated information with machine-generated information evaluation, or while you wish to create interactive visuals. 

Join your information sources (by way of spreadsheets or your analytics platform, comparable to Tableau’s analytics platform or Google Analytics), then let Tableau’s information interpreter manage the knowledge. 

Create a visualization and use the filters to zero in on particular outcomes, comparable to outcomes by area or 12 months.

In Tableau, you may customise each ingredient of the visualization, although you would possibly want an skilled information scientist designer to do it if time is restricted. The device isn’t one to choose up instantly.

Tableau is especially helpful for creating interactive visualizations like this one on fashionable canine breeds:

This information visible makes use of a rainbow of colours to symbolize canine varieties, then plots them on a radial graph to reveal their reputation over time.

Whenever you run your cursor over the graph, you may shortly see the place every canine sort ranked in any 12 months.

Tableau is right for going a number of steps past the spreadsheet graph and it may possibly replace your visualizations in actual time if related to a dwell information supply. 

It takes time to learn to create visualizations just like the one above (see extra “information viz” inspiration in the community and browse the tutorials), so should you’ve bought the price range, go for a designer’s assist.

2. For inside visualizations that combine with Google Cloud: Looker

Looker is a browser-based enterprise intelligence platform that Google acquired in 2019 and is now part of the Google Cloud.

It comes with a variety of blocks and plugins in its Market, every providing completely different graphical representations (e.g., tree maps and space charts) which you can embed, hyperlink, or add to your dashboard.

It’s also possible to customise your visualizations by specifying which dimensions you need represented in your visible and deciding on the kind of chart you’d like to make use of:

Looker additionally permits you to mix a number of information visuals, like a line chart over a stacked bar chart to suggest outliers.

Use Looker to reveal your inside visualizations. It provides you way more choices than your customary spreadsheet graph and it’s simple to customise.

3. For drag-and-drop velocity: Qlik

Qlik is an information visualization device that helps you create interactive charts shortly. When you join your information, you’re given a variety of choices to show the knowledge.

The principle perk to Qlik is its velocity. It truly is a matter of plugging within the numbers after which customizing your graph with the drag-and-drop device.

The platform can be useful for figuring out relationships between information factors which may be missed by the human eye with its built-in AI information analyst.

Knowledge visuals might be costly and time-consuming to provide since a number of groups—design, product, gross sales, and advertising and marketing—sometimes should work collectively to provide them. 

Let’s take a look at how one can repurpose them for max achieve out of your advertising and marketing spend. 

Repurpose your information visuals for a number of channels

Recycling your content saves sources and conveys a unified message throughout all platforms. 

Let’s say your organization sells a music manufacturing app. You produce this infographic explaining how music trade gross sales have modified over time. 

There are a number of methods to interrupt down this visible for various advertising and marketing channels and use instances. 

Maybe you put up this infographic in your weblog as a hub piece. From that infographic article, you can: 

• Write a number of spoke articles giving the background context to the rise and fall of music mediums;
• Repurpose these articles into a number of social media posts utilizing photos from the infographic;
• Repurpose the unique put up right into a YouTube video;
• Reveal this infographic in displays to strengthen your app’s goal (to trip that incoming digital music tidal wave).

Tailor the visuals to the channel you’re utilizing for max impact. 

Efficient information visualizations are extremely shareable, and an effective way to supply your followers with worth whereas constructing your model’s authority. Assist them uncover your information visuals by repurposing them in digestible codecs.

Conclusion

Visible representations of your information can speed up your model’s development when used strategically. You’ll be able to improve partnerships, join with clients, and align gross sales and advertising and marketing groups. 

There are various methods to visualise your information, so don’t let it sit in a spreadsheet. Get essentially the most worth out of your analytics by representing them in comprehensible, visible, participating methods.
Grasp information storytelling with our Data Presentation and Visualization online course.