If a picture is worth a thousand words, a fact or a data point may just be worth a million. In a data-driven world, marketers are finding innovative ways to present data in a visually appealing way. This tactic is known as Data visualization, and it has become a valuable asset to content marketing strategies.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, a fact or a data point may just be worth a million. In a data-driven world, marketers are finding innovative ways to present data in a visually appealing way. This tactic is known as data visualization, and it has become a valuable asset to content marketing strategies. Data visualization takes data and makes is easily consumable, which is why it is so valuable. Here are some tips and ways to use data visualization for your content marketing strategy.
Data Accuracy
Sherlock Holmes said, “The temptation to form premature theories upon insufficient data is the bane of our profession.” Although data can provide powerful insight, it can also be dangerous when not used appropriately. The data you use in data visualiziation must be carefully evaluated. If you are using data generated by someone else, ensure the source is reputable and trustworthy. If you use data obtained internally, ensure you’ve taken all the statistical steps necessary to have sound data points to base conclusions because data truly could be “the bane of our profession” if marketers don’t use it wisely.
Tell A Story With Data
Storytelling makes data more than just data. It gives data meaning and makes it memorable. Data visualization can help to tell the story, but you have to know the story before you present the data. To tell an effective story, start by knowing your audience or target persona. Knowing your audience’s characteristics and objectives will help you to tell a story with data that resonates with the audience.
Data can be visually presented in a number of ways including through infographics, timelines, maps, charts, and graphs. While the method you choose will depend on the type of data you are presenting, it is important to keep a few best practices in mind:
Context: If you remove all the story and context around the data visual, will it still be understood by the viewer?
Design: Good Data visualization design is simple. Related data points are grouped together, while data that deserves emphasis stands out with contrasting colors. Numbers should be rounded and text should be minimized for quick reading.
Actionability: Data visualization when used by itself should convey an action.
Although an Infographic, chart, or data map is extremely beneficial to Content Marketing, it is much less powerful if you gate this visual content behind a form and landing page. Reason being, data visualization should accompany your content marketing offers. Data visualization will help to draw attention to the content offer because it’s more viral in an online environment that is already swarming with written content, but it should only be used as a starting point in the path to your content offer that will convert a lead.
Data visualization is a great asset for marketers to utilize in their content marketing strategy when executed properly.
