Much less than the modern fairytales you grew up with, Data Storytelling is the art of using data in a visual and compelling way to tell a story about the insights driven by said data. To put it simply, this story is meant to explain the data and why it matters.
“Data storytelling is the way organizations & businesses can create compelling narratives and visualizations of data to capture, engage and educate audiences by driving meaningful insights.”
Data Storytelling is just another way that big data is revolutionizing marketing and sales. Data is created and collected everywhere, and it is important to create memorable visuals and narratives to help audiences see the patterns, and gain a deeper understanding of the insights.
Compelling and memorable data storytelling involves three main components:
The data – the foundation of the story
The narrative – the structure that ties the data together
The visuals – the illustrations that bring the story to life
It is imperative that you know your audience like your own right hand when crafting an amazing data story. One way to gain a deeper understanding of them is by identifying your audience’s pain points. This helps you address their specific needs and create something resonating. A good filtering strategy to use when crafting this narrative is to constantly ask yourself “So what?” after each data point to determine the relevancy of what you’re saying.
You can ask these 4 questions when crafting a data story that truly resonates with your audience:
- Is it relevant and tailored to my audience?
- Does it contain objective, non-biased, data-driven insights?
- Does it add value for my audience or industry?
- Is it interesting and eye-catching?
- Is it easily understandable and easy to read?
According to Forbes, the need for more data storytellers is only going to increase in the future, and the need for professionals generating insights will expand beyond just analysts and data scientists.