Data analysis helps today’s businesses collect all important information. This data needs to be displayed clearly and logically so that it can be interpreted and understood.
This is the so-called process of data visualization – converting information into intuitive maps and graphs. The human mind then finds it easier to comprehend and is thereof able to identify meaningful patterns and trends. The larger the data piles are, the more difficult it becomes to achieve this.
The importance of data visualization
Data visualization is important to any business, regardless of the niche. Whatever line of work you have, you need market data delivered to the highest standards. In a way, this is the beginning and the end of your business intelligence efforts, where you take raw data, model it, and use it to conclude.
Analytics has advanced enough to bring machine learning into the game. They use algorithms that compile and understand this data better than a human does. Put this way, making informed business decisions has never been easier.
Visual data communicates everything important to know in a fast, effective, and universal manner. Companies use it to understand what they need to improve, or simply examine what brings them the most conversion or what sets those off. Data is most important to the business owner. Nevertheless, it is also important to the stakeholders, customers, and all involved decision-makers. The more accurate it is, the more it will contribute to sales growth and development in the future.
The benefits of data visualization
Thanks to the interactive representations of data, organizations can make smarter decisions.
Patterns are visible, even if they are pulled out of old data delivered in graphical displays. Here are some of the most important benefits for your organization:
- Identifying correlations. Data visualization makes it possible to spot any correlation between variables. It helps understand how they work in relationship to each other. Without it, these separate variables wouldn’t even make sense and would bring no value to your decision-making process.
- Identifying trends at all points of time. This is probably the first benefit you would mention, and you are right. This is the obvious takeaway from data visualization efforts. It helps business owners identify, interpret, and foremost predict trends that are relevant to their work.
- The frequency of different occurrences. Understanding that something happened is one thing, but tracking how often it happened is a different one. Data visualization makes this possible too, as it relates trends to time frames. Thanks to it, businesses can foresee the reactions of their buyers at a particular time. Based on it, they can develop the most appropriate marketing plans and customer acquisition strategies.
- Market intelligence. Data visualization helps you understand your business. it also helps you understand the market you operate in. It compares different values to help you focus on the right audiences and regions. It also prevents you from losing time on invaluable markets, by simply giving you a clear picture of who wants what. For the first time, you will be able to examine markets with professional graphs and charts.
- Identifying both risks and rewards. Another important benefit of data visualization is the value and risk metrics. The alternative option would be to hire an experienced market expert. He’d prepare countless spreadsheets on what could go wrong or right and take ages to do it. It doesn’t take being an analyst to make the appropriate choice here.
- Adequate market reactions. Imagine the value of all information displayed on a responsive, self-sufficient dashboard. You are right, this is how competitors reach out to buyers and how they avoid critical mistakes.
The data visualization techniques you should adopt
The possibilities to gather and display data are simply endless. It depends on how you want to model and interpret the data. For instance, numbers bring the most value displayed on tables and graphs. Information on regions and buyers looks better on maps.
Luckily, most data visualization tools, even a WordPress tables plugin, let you customize your display and work through it as you wish. You will either be able to design views manually or have them automated based on the entered criteria. In both cases, you will appreciate the number of techniques available.
Here are some of them:
- Infographics. Infographics don’t focus on individual chunks of information but analyze large collections. They then pack data into comprehensive visuals. We recommend these for dealing with complex, data-loaded topics
- Heatmap Visualizations: With this method, you will be able to create color-marked graphs with numerical data. High or low points of data will be displayed with a color of choice, and you will be able to identify hints much faster than within text. Many studies have proved that humans interpret colors way faster than letters and numbers.
- Fever Charts: Fever charts are also based on the premises of color psychology. However, they don’t show us where something is at a given point in time, but rather how it develops. These charts are foremost used by marketing teams to examine the performance of different years. They can detect what needs to be changed in comparison to previous years. Best of all, fever charts can collect and analyze data from multiple data sources.
- Area Graphs & Charts: Here comes another nifty tool to visualize data in time series. For instance, these charts show you how much different departments earned each month. They then check how this relates to the products they’ve been selling in different years. The relationship will be visible.
- Histograms: Now that you’ve identified the trends over particular time frames, you’ll also need to understand their frequency. This is what histograms do – they distribute and allocate numerical data based on easily interpretable values. The best part of the process is that they use a special data visualization formula and require minimal human involvement.
Do you need data visualization?
In short, you do. Data visualization has been applied in every industry and niche. It has led to serious sales volume increases and customer satisfaction. It will help you conquer new markets and understand new audiences even if you have no idea what you’re letting yourself into.
In 2019, the World Advertising and Research Centre (WARC) was able to predict (almost conclusively) how much US dollars will be spent online in 2020. It was at that point that the world took data visualization seriously. There is nothing that compares to these insights and untapped information. It is only when you start using it that you understand how much you’ve missed out on, by simply using spreadsheets and charts.
Final thoughts
Given our history, dealing with raw chunks of unorganized data is a Herculean task. It doesn’t take a person, but a whole team to go through the information and turn it into something that makes sense. Data visualization eliminates this problem with advanced graphs and charts. It helps us understand all patterns that are vital to our business. Indeed – making informed decisions has never been easier.
This data means a lot to us, but it means the world to our customers. Thanks to it, we provide the exact services they need at the exact time and do so with beautiful and user-friendly features. They also rely on it to make smart decisions and interpret the value of what they are buying.
