Seeing is believing: How to display your data story

The proof is in the numbers

2.5 quintillion bytes of data are created every day. And by 2025, global data is set to reach 180 zettabytes – that is 180 trillion gigabytes.

But, business leaders still don’t have the insights they need. The problem is that all this data is simply gibberish before it’s gathered, organized, and analyzed. Even after the analysis, data still has no value unless the findings offer clear guidance.

Now, businesses know all this. With the goal of making highly informed decisions quickly, they are increasingly demanding more and more highly interpreted data. Being able to understand information and quickly deliver it in a compelling way, is a major competitive differentiator. It facilitates the identification of new business opportunities, improved client engagement, and ultimately higher profit margins. But demands for real-time insights is putting tremendous pressure on market researchers; pressure that many aren’t equipped to handle.

Too much of a good thing

If you expect us to say gather all the data you can and you’re set, you’re in for a surprise. Gartner found that 72% of organizations, who believe they need every available data point to achieve a full view of their customers, also believe that the more data they collect, the less benefit they see. You’ve probably encountered clients who tell you that the research you conducted, along with the research from last quarter and the internal data they’re collecting, leaves them stuck. And they couldn’t find a way to use a lot of it. It’s as if every additional insight they gain steers them away from making a change.

The way we see it, there are three main challenges:

1. Getting the right data together in the right way
2. Making sense of the data
3. Using data to drive decisions and create change

Let’s look a little closer…