How can you compare your product or service to competitors using data visualization?

2 Step 2: Choose the right type of chart

When creating a data visualization to compare your product or service to competitors, you need to choose the right type of chart. Bar charts, line charts, pie charts, scatter plots, and other types of charts are available, but the number of variables and categories you want to compare, the nature of the data, and the message you want to convey should all be taken into consideration. For example, if you want to compare multiple features or benefits across several competitors, a stacked bar chart or radar chart might be suitable. On the other hand, if you want to compare one variable or category across several competitors, a simple bar chart or pie chart may be more appropriate. Additionally, if you want to compare quantitative data such as prices or ratings, a bar chart or line chart might be best. For qualitative data like customer feedback or reviews, a word cloud or sentiment analysis chart may be preferable. Finally, if you want to emphasize the difference between your product and your competitors, a diverging bar chart or gap analysis chart might be ideal; for showing correlation between your product and competitors, a scatter plot or bubble chart would work well.

3 Step 3: Select the relevant data points

When selecting data points for your data visualization, it is essential that they are accurate, reliable, and up-to-date. Additionally, the data points should be relevant, meaningful, and actionable in order to engage your audience. To ensure this, consider the relevance of the data points to your goal and audience, as well as their ease of understanding and ability to compare. Furthermore, make sure that the data points are relevant to your audience's decision-making process and motivate them to take action. For example, if you want to demonstrate your superior performance and persuade your audience to buy your product or service, you might use data points that show how fast it is compared to competitors and how it can solve their problem or create an opportunity for them.

4 Step 4: Tell a compelling story

The final step of creating your data visualization is to tell a compelling story with your data. A story should communicate your value proposition, unique selling proposition, and competitive advantage to your audience, while also evoking emotions and inspiring action. To do this, use a catchy title and subtitle that summarize the main point and message of your data visualization, as well as colors, shapes, icons, labels, and annotations to highlight key data points. Add context with narratives, captions, quotes, testimonials, or case studies. Lastly, include a call to action that invites your audience to take the next step or action.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?