What are the best tools and platforms for creating and sharing data visualizations for marketing?

I agree, furthermore, data visualization increases prospects time to value and impact realization. In other words, a proper chart or graph can illustrate the potential pain prospects have today and the improved results should they adopt your service. Take for example a price chart vs competitors over time. Prospects compare incumbent provider cost vs yours, they can immediately visualize the impact in savings. Should price be a pain for your prospect today, that visualization will have a higher chance of triggering an emotional reaction, that ultimately leads to an action and conversion.

Data visualization matters as different audiences consume data and insights differently. Also, data visualization allows marketers to distill complex concepts into easy-to-consume, explainable, and digestible sizes. In addition, it allows you to better connect with your audience - marketers presenting to their finance teammates using data visualization tools.

Data visualization turns the snooze-fest of spreadsheets into clear, catchy visuals that tell your story at a glance. It's like giving your data a megaphone, spotlighting the wow moments that might get lost in the numbers shuffle.

It's crucial for presenting complex data in a clear, engaging way, aiding in quicker understanding and decision-making. No one wants to mentally process a spreadsheet when they can see it on a graph.

Data visualization plays a crucial role in marketing by transforming complex data into easily understandable and visually appealing formats. This not only helps in highlighting key insights and patterns that might be missed in raw data but also improves engagement by making information more accessible.

While I am not an expert in data visualization tool providers. I am a active user of tools such as PowerBI, Salesforce, Excel, and every now and then Google Analytics. These all serve a purpose in our workforce and quite frankly they all have unique strengths. The key challenges I've observed with organizations over the years are, quality and democratization of data. Therefore, when assessing the right tool, aim to prioritize what is the desired outcomes and who/what will be impacted by such tool(s). You do not want to publish wrong data and lose credibility. Company size, age, and industry should be significant criteria's in your decision making process. Make sure to do your research and speak with your trusted advisors and network.

A couple of items should rise to the top of the list here: 1. Easy of Use 2. Integration with the Tech Stack 3. Scalability 4. Pricing (per seat, license or usage) 5. Architecture and Security

Look for compatibility with your data types, ease of use, flexibility, and scalability to meet your marketing needs. Google Data Studio is great for its integration with Google Ads, simplifying campaign performance analysis.

Consider the data type, source, visualization purpose, audience, tool functionality, ease of use, and cost. The right tool should align with your data's complexity and your marketing goals.

For creating impactful data visualizations in marketing, Looker offers deep customization, while Infogram is ideal for quickly crafting appealing graphics for digital media. Qlik Sense stands out with its intuitive drag-and-drop interface and powerful associative analytics engine, enabling sophisticated visual analysis. These tools help effectively communicate complex data insights.

Think of Tableau, Power BI, and Google Data Studio as your data's best friends. Tableau is super adaptable, getting along with all kinds of data. Power BI is like the cloud king, especially if you're all about Microsoft stuff. And Google Data Studio? It's the easy, free choice for making your data look good without the headache. They all come with cool features like easy drag-and-drop, fancy analytics, and ways to tell your data's story. Plus, they've got huge groups of users and tons of helpful tips online, so you're never stuck figuring things out alone.

I would also add to the list DreamData. DreamData allows you to connect all data sources (CRM, ads, website insights, touchpoints along the customer journey, social media) and link data points to companies and accounts. Dashboards are highly customizable and can easily be exported as such or into looker, Tableau, PowerBI and other platforms. One single source of truth.

Tracking all our sales process conversion rates is an example of how I use Power BI today. It pulls together our website, salesforce, and backend data sources. I am then able to drill down on each key conversion metric and identify trends and/or gaps. I am also able to analyze performance by product and region, which helps our forecast. On marketing side, we can track our customers usage, which is neat, because in return we can create insightful visualizations for our prospects.

Choose the right platforms and ensure your visuals are accessible across devices, providing sufficient context for interpretation. Tableau to depict customer behavior patterns across different regions, revealing insights into market penetration and growth opportunities.

Agree above. I will add, make sure the data is meaningful and relatable. You want to reward your prospects with real actionable or insightful content. Ideally the data is easy to interpret and tailored towards ideal customer profiles. At least for the B2B space. Using data visualization to build thought leadership content by telling a story, or proving a point are a couple of effective examples to share.

Consider your audience not only after but in the development of data visualizations. It's so important to work with the audience you are working to serve. If it's another department as it often is, ensuring all elements are aligned to the source group. Labels/nomenclature and language are as important as the data your surfacing, to make sure you are on the same virtual page. And you are visualizing insights to support the questions being asked, vs simply visualizing achievement or attainment as an example. So much to dig into here but aligning from the beginning is a key step in creating and sharing visualizations.

Choose the right platforms and ensure your visuals are accessible across devices, providing sufficient context for interpretation. An example could be embedding interactive dashboards on a company blog, allowing readers to explore data points relevant to a discussed marketing strategy.

Choose the right platform and format based on your goals and audience. Ensure visualizations are responsive and accessible on various devices. Provide clear context and explanations to enhance understanding and engagement.

Above is a great answer on measuring success of your data visualizations. Keep in mind that running a business is a journey not a sprint. Some of your successes may not be immediate, have short term and long term goals. In whatever industry you are in, you should aim to be an expert and ideally understand it as well as any body else. At which point you are able to critically, effectively analyze results and make impactful decisions.

Define clear objectives and track performance through metrics like engagement, conversion rates, and feedback. You might track how a specific visualization on social media increases click-through rates to a product page, indicating engagement and interest.

Set SMART objectives and select metrics to track performance. Collect and analyze feedback to identify strengths and areas for improvement. Use A/B testing to optimize visualizations for better outcomes.

Incorporating storytelling elements and ensuring visuals are optimized for various devices can significantly boost audience engagement.

Forget flashy features. Seek the tool that dances with your data, not one that dictates the tune. The best platform amplifies your story, not just paints a pretty picture. Prioritize flexibility. Can it slice, dice, and personalize data? Does it whisper insights, not just scream headlines? Can it tailor visuals for diverse channels, budgets & audiences? It's your story, not the tool's. But don't be seduced by bells and whistles. Find the platform that helps spark curiosity, ignite conversations & fuel understanding. Go beyond bar charts. Infographics that sing, timelines that dance, interactive maps that ignite exploration. Data's a living tapestry, weave with passion, not formulas. That's where your audience & your leads, truly connect.

Select a visualization tool that allows you to transpose your universal and understood language across your GTM team so you are not reinventing the wheel.

Incorporate storytelling with your data and ensure visualizations are optimized for different viewing platforms to enhance audience engagement. Consider the importance of aligning visualizations with brand identity, ensuring that all graphics reinforce the company's messaging and aesthetic for consistent brand communication.

The important thing is that, eventually, all data ties in with revenue. Effective information has to somehow be linked to ROI.