The art of data story telling is the process of transforming raw data into insights that can influence and drive meaningful change. Data storytelling is an essential skill for marketing agencies and their clients to utilize in order to communicate the value of their marketing investments. Data storytelling involves three core components: Accurate data, narrative and relevant visuals.

In order to tell a compelling data story, it is important to know your audience. This will help determine what data to collect, how to organize it and which visualizations to use to bring the data to life. For example, a data story told to a team of engineers may require more technical details and an in-depth dive into the data set while a story told to executives might need to be more concise and simplified.

Crafting Compelling Data Stories: A Step-by-Step Guide

When constructing a data story it is also important to avoid using misleading relationships such as spurious correlations. Instead, try to focus on identifying the key “aha” insights that can be highlighted and emphasized during your presentation. This will help to ensure that the key points do not get diluted and that your audience is engaged throughout your data storytelling presentation.

In addition to focusing on the key insights, try to find outliers in your data sets. Outliers are any data that is different or stands out from the rest of your data set. This is often an indication of a problem or opportunity, so it’s important to pay attention to any outliers and consider what might be causing them.