An integral part of data analytics is the use of perspective analysis to arrive at a result. This understanding can be conveyed in many forms primarily being data.
It might work well for your company since your staff is used to crunch data but maybe not for your customers.
So, how do you convey your data in a compelling way?
Through Storytelling
Consider this:
Data through the use of statistics: Employment in Company A has been substantial, and it has shown a 20% increase over the last year.
It does convey a message. However, it misses out in giving a clear picture on the Why , Over how long and other questions that might pop-up in the reader’s head.
Hence, If you want the same to be represented in a compelling way that keeps the reader wanting to know more, try this:
Data through Storytelling: The overwhelming response by prospective employees to get on board company A that thrives on employees development, fair practice and gender equality has seen an enthusiastic employee increase with an encouraging 20% increase in the last 12 months.
3 Reasons why this storytelling works:
- It is easy to process for the human mind
- It is easy to relate and recall even after a certain period
- It breaks down sometimes a seemingly difficult information into easily digestible facts
You too can use storytelling to get your message across in the following ways.
Data Analytics: Storytelling for Lead Generation
Taking your customer through an ideal person who experiences the same problems is an excellent way to use data analytics and weave a story for your business product or service.
Picture this.
Andy has large feet and wants to purchase a right fit shoe, but he just can’t seem to find it anywhere. What will he do?
If your marketing team has prepared a buyer persona and also given it a name, then expressing your customer’s problems through Andy is one way to draw your customer’s attention.
A simple process to do this is:
- Pick the right quantitative or qualitative data from your data analytics
- Create a buyer persona of your ideal customer and create stories of actual situations or problems they face.
- Suggests solutions to the problem that involve your products or service.
- Interact with your customers on ways to address the problem.
Take the same case as earlier:
If your business is into the creation of custom made shoes, then Andy would be an ideal customer.
By creating a buyer persona and weaving stories that involve actual problems faced by Andy like lack of good stores, not much variety of shoes etc, you could provide alternate solutions of having a customised shoe created, having a range of options for the same fit or even having a direct interaction with Andy to provide easy solutions.
It is critical to have a mindset which interprets situations in terms of data and even visualizes it. For example, Tableau is a powerful data visualization tool. Skills such as building visualization, organizing data, and designing dashboards are helpful not just in using this tool but to help create tories out of data. These skills can be gained by tableau training provided on the internet or just by getting your hands dirty by trying out these tools. But it all boils down to whether you are able to interpret and visualize data, and for that storytelling help immensely in simplifying it.
Data Analytics: Storytelling for Conversions
Storytelling works because it is experimental and creates an impression on the listeners. As a business owner, this is vital since higher the recall the better the chances of customers coming back for your product. It is also critical for professionals to have an eye for creating stories around data. This can even help in building their Data Science and analytics career and help businesses grow as well as give customers a clear picture.
Storytelling is an engaging way to portray a slice of life to the reader and in a glimpse provide seemingly close yet familiar characters to your customers.
Minnetonka is a classic example of a brand using adventure stories to engage their customers with the footwear brand. It does not engage in pushing the product rather it creates excitement to wear the brand name and make it a part of the customer’s adventure journey.
Infusing personal stories of your customers or even your staff into your brand can create visual imagery for your brand that generates high recall.
They key for conversions are to pick 2-3 relevant data sets and present it to address one major issue that bothers your customer.
For example, if your data shows that the majority of your customers are having a problem on a particular web page on your website then you could address the issue in the following way:
- Pick one customer query (e.g. on your web page) from Twitter, Facebook or any Social Network that your customers are active on
- Use data analytics to understand the core issue with that page
- Weave a story around the query as to why the issue was there, what you would be doing about it and in how much time it would be resolved.
- While you will be putting this out in the open, it will create a bond of trust with the customer and also create excitement among them to see how you resolve a problem
- Once settled, invite customer queries on the functioning of the web page
This transparency will create an active engagement and in turn also set yourself apart from other competitors in the industry thereby forging a unique bond and increasing the chance of conversion.
Closing Thoughts
These are some ways to use data analytics through storytelling for your audience.
Are there any more interesting storytelling techniques you could add? Share it with us in the comments!
