Sankey diagrams are used to visualize the flow of resources or materials. They can be used to depict how much of something goes into or comes out of a system. They are not the same as flow charts, where steps are highlighted in processes.
Sankey charts are the best alternatives to common pie charts or bars because both bar and pie charts show the general comparison whereas comparison of flow between relevant entities can be done by Sankey charts. They have various nodes connected by a link. There will be one link between a couple of nodes, and each node appears only once.
How Does a Sankey Diagram Help You?
In today’s world, marketing is purely dependent on data. Collecting data on your customer behavior is not working out today as you have to understand how to use that data to yield better results.
You can find various ways for data visualization but, can’t find a better solution without a Sankey diagram. It has become a favorite of many marketers as helps them in making smarter, and better decisions.
Following are the common benefits of a Sankey chart in marketing:
- In order to draw a Sankey graph, it’s not required to depend on loads of data. For PPC, you need two dimensions, and one metric to draw it.
- Integration of Sankey Diagrams with Google Ads is possible with which marketers can see their customer’s journey and other actionable insights.
- You can see the source of traffic for your advertising campaigns if you’re using it in advertising. So, it is required to put extra effort into such sources to acquire quality traffic.
- The added advantage of a Sankey diagram is, it will visualize the data immediately and provides insights. Hence, PPC advertisers can get a clear picture of their Ads performance without spending enough time.
Always follow the below-mentioned principles for creating, and using a Sankey map:
- Keeping lots of information will overwhelm you: Your story should be simple. Keep only 2-3 nodes, and 7 flows in your story.
- Keep your map as interactive as possible: Interactive map helps in case you have a complex system to show. This helps in making the communication process simpler than before.
How to do Data Visualization using Sankey Diagram?
Sankey diagrams are useful in data analysis through segmentation, they offer the quickest ways to get insights related to the customer’s journey. This you can find out by tracking traffic sources or top-performing keywords.
How to Read the Sankey Diagram?
Here, matching can be done between the keywords, and search queries. If they are equal, your ad will start getting impressions, and clicks from various devices. Thus, you can read this visualization from both directions.
However, always remember to keep data analysis to numerous small sessions. It’s because it will be difficult to understand such data if you keep enough data in the chart. So, it’s better not to concentrate on two Ads at a time. If you do so, you can see which keywords are doing well and from where you’re getting traffic.
Things to consider while creating a Sankey Diagram:
- Whether your audiences are familiar with PPC charts?
- Do you need to tell a story or expect some actions from your audiences?
- Which analysis do you want to represent via the Sankey diagram?
Importance of A Sankey Diagram:
This diagram is perfect to describe complex processes and highlight the important area to be focused on. For example, if your team is working on an energy efficiency project, it will split down the complex process into a simple visual diagram.
With this diagram, you can make important factors stand out so that your visitors see the areas with huge opportunities.
It will help you find out data inconsistencies without any difficulty.
What are the Disadvantages of Sankey Diagrams?
- It will be difficult to understand these diagrams if your audiences don’t have enough knowledge of data visualization
- If flows of resources have similar widths, these diagrams fail to differentiate them
- No one is familiar with these maps as they always need both a detailed introduction and explanation
Use cases of Sankey Diagram:
- Sankey diagram or energy flow diagram are well-suitable for the below-mentioned applications:
- Production Systems: Optimizing product cost by analyzing, and understanding the flow of process
- Energy Management Systems: to find out the energy losses of a specific machine
- Marketing Analysis: to analyze the cash flow or ROI of marketing campaigns
- Supply Chain Management: to enhance operational efficiency for running a sustainable business operation
Conclusion:
The Sankey diagram is useful in sales, supply chain, business, material management, and marketing. It clearly visualizes the customer journey and shows how a PPC metric is influenced by different factors. You can effortlessly create a Sankey map, and analyze the data.