Written by: Olivia Carroll
Remember fifth-grade math class? All of the numerals felt infinite, and all of the equations felt like they were written by Archimedes. In a foreign language you did not speak. Probably cuneiform. Eventually, you would just give up and decide to throw erasers at your friends instead. This is the exact feeling you don’t want your audience to experience when they look at your marketing metrics.
Blunt, large numbers often scare away your audience, raising your bounce rate and causing them to avoid your content entirely. That being said, these metrics can be impressive when shared in a digestible way. With the right design and creativity, your data can both engage and energize readers. Even those of you who lack the design eye can transform those overwhelming fifth-grade math class metrics into the equivalent of Cirque Du Soleil show for your audience.
Here are some expert tips on getting started:
STRATEGICALLY CHOOSE YOUR METRICS
Although a 400% growth in social might sound impressive, if it’s not relevant to your objective, it’s not necessarily helping prove your point. Think about the message you want to convey with your metrics. Did your marketing campaign actually accomplish what it set out to? How do you know? These are the metrics your audience is interested in.
PUT YOUR METRICS INTO CONTEXT
If your client closed four deals during a marketing campaign, so what? Compare that close rate to what it was before your marketing campaign started – show growth! This can be done by evaluating how much your conversion rate has changed over the last few weeks, months, or years. In addition, approach your data from a variety of angles to get to the thick of its meaning and the true potential it carries.
ADAPT YOUR CHART TYPE
Because all marketing data is different from one another, they deserve to be presented as such! According to Hubspot’s blog, columns and bar graphs are excellent for comparing values. Line and area graphs are best for team trends in data over time. These changes allow for readers to see the dramatic changes in your metrics over time in a visual way.
Follow these instructions on Excel to learn more about how to make these changes in chart type.
DATA VISUALIZATION VS. INFOGRAPHIC
One essential area of marketing metric design is data visualizations and infographics. Both techniques are tremendous ways to show off data in an interesting and engaging way. The trouble is deciding which approach best fits your data.
Data visualization focuses more on the pure form of data and design. Its intention is to give an overview of the implications of your research. According to Killer Infographics, visualization should represent a fixed set of numbers. The design should, therefore, be focused on the data. Data visualizations should not distract from the hard metrics you have. The audience can draw their own conclusions from the data. Data visualizations are best for client and stakeholder presentations and:
In contrast, infographics tell a visual story with text, graphics, and data visualization. They should convey a subject narrative and cover multiple ideas. Overall visual design and reading comprehension are essential for infographics. By the end of the infographic, the message should be revealed. Infographics are generally best for blog posts, e-books, and general audience readership.
According to Visage’s blog , infographics are always:
These steps will help you present your metrics in a fresh way and will highlight all of the amazing work you do and enable visual learners to see the full picture of what your team has accomplished. Don’t let those metrics become intimidating – take control before they have a chance to reach readers.