Data has become the most valuable asset for businesses. Since information is power, the skill of producing, gathering and using it makes the difference between top players and companies that barely break even. And right now we are producing a huge amount of data, all over the world.
How much data are we talking about exactly? The statistics are mind blowing:
- Every day 2,500,000 terabytes of data is created all over the world (1 terabyte = 1,000 gigabytes);
- In the last three years we have generated 90% of the entire amount of data produced by mankind;
- Google is processing 24 petabytes worth of data every day (1 petabyte = 1 million gigabytes);
- Every month, 1.3 exabytes of data is being transferred by mobile internet (1 exabyte = 1 billion gigabytes) – to put things in perspective, all the words ever spoken by human beings in all languages would amount to 5 exabytes.
Do all these huge numbers give you a bit of a headache? It is no wonder – the human brain is more adapted to process visual, material information, rather than abstract data. And this is exactly why the concept of data visualisation came into being.
Apart from helping us put data into perspective, data visualisation is very useful for your B2B marketing efforts. Market segmentation, better budgeting for advertising channels and better selling techniques – all these and more can be achieved through data visualisation.
Here are a few useful points to consider:
- Correlate Sales with Marketing Campaigns Accurately
In B2B, marketing and advertising campaigns are usually more expensive than for B2C campaigns. The channels used to reach customers (LinkedIn, specialised business and news websites, etc.) charge significant fees for ads and banners. This is why every B2B marketer needs to have a clear view of how well their campaigns are performing.
Staring at endless Excel spreadsheets with rows and columns of numbers is not helpful. But a graphic presentation of these numbers as pie charts, with colours assigned to various types of data, will prove extremely useful. At a glance, you will be able to spot the best and worst performing ad channels and campaigns and take the necessary measures to reduce ad spending and increase overall ROI.
- Identify Patterns in Leads’ Behaviour
Planning your marketing campaigns should be correlated with the likelihood that your target customers will be willing to take action. Synchronising your ad campaigns with your prospects’ need to purchase your products and services is ideal, but how can it be achieved? Simply – with the help of data visualisation.
When bland numbers take shape as block charts and coloured peaks and lows, you can see clearly the exact period in the year, month and week when you got the greatest numbers of clicks which ended in a purchase.
- Connect the Dots, Strengthen Your Marketing Messages
How do your customers perceive your business? Can you identify your most loyal customers and spot them among your social media followership? Ultimately, can you turn them into brand ambassadors and creators of valuable testimonials?
The answer is there, in the analytics data your company collects through various channels. But can you see it? It would all be simpler if you had a roadmap, connecting the customers on your websites to the most active social media followers and the biggest endorsers of your products. Data visualisation can do that and bring clarity to your efforts of building better marketing messages.
- Use Data to Build Stories
Even in B2B marketing, you still need to tell stories in order to attract customers. Of course, these stories need to be less emotional and more focused on actual data and logical reasoning. Being able to put your data in a visual format helps you select the precise information which can persuade customers, prove your marketing claims and build the reputation of your company.
- Never Miss an Opportunity
There are moments when you can ride the waves of a short-lived business trend and attract new customers. It happens when there is a significant event taking place whose effects do not last long. But, in the heat of the moment, your business can get a huge boost in its marketing campaign’s ROI.
This is only possible if you can spot the trend in your analytics data through clear and easy to understand visualisations. Otherwise, you would be left with numbers showing you that a few weeks ago you might have doubled your sales, if only you took the right action.