Data Storytelling: What, Why and How

Data Storytelling: What, Why and How

Learn how you can leverage data storytelling to create a marketing narrative that makes an impact and improves your marketing messaging

By: Nishan Singh | 3 mins read
Published: Oct 8, 2019 11:21:38 AM | Updated: Apr 25, 2024 09:18:52 PM

What is Data Storytelling

Data storytelling is basically the idea of leveraging visuals, context, and narratives to deliver insights from data. While data helps gives authenticity and credibility to your story, a narrative keeps your audience engaged and makes your point more understandable and digestible. In this article we will go through the concept of storytelling, its impact on human brain and how storytelling helps you deliver better marketing insights.

Impact of storytelling on the human brain

The ability of storytelling is a well-constructed anecdote that changes people's opinions, beliefs and behaviours. It activates human understanding better if they listen to stories. Storytelling is a basic human experience that connects people and deeper relationships. Narratives form our perception of society, they shape our understanding and reality, they influence the way we think and function. As well as helps oneself to interact, educate, correlate and share.

Why does storytelling have an intense influence on our learning?

An anecdote, when divided into the simplest style is a combination of impact and outcome. We make up short stories in our brains for all activities and conversation. While telling narratives to others, it aids us to mould our perception and approach towards life. Whereas, when we are being narrated a story, the language processing parts in our mind gets stimulated. One sole problem can be expressed in a thousand diverse ways by storytelling.

Here’s the interesting part…

In marketing, storytelling is an imperative strategic tool that empowers marketers to comprehend what that means for the client, community, brand and organization. Also, it helps to understand what is going on in the marketplace. Individuals learn from first-hand experiences and observations and then by sharing those encounters through anecdotes. The elements that are distinctive about narratives is that they spread meaning and awareness.

Impact of statistics on the human brain

A valuable data utilizes a mixture of writing, charts and graphics to maximize its potential in communicating different kinds of information.

Data insights highlight and strengthen the value of information and are usually fact-based that raises reliability in the human brain. Data makes it simpler to integrate and produce innovative ideas that influence the company’s performance.

Comprehensive knowledge operates exceptionally great in data-driven environments for identifying patterns and producing forecasts. Data acts as an obstacle or an opportunity. You need to have a solid knowledge of how the standards work to authenticate which information is beneficial and should be taken forward. Data-driven insights are expected to lead us to decision making based on facts.

It gets better…

Through data, marketers get the expertise to develop stronger relationships with potential consumers. Data can reveal the potential consumer's choices and recommend what channels a brand should utilize to retain their audience now and in the future. Ultimately, these insight in marketing can help position the message where its potential consumer is or is going to be soon.

Now, let's blend both, the statistics and storytelling and analyze its outcome

Stories that incorporate data and analysis strives to influence, drive change and strengthen trust.

Narratives have always been powerful tools when communicating the individual experience. Anecdotes are the way we simplify and make senses of a complex world. It involves content, insight and interpretation. All the components that make the story interesting and compelling.

Whereas, with data, you intend to improve how an individual makes a judgment or takes action. It doesn't matter how high-quality data insights you have or how significant is your analysis. Until and unless you can satisfactorily convey the message to your stakeholders and enforce improvement.

Why data storytelling (data-driven storytelling) has become more prominent?

Through these two persuasive tools, you can actively engage your target audience and make them curious.

Narratives that include data-driven analytics are more impressive than those based on individual experience or stories. Data-driven storytelling makes information memorable and understandable. To show numbers is not adequate to lighten the value of analytics involving your analytical pursuits in narratives. But you can support to regulate communications concerning them and advertise results.

As a Digital Marketer, why you need to have a combined data-driven and storytelling aspect?

Storytelling in marketing is not a new notion but when data and story come together into play then it becomes a wholly different notion!

Presenting a comprehensive data-driven story can be beneficial for both your clients and stakeholders because it motivates to take reliable decisions. By employing data to make key observations about your customers and their wants it can help with customer retention. Data-driven insights direct a marketer’s tactics, with storytelling being the foundation in captivating and educating consumers.

People care and concentrate on advances in technology, learning and business. Among technologies such as social media listening, you can penetrate into the emerging trends to produce stories that are current and convenient. This user-curated storytelling with current trends and all the important data insights will benefit in enhancing engagement, grow trust and hugely extend your horizon.