Visualization is Marketing - 2 Questions to ask before every visualization
Who is the audience?
I will talk differently to my grandma and my manager.
Defining the audience should be the first step in every visualization project. The target audience will guide every following decision.
A visualization for the Sales team will be something about trends and revenue, while a presentation to HR should be about salary and diversity.
You may not need to break everything down to ELI5 level if the audience has a technical background.
Part of this question should be the goal of the audience. You may find the perfect language and tools for your communication, but your result will be 0 if you talk about apples when they want to hear about oranges.
So when you have a clear picture of the WHO, you need the WHAT.
What’s the one thing I want them to remember tomorrow?
You may feel tempted to show that you can use the latest tool to create the most colorful infographic with 50 metrics on one chart.
The result will be fancy, but not impactful. You want results that will stick with the audience, and they will leave with action items based on your presentation.
You can make strong visualizations in Excel easily. Don’t need to reinvent the wheel, keep it simple and effective.
Casey Neistat said:
“The best steak houses serve their filet on a plate with nothing else. Shitty franchises cover theirs in sauce and other shit to distract you from the fact you’re eating dog food.”
https://ckarchive.com/b/lmuehmhn4337vtd7kkm78c8r5e000cg
I read the above newsletter about marketing and realized how close it is to visualization. They are about the same thing: One story that we want to sell to the audience and make it stick.
Finding that one thing may be harder than putting together the fancy visual. All those tools give you comfort, and you believe that if you put one more element on the chart, it will be better. Usually not the case.
After a point, it is not about technical skills, but domain knowledge and understanding what can drive the most impact.
The best copywriters write short but memorable lines, and the best billboards are simple:
https://marketingexamples.com/ads/shot-on-iphone
One sentence with a great picture can tell more than a bunch of facts. Translate this idea into visualization:
A few more examples:
https://x.com/The_AdProfessor/status/1876270402156310688
Marketing is about persuasion. If your visuals are good, it will persuade the audience and drive good decisions.
The core principles are the same. Stay within the borders of simplicity, but still be creative!