The Franchise Academy

Exploring the Ins and Outs of Data Visualization for Your Business

Written by Naomi Johnson | Feb 6, 2023 1:00:00 PM

Data visualization relates to the conveyance of key information in the form of a chart, diagram, picture or some other visual arrangement. If you want to communicate trends and patterns to your team, clients, or shareholders, it’s important to familiarize yourself with the various structures they can take. Here are some tips and resources from the Franchise Academy to help you get started.

 

The Value of Data Visualization

Converting data or key information into a more understandable format can be a costly process, but there is often huge value in making this investment. Here are some instances when data visualization can be a great asset to your business.

 

  • You need to make sense of data. When data spans back a number of years, data visualization in the form of a graph can help us to view figures with more chronological clarity.
  • You’re dealing with many separate variables. FlexMR notes that a pictorial/graphical form of data visualization will allow you to highlight correlations across large data sets. You may, for example, need to see the trajectory of sales figures and customer behavior across websites or assess the company’s financial prospects.
  • You’re focused on quality management. Just by converting data into visuals, you often have the opportunity to carry out quality management of the data itself. Towards Data Science explains that this process can be used to highlight any anomalies or investigate any strange numbers.

 

The value of data visualization is also interlinked with technique - charts (line, bar, or pie), plots (bubble or scatter), diagrams, maps (heat, geographic etc.) and matrices can all transform our understanding of the raw information. Depending on which you employ, you may discover a different angle that was otherwise unrevealed.

 

Business Applications

It’s difficult to overstate the role of data visualization within a business context. Whether you’re relaying information about marketing campaigns, user activity or financial forecasts, the right graph or chart can transform a company outlook. This fact is increasingly true as we grow more reliant on data and data analysis. A business must be able to effectively convert large amounts of quantitative information into clear, accurate visuals that can be understood by every department.

 

But data visualization is not just about making data more understandable for businesses, it’s also about extracting meaning from data. In instances when you’re handling large volumes of data from numerous sources, the right visualization format will present logical “shaping” in a standardized manner, allowing for larger, unseen correlations to come to the fore.

 

An example of this is within data science, where analysts often use visualization libraries in coordination with their specified programming languages and tools. Even for those using complicated open source programming languages, data visualization can help us to identify patterns from data sets that would otherwise have gone unnoticed.

 

If you’ve created several visualizations that you want to use together, one way to effectively do that is with an infographic. If you’re unsure how to make an infographic, a free graphic tool can make the process easy. You can customize your design from dozens of available options and then download it once you’ve created something you’re satisfied with. You can even revisit it online to make changes later.

 

Tools For Data Visualization

The process of converting numerical information into clear, understandable graphics has been made simpler by the various software available to analysts, from simple, user-friendly programs such as Google Charts to advanced data discovery platforms like Qlikview. Whatever your requirements, intuitive software will make your job more efficient.

 

When sharing your charts with your team or investors, the best format is usually PDF. Luckily, it is easy to change almost any file to a PDF using a converter. That way, you can make any last minute edits to your document, then convert it into a more visually appealing format to give you an extra edge with investors.

 

Data for Decision Making

In the digital age, we place much of our value in data, but the numbers on their own are often insufficient. Using data visualization we can create an all-important bridge between the raw numerical information and the people who make the decisions. There are great tools to help gather and present this data to key stakeholders, so take advantage of your resources to make informed decisions for your business.

 

Are you interested in launching a franchise? Take advantage of the wealth of resources at Tom Scarda’s Franchise Academy, and be sure to sign up for the online training course that comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

 

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