As a digital marketing professional, you know that creating an effective strategy is only half the battle. The other half is making sure your tactics are up to snuff and delivering results.

One key element of any strong digital marketing campaign is data visualization. By turning data into easy-to-understand visuals, you can more effectively communicate your message and achieve your desired outcomes.

However, not all data visualizations are created equal. To help you get the most out of your efforts, Adobe has put together a list of best practices for data visualization in digital marketing.

1. Know Your Goal

Before you start creating any visuals, it’s important to have a clear understanding of what you want to achieve. Do you want to increase brand awareness? Drive traffic to your website? Boost conversions?

Your goal will dictate the type of data you should be visualizing and how you present it. For example, if you’re trying to increase brand awareness, you might create an infographic that highlights your company’s key statistics. 

On the other hand, if you’re looking to drive traffic to your website, you might create a visualization that shows how your site stacks up against the competition.

2. Keep It Simple

When it comes to data visualization, less is almost always more. You don’t want to overload your audience with too much information at once. Instead, focus on presenting one or two key points in a way that’s easy to understand.

This might mean using basic charts and graphs or keeping your visuals clean and uncluttered. Whatever you do, make sure your visuals are easy to digest and don’t require a lot of effort to understand.

3. Use Data Visualization Tools

There’s no question that data is crucial when it comes to good decision-making. Without it, you’re essentially operating in the dark. But getting the data is just the beginning. You also have to not only understand it, but communicate it effectively to your team. That’s where data visualization tools come in. 

There are a number of different data visualization tools that can make all the difference. Visual analytics platforms like Tableau, Google Sheets, and Excel all have built-in features that allow you to create visuals from your data. If you’re not sure where to start, we recommend checking out this list of the best data visualization tools. Experiment with a few different options until you find one that works best for you and your team.

Once you’ve found the tool that works best for your company’s needs, take the time to compile some of your data visualizations into reports for key stakeholders. You might want to show growth trends in each department at a company-wide meeting, or compile an annual report for your financial stakeholders. It is easy to add and combine pages in PDFs you have already created, so that you can update and customize each report. You can add extra pages by using a free editing tool. Simply drop the PDFs you want to combine into the drop zone, select the specific pages you want, organize them, and click Save. It’s that simple to create a polished report to show off your growth through data visualization. 

4. Use Only High-Quality Images

In addition to using consistent colors, it’s also important to use high-quality images in your data visualizations. Nothing will ruin a good visual faster than a grainy or pixelated image.

5. Tell a Story

The best data visualizations are those that tell a story. When you’re creating your visuals, think about how you can use the data to paint a picture for your audience. What’s the most important thing you want them to take away?

A great way to do this is by using before-and-after visuals or showing how your company has grown over time. These types of visuals can be extremely effective in conveying your message and making a lasting impression. If possible, don’t just rely on old-fashioned images. Try incorporating some video, too, since that can have a much deeper impact.

6. Be Consistent with Your Colors

When it comes to digital marketing, branding is everything. That’s why it’s so important to be consistent with the colors you use in your data visualizations. If your visuals don’t match the rest of your branding, they’re going to stick out like a sore thumb.

Not sure what colors to use? We recommend sticking with your company’s primary and secondary colors. This will help ensure your visuals are cohesive with the rest of your marketing materials.

Make Use of Your Data

Digital marketing and data visualization go hand in hand. Taking the time to learn and understand just how they can work together can make all the difference when it comes to the future of your business. Use the data visualizations that you create to present important growth and potential new growth areas to your stakeholders in individualized reports. You’ll find that transparency is welcomed.