Great dashboards don’t just display data, they tell compelling stories that help drive better decisions. In this session, we will focus in on how to choose visualizations and components to build powerful narratives and inspire valuable insights. Learn about Brandwatch’s favorite components for getting the most out of your data set.

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Visualizing Insights:
Data Storytelling with Dashboards

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About Me / Kate Hoffmire
• Data Analyst / Data Visualization Enthusiast at Brandwatch
• Worked as a business intelligence analyst at BI company building dashboards
for clients
• Worked with customer experience survey data building presentations that
explain the customer journey and customer experience for retailers and
websites
• Obsessed with cataloging bird species and photographs:

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Sometimes data feels like this.

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• Finding the Story: The Data
• Building the Story: The Visuals
• Sharing the Story: The Narrative
• Questions
Agenda

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The Whole Process
The Data:
• Brainstorm
• Try Something and ask
“Why?”
• Please Ask Us!
The Visuals:
• Start fresh
• Get Creative
• Order Matters
• Annotation is Powerful
• Segment, Segment,
Segment
• Don’t be Scared to
Duplicate
• Date Range Comparison
• Visit Insight Central
The Narrative:
• How to Share
• Who to Share With

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Finding the
Story

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Brainstorm
• What are some business
problems I could help solve
with data?
• What are themes or issues
in my industry I could
research?
• What information about my
competitors would be
valuable?
• What are some questions
my team would love to
answer?

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Try Something and then Ask Why
Try different charts and graphs out and see if any outliers or peaks jump out to you. Then ask,
“why could that be?”.
Why is midnight on Friday a big time for engagement for a deli that closes at 9?

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Please Ask Us!
• Write down business questions you have and ask us whether
we can help you answer them.
• Let us brainstorm with you:
• What are the things you wish you saw in the
dashboard?
• What data would you want to be looking at?

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Building the
Story

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• Start fresh (new dashboard,
new tab).
• Use new tabs to try different
filtering options (different time
periods, categories or page
types).
Start Fresh

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• Look at data on different time
periods.
• Test out components,
variables, and visualizations.
Get Creative!

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Order Matters...
Figure out what the most important information you can convey is, and locate that up top.

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One of the most under-used
components (in my humble opinion) is
annotation.
If I opened this dashboard, I would
immediately want to know what caused
the peaks?
The Power of Annotations

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The Power of Annotations

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Segment, Segment, Segment
Segment by page type, category, sentiment, topic, author, location, time period, Twitter
demographics, specific sites, etc.

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Don’t be scared to Duplicate
Try putting the same chart twice, but filtered differently in each. This allows you to see the
same data, but spliced over different categories.

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Date Range Comparison
One of the most underappreciated components is “Date Range Comparison”.
You can compare months, quarters, product launches, or any custom time periods.

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Visit Insights Central
Visit Insights Central for ideas, inspiration, and things to copy.

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Sharing the
Story

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People hear statistics,
but they feel stories.
-Brent Dykes, Domo

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• Export to PowerPoint
• Export a component
• Share the dashboard with a
team or coworker
• Look how to combine data
sources with the API
• Share a mention or mentions
with interested parties
• Signals and alerts
How to Share

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• Customer Service
• Customer Feedback
• Business Units Teams
• Marketing
• HR
• Product Design
• PR
• Consumer Insights
Share your stores, successes, questions or insights with us!
Who to Share With

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The Whole Process
The Data:
• Brainstorm
• Try Something and ask
“Why?”
• Please Ask Us
The Visuals:
• Start fresh
• Get Creative
• Order Matters
• Annotation is Powerful
• Segment, Segment,
Segment
• Don’t be Scared to
Duplicate
• Date Range Comparison
• Visit Insight Central
The Narrative:
• How to Share
• Who to Share With

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Questions

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KateH@Brandwatch.com
Kate Hoffmire
Data Analyst, Brandwatch

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Now You Know