• by Stephen Spiewak , December 11, 2024

Stephen Spiewak, Director of Organic Marketing from Hallow writes about how brands can share their data (visual graphic of data flow above) for storytelling through PR and other channels which can ultimately lead to ROI.

In June, I attended the Data Visualization Society’s annual three-day conference, Outlier, where attendees ran the data visualization spectrum, from people building highly confidential internal data dashboards for company executives to data journalists visualizing data to tell stories at some of the world’s biggest publications.

One thing really struck me from my time there: the huge disconnect between those with interesting data insights and those hungry for such data to visualize and tell stories with.

A data analyst for a car brand sitting next to a data journalist who focuses on environmental issues. Might there be data from the former, which shows, for example, more people buying convertibles in areas where they previously bought vehicles with snow tires? A data set that could be a fascinating lens through which someone telling stories about climate through data could explore?

This could be a win-win for both the brand and the journalist.

Marketing teams can be the bridge to making this connection.

Not everyone can, will, or should endeavor to create the “Spotify Wrapped” for their industry. But there are massive opportunities for marketers to share data, and you don’t need a Spotify-sized team to take advantage.

A Growth Play for Challenger Brands

Looking at leading brands telling great stories with data can feel a bit like a chicken-and-egg situation.

It can be tempting to think that the Spotifys and Yelps of the world can lead the way in sharing data *because* they are industry-leading brands.

However, being proactive with data storytelling can help challenger brands outperform established industry titans and earn credibility in competitive spaces.

Insurify is a great example of this. 

Founded in 2013, Insurify is in the highly competitive space of insurance, which features the likes of household brands State Farm, Allstate, and Liberty Mutual.

It has begun to lean into sharing its data, dedicating entire sections of its website to insights, reports, and even a self-serve platform where journalists can download data sets of their choosing. 

This has led to some excellent PR coverage, such as this article in the Los Angeles Times titled ”California auto insurance rates are skyrocketing: Here’s why and how to save”.

Beyond brand awareness and PR, the approach has delivered clear results on the performance marketing front. According to AHREFs, traffic to Insurify’s website has doubled since July 1, during a time in which incumbent competitor Geico has seen traffic fall 30 percent.

Getting Started Is Easy

It continues to get easier for marketing teams to share data for storytelling–or share with the world through their own content creations.

With tools like Looker and Tableau, data is easier to access than ever before. No-code visualization platforms like Flourish make data visualization accessible for anyone (most of us!) who is not traditionally trained in data visualization.

Companies like The Data Face specialize in helping brands tell stories with their data, while companies like Stacker help companies distribute their data-driven stories.

What Sharing Your Data *Shouldn’t* Be

Sharing data as a marketer comes with some simple and perhaps obvious (but very important) limitations. Violating any one of these will quickly curtail your ability to leverage data for storytelling.

First, customer privacy is paramount, so you must never share personal identifying information about customers. And axe any “material information.” If the data is so good that it represents a 5% increase (or decrease) in your business, there are proper channels to disclose such information for publicly traded companies.

Leveraging data for content and PR can engage customers, establish credibility, and build your brand. And marketing teams can be the ones to make it happen. 

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