Data is the new currency, and for businesses, it can be utilized to score new leads, create more meaningful connections with customers and increase revenue.
Manually sourcing and sorting through data can be a long and tiresome task, especially when there are thousands, if not millions, of data points. Some of the biggest challenges are human error, and the time it takes to make sense of all the data.
Incorporating a data visualization tool into your tech stack helps to make datasets more digestible by turning them into visuals. In this guide, we’re going to break down the best visualization data tools that are currently available and how they’re beneficial to your teams.
Data visualization tools are pieces of software that are designed to display data in a visual format. The features and representation of the data may vary, depending on the type of tool used. At its very core, a data visualization tool allows you to input a dataset from a popular source like Google Sheets or Salesforce and then output that data into a chart or plot.
Common outputs are:
Big data visualization tools come with many benefits, from lowering human errors to drastically reducing the amount of time it takes to sort through data. By making data more accessible and easily digestible throughout the company, employees are empowered to take data-driven approaches by using readily available concrete information.
Progressive companies are also adopting data-driven approaches such as data visualization tools to help with external communication. Data visualization plays an important role in reporting data to investors, stakeholders, public relations, and outsourced marketing agencies.
Whether it’s an open-source or commercial solution, It’s important to choose the right tools for your tech stack, so let’s get into the best tools available on the market.
When it comes to business intelligence, it’s essential to have an incredibly powerful tool that’s also easy to use. Tableau can integrate with hundreds of data sources and output the data to multiple visualization types.
Whether you’re looking to run tools on desktops, servers, or even on a web-hosted version, Tableau offers multiple products that allow for convenience and accessibility. Furthermore, Tableau offers a free version of the software called Tableau Public, allowing users to try out the tool with limited features.
For professionals who want to visualize data on the internet, Google Charts is one of the best free options. It can pull data from popular sources such as Salesforce, SQL databases, and Google Sheets. Furthermore, Google Charts offers users the ability to output in 18 different types of charts.
As one of the most popular big data visualization tools, Zoho Analytics is commonly used to visualize data related to marketing, sales, revenue streams, and company costs.
Zoho Analytics is currently used by around 500,000 businesses worldwide and is mainly tailored to marketing and sales professionals. Depending on the type of features your teams need, Zoho Analytics has a few different options, and there’s also a free version if you’d like to trial the tool with limited features.
Another powerful open-source data visualization tool is Plotly, and it also has enterprise versions for companies that require more features. Commonly used by Data Analysts and Data Scientists, Plotly is a Python-based tool that can create highly customizable visuals in the form of charts and graphics.
Since Plotly is an open-source platform, it does require coding skills to use it to its full potential. However, APIs allow you to bypass any adept knowledge and skill of languages such as CSS, Javascript, and HTML.
Data visualization is an effective method of communicating data internally and externally for your company. It’s important to ensure that you have solid data to leverage as that will impact the best data visualization tool for your company.
To get the most out of your data and ensure that it's visualized in an effective and digestible way, it’s essential to hire a data scientist.
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