Data Storytelling in Marketing: How to Tell Persuasive Stories Through Data

Graham Archbold reviews Data Storytelling in Marketing by Caroline Florence

Imagine telling your board that 33% of clients are ‘somewhat dissatisfied’ with the firm’s service performance based on ratings of availability and responsiveness. “Meh, so what, we’ve got other priorities.”

But tell them how Maria, a director at your newly onboarded growth client, had sleepless nights last weekend. All because she couldn’t speak to one of your team on the Friday afternoon about a sudden HR crisis. You might lay it on thick about the emotional distress and her ruined weekend. Then point out that one in three clients has a similarly visceral example.

The story brings the stats to life and that’s what Data Storytelling in Marketing is all about: how to take people from a position of complacency, apathy or resistance to engagement and willingness to act.

The author, Caroline Florence, begins with how the foundations are in Aristotle’s timeless tenets of ethos, logos and pathos. However, the book builds out a framework of five Rs, explaining how stories should be:

• Relevant – having a clear premise aligned to the audience’s needs, that will generate a transformation in hearts and minds.

• Robust – being drawn from reliable data sources and based on up-to-date information that adds credibility to your business case.

• Refined – providing a compelling narrative that resolves neatly with a well-distilled message, focusing on the decisions or actions needed.

• Relatable – enriching the narrative with empathic and personalised elements so the story resonates with the audience emotionally.

• Remarkable – being in some way provocative enough to overcome distractions or inertia, and stimulating either reflection or debate.

The idea throughout is that stories are key to transformation. The plot guides the audience to a revelation and a change in perspective. Florence believes that crafting a persuasive story begins with a ‘killer question’ that focuseson the audience, with a hypothesisto be tested. For example, ‘Should we produce content on topic X?’ becomes ‘What’s the appetite to engage with topic X among loyal readers and will this have a positive impact on the brand’s advertising revenue?’

The book contains a ton of theory and lots of detailed research, but I’d have loved to see some example presentation slides or links to videos that feature best practice data storytelling. Because the trouble is, while the case studies outline all the steps and demonstratethe outcomes, none are the sort you’ll remember and later regale down the pub. Nor are they Disney-grade tear-jerkers. They’re mostly dry and factual, which feels contrary to the art of storytelling.

If you’re someone who stands upin front of sceptical audiences and needs to inject some panache to your presentation, this is a good resource for structuring the ethos and logos. To add the pathos you might binge on some TED Talks for inspiration. For example, Rory Sutherland for use of behavioural economics, Hans Rosling for bringing alive complex statistics or David JP Phillips for inducing chemical changes in the brain.

Combined together, you’ll have your board laughing, crying and coughing up more marketing budget.

Graham Archbold is Founder of Chorus Insight, specialists in client feedback and brand perception research for professional services firms.

This article was first published in PM Magazine [January/February 2025]. For further details, please visit www.pmforum.co.uk

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