How to Make an Outstanding Analytics Presentation Without Pulling Your Hair Out

So you've been tasked with preparing a web analytics presentation for your bosses (no pressure!). This can be a daunting task for many digital marketing professionals or junior analysts. How do you present and communicate the data? Which details do you include or exclude? How can you make it more interesting?

Stop before you start pulling numbers and making charts. Take a deep breath.

It's worthwhile to break down the request step by step and ask follow-up questions to ensure you've created a report that exactly meets the request.

You'll discover how to make an impressive analytics presentation for your clients without pulling out your hair. Continue reading!

What exactly is an Analytics Presentation?

In a PowerPoint presentation slide or using data visualization software, an analytics presentation aggregates data measurements and insights from web analytics platforms like Google Analytics and Adobe Analytics. Business executives utilize the data analysis and recommendations from these presentations to evaluate their company's performance and make strategic decisions.

Therefore, as an analyst, it is your responsibility to gather and present pertinent information and suggestions that will address the business issues of the report's reviewers and aid in their decision-making.

Create The Ideal Analytics Presentation For Your Clients Using These 5 Simple Steps

Step 1: Ask inquiries to get the right information.

If a client makes a hazy-sounding request, don't be hesitant to enquire further. Spend some time going over their request to make sure you comprehend it.

To begin with, Sam Priddy from Tableau advises writing down the request on paper or in your notes in order to comprehend it and spot any points that require clarification. Make sure you and your client have a mutual grasp of the needs and scope.

It's time to go deeper once you've gained clarity. Several inquiries to get you going:

1. What is the meeting's purpose? Recognize whether any decisions—such as those about pricing, budgetary allocations, and more—were influenced by the session. For instance, analytics on how well content marketing works to increase conversion rates and business revenue may be required in a discussion of content marketing strategy for lead generation.
2. What time span does the data cover? Do we have data that is monthly, quarterly, or yearly?
3. Who will view the presentation or attend this meeting? Different things are important to different audiences. A head of content may be concerned with the bounce rate of a sales landing page, the number of qualified leads, and partnerships made, whereas a vice president of sales may be concerned with net new revenue and the total sales funnel. Consider the perspectives of several individuals as you guarantee the information in your report is pertinent.
4. What is the report's intended impact? In order to make optimization decisions, are they seeking a recap of historical performance, a straightforward presentation of the figures, or an interactive approach to examine the data in real-time?

Tip: To effectively present data, consider what indicators or results each audience group cares about, as well as what those stakeholders want from the report. Ask your client for more details or do some research on their duties.

You can decide what information you need and what to leave out of your report using the answers to these questions. You now understand the best method to take while giving your presentation and how to organize your report.

Step 2: Create your KPIs.

Ask yourself what KPIs and measurements provide the information your customer wants now that you are aware of the report's goals and who will be present at the meeting. A stakeholder concern, business objective, or marketing objective can always be addressed by good KPIs. In a paper from Mention and Livestorm, key marketing objectives for businesses in 2022 are described along with examples of KPIs that will be used to measure them.

How do you choose KPIs based on your marketing and business objectives?

Consider that your client wants to increase trust among their target demographic and produce positive social proof for their e-commerce site.

The number of online reviews from their website, visitors, on Google, and on marketplace listings will then be your marketing target for them over the next six months, and you'll use this as a KPI to monitor your success.

Step 3: Develop an analytics dashboard

You may always show your data in an Excel spreadsheet or PowerPoint (PPT) slide deck. However, if you want to dazzle your clients and add a little extra spice to your analytics presentation beyond a well-formatted PowerPoint template, consider putting your data in an interactive dashboard.

Participants in meetings become involved thanks to an interactive dashboard. They are capable of self-analysis, filtering, sorting, and rearranging material from almost any perspective. Their ability to follow along with your presentation also makes the session more beneficial.

Source: Growth Learner 

Step 4: Add action points 

Recall that data are only useful when they have been analyzed and interpreted.

The "So What" question—what does this data point signify in the context of company goals, and what should you do next—should be addressed by any data you offer.

You may add notes and comments to the graphs and metrics in your report using DashThis, which is excellent for summarizing important ideas, elucidating oddities, and providing relevant context.

Develop recommendations after contextualizing the data, especially if you are participating in activities that have an impact on these measures.

• Prioritize a number of recommendations.
• Assign owners to those who are in charge of implementing these suggestions.
• Align yourself the next time you review the metric.

Step 5: Provide space for feedback and discussion

A presentation is a dialogue between two parties. You should allow time for questions and comments from your audience after presenting the statistics.

Observe these pointers for expertly managing queries during a presentation:

• Do not forget that the audience you are presenting to may be viewing the figures for the first time. While putting together the report, take breaks so you can look at it with fresh eyes. You can also check in with your team to go over any areas you might have missed.
• Examine the meeting attendees' responsibilities and what they will be looking for to anticipate inquiries.
• To emphasize the key points in a chart, use whole sentences as headings. The title of a social proof chart could read, "Over the past year, the number of customer reviews has increased by 200% across all channels."
• Use annotations to draw attention to data abnormalities, paying particular attention to spikes or dips in crucial indicators.
• Identify one significant takeaway from the presentation that directly addresses the business issues listed in step 1 and serves as a summary. Because your stakeholders and clients are busy, taking the time to simplify your presentation will ensure that it has a greater impact.

In the end, you want to be comfortable with your material to the point that you can recite it off-hand.

Deliver Presentations on Client Analytics Like a Pro

You'll have everything you need to crush your next client presentation by following these 5 steps.

• Ask inquiries to get the details you require.
• Set KPIs in line with corporate objectives, and address stakeholder concerns.
• Make your information interactive to improve understanding.
• In your recommendations and action steps, address the So-What query.
• Be prepared for inquiries and comments.

And lastly, practice makes perfect. Each customer has different needs and different items they are looking for. You'll quickly establish a reputation as the presentation master the more you collaborate with them and ask for criticism to sharpen your skills.

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