Have you ever tried to find something quickly in a book? Say it's a book you've never read before - how do you approach it? You look first for the table of contents, right? We've all done it hundreds of times - if you scan the table of contents, you should quickly figure out what chapter or pages to turn to for what you need.

So how does that apply to marketing you might ask? Well, think of data visualization as a way to get a nice table of contents on any data set.  You can scan it and quickly draw some conclusions, and then zero in on what you need. You get good insights more quickly that let you make confident decisions at the speed of your market. It's really that simple.

Using data visualization is a way to see data graphically within a business context so you can understand it better. It can help you easily spot hidden patterns and trends, which lets you quickly figure out where you need to dig deeper. For marketers, that can mean getting more quickly to key answers, such as:

• Finding which messages are best suited for different customers.
• Knowing whether time of day or day of the week are more important for certain offers.
• Figuring out how which activities have the lowest impact - so you know where to cut if you're asked.

Click on the video below for more details. In just under 2 minutes, you can see a quick story that illustrates the power of data visualization for marketers:

If you'd rather see it spelled out in a paper, download "Why Marketers Need Data Visualization" and read it at your leisure. Either way, I hope you'll quickly see what a difference data visualization can make for marketing.