By joetting@hubspot.com (Jami Oetting)

There are more types of charts and graphs than ever before because there’s more data. In fact, the volume of data in 2025 will be almost double the data we create, capture, copy, and consume today.

This makes data visualization essential for businesses. Different types of graphs and charts can help you:

• Motivate your team to take action
• Impress stakeholders with goal progress
• Show your audience what you value as a business

Data visualization builds trust and can organize diverse teams around new initiatives. Let’s talk about the types of graphs and charts that you can use to grow your business.

Channels like social media or blogs have multiple sources of data and when you manage these complex content assets it can get overwhelming. What should you be tracking? What matters most? How do you visualize and analyze the data so you can extract insights and actionable information?

1. Identify your goals for presenting the data.

Do you want to convince or clarify a point? Are you trying to visualize data that helped you solve a problem, or are you trying to communicate a change that’s happening?

A chart or graph can help you compare different values, understand how different parts impact the whole, or analyze trends. Charts and graphs can also be useful for recognizing data that veers away from what you’re used to or help you see relationships between groups.

Clarify your goals, then use them to guide your chart selection.

2. Figure out what data you need to achieve your goal.

Different types of charts and graphs use different kinds of data. Graphs usually represent numerical data, while charts are a visual representation of data that may or may not use numbers.

So, while all graphs are a type of chart, not all charts are graphs. If you don’t already have the kind of data you need, you might need to spend some time putting your data together before building your chart.

3. Gather your data.

Most businesses collect numerical data regularly, but you may need to put in some extra time to collect the right data for your chart. Besides quantitative data tools that measure traffic, revenue, and other user data, you might need some qualitative data.

These are some other ways you can gather data for your data visualization:

• Interviews
• Quizzes and surveys
• Customer reviews
• Reviewing customer documents and records
• Community boards

4. Select the right type of graph or chart.

Choosing the wrong visual aid or defaulting to the most common type of data visualization could cause confusion for your viewer or lead to mistaken data interpretation.

But a chart is only useful to you and your business if it communicates your point clearly and effectively.

To help find the right chart or graph type, ask yourself the questions below.

Then, take a look at 14 types of charts and graphs you can use to visualize …read more

Source:: HubSpot Blog

Author: Aaron