From questioning if their content is resonating with their audiences to wondering how much of the conversation they own, marketers have to know if their marketing is effective. At TrackMaven, we’re all too aware of these problems, and we’re working every day to find the best solutions for marketers with our platform.
That’s why we’re proud to announce TrackMaven’s newest feature — Share of Interactions graphs.
Share of Interactions (SOI) graphs, more commonly referred to as stacked area graphs, can be an effective tool to visualize how a set of numbers changes through time. They are in many ways like a pie chart that has been stretched out to show more than just a single snapshot in time.
Our SOI graphs always display the total at each date. What does that mean? At each date on the graph, a new total is calculated and each metric is shown to represent the appropriate percentage of area. For this reason, SOI graphs will always either display 100% or 0% (only if the counts are 0). SOI graphs do not display negatives. A SOI graph with only one metric will be a rectangle with one color in the same way that a pie chart with only one metric would be a circle with one color.
This is important and has the potential to be misleading, e.g. graphing three separate metrics that all increase at the same rate will result in a graph that appears to remain constant. The total will always be obfuscated so it is important to be aware of any significant changes in the graphed totals. Additionally, SOI charts are not layered — there are never areas behind other areas.
SOI graphs are not a good way to visualize calculated metrics of change. Graphing metrics that are themselves a relative, rolling percentage (e.g. daily change in twitter followers) will result in a graph that is not illuminating to most!
Where SOI graphs excel is in visualizing head-to-head comparisons:
Here, in descending order, we have graphed Walt Disney, Target, Lowe’s, Intel, Home Depot, and Apple’s Instagram follower count since February 2014. Obviously, Walt Disney is picking up ground!
The line graph of the same data gives us additional information:
Here, the lines are, in descending order, Apple, Walt Disney, Target, Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Intel. Both Walt Disney and Apple are increasing their follower count, but Walt Disney is gaining followers faster than Apple is. Walt Disney’s greater acceleration in follower growth gives them the edge in the entire set and their corresponding stream in the SOI graph increases accordingly.
The stacked area graphs in TrackMaven are not necessarily the same graphs that would be generated by Excel. We have worked hard to ensure that users can graph any metric, but that does not mean that all the graphs are equally useful. Toggling back and forth between graph types can provide helpful information in terms of determining what is the best way to visualize the marketing data you need to see.
These graphs are now live in TrackMaven — log in and try them out!
Curious to know more about our custom visualizations and don’t have a TrackMaven account? Let’s get the ball rolling — Get in touch with us today!