Power BI is one of the most powerful skills that you can have in your marketing toolkit.

Power BI is Microsoft’s data visualization tool. It creates interactive visualizations and business intelligence. Its’ interface is simple enough for end users to create their own reports and dashboards. It is part of the Microsoft Power Platform

Power BI includes data preparation and visual-based data discovery. It features interactive dashboards and augmented analytics. It is software that runs on the Azure cloud or as an on-premises option in Power BI Report Server.

The market for data visualization software and Business Intelligence tools is busy. Power BI and Tableau are the biggest players.

Power Bi is big. 1.2 billion people worldwide use  Microsoft Office product or service. There are 60 million monthly active Office 365 commercial customers. 50,000 small business customers get Office 365 each month. Users get Power BI included in Office 365 E5. This means that Power BI  is “self-seeding.” Users of other Microsoft office products receive prompts to “visualize in Power BI.” This means that everyone who uses Microsoft Office can see Power BI.

Power BI has not always been so successful. From its launch in 2013, it was a follower product.

It had to be “good enough” to justify its price of $10 a month per user.

Today, that is no longer the case. The Power BI Pro cloud service overtook its competitors in 2019.  It included innovative features such as augmented analytics and machine language.  AI-powered services such as text and sentiment analysis, are available within Power BI.

Microsoft is always investing in new capabilities and integrating them with Power BI.

The vast majority of Microsoft’s customers recommend Power BI without qualification.

There is only one area where Power BI loses out to its chief opposition Tableau.

Power BI offers a wide range of data connectors. But feedback from users says it does not connect to systems like rival  Tableau. Customers choose to load data into Power BI instead.

Yet Power BI remains one of the most powerful skills that you can have in your marketing toolkit.  Here is why it is  powerful, and what value it can bring to your business.

1. It is important for marketers to be up-to-date with data and trends in their industry

As a marketer, it is important to stay up to date on the latest changes within your industry.  Power BI is one of the best ways to do this in a visual and easy way. It is simple to set up. And Power BI doesn’t need users to write SQL code.

Power BI can connect your Power BI account to all kinds of other sources.  You can connect Google Analytics, Mailchimp and Facebook Ads Manager to Power BI.

Power BI allows marketers to compare marketing metrics from different sources. That removes the possibilities of having false positives from your data.

Every week, Microsoft releases an update to its cloud service. It has added hundreds of features in 2019.  Decomposition tree visuals, LinkedIn data connectivity and geographic mapping have all been added recently. Users can expect many more additions.

Microsoft want to beat their rivals and win the battle for  data visualization. And they have the resources to succeed.

2. You can gain powerful insights into the business that will help you grow faster than before

Users can connect to many data sources. You can connect cloud services to on-site sources and Excel spreadsheets.

Power Bi produces easy-to-read reports that cut out the fluff and focus on what matters.

You can ask Power BI Desktop to explain changes in your data. You can see distribution factors in charts. And you can get fast, automated, insightful analysis about your data.

These findings will help your business to grow like never before.

3. Power BI is great for sharing information with clients and upper management

With a Power BI pro account you can share reports with external users. Data visualization is a terrific reassurance tool. It is great way to show bosses the impact of a business action in a way that can he or she can grasp in seconds.

You can share Power BI charts with clients or customers. Data visualization is used towards the end of the customer journey to close sales.

Power BI can increase your effectiveness within your company.

4. It is helpful in meetings if people are trying to explain ideas without time for explanation

People consume the basic gist of a chart in about two seconds. We call this impact. Once users have a basic understanding of the chart, then they drill down to find out more.

Without impact, charts do not get read.

Charts generated by Power BI have impact. They can reach their audience in two seconds. That is powerful, even when the underlying data may be complex. For this reason data visualization has real cut-through.

5. Customisation is easy

Sometimes you may wish to customize your charts. For instance, many folks use too much colour in charts, which confuses the user. It’s better to pick one colour and use different shades of that colour for your charts. (Google Analytics adopt this strategy. They use different shades of the colour blue.)

This is easy to do in Power BU. Here’s what you need to do to use the “Personalize” feature in Power BI Desktop.  Go to File > Options and settings > Options > Current file > Report settings. Then you can make sure you have turned Personalize visuals on.

By customizing charts you make them you own. People  trust charts that look like they come from a s ingle source.

Power BI uses AI to suggest possible charts of your data you may not have thought of.   Power BI makes wide use of AI. This is one of its features in which it beats competitor Tableau.

6. You will be more employable

One of the great things about Power BI is how it is becoming one of the go-to skills for employers. Because it is a tool that is becoming more used, the chances are that you will be able to use it in your next role.

If you are a data scientist, getting  Power BI-certified will supercharge your career. And your salary.

If you’re a marketer and Power BI isn’t on your radar, we can understand why. But Power BI is a skill you should in vest in today.

Using Power BI will improve your reports. It will make you a more influential employee. And a more effective marketer.

For these reasons, Power Bi is a skill worth learning.

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About the author

My name is Andy Pemberton. I am an expert in data visualization. I guide global clients such as Lombard Odier, the European Commission and Cisco on the best way to use data visualization and then produce it for them: reports, infographics and motion graphics. If you need your data visualized contact me at andy@furthr.co.uk or call 07963 020 103

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