By Kerry Roberts [ Digital Analyst]

Clicks, Click Through Rates, Impressions, Engagement, Reach…

You’ve seen the endless list of fancy terms; satisfying an overwhelming thirst for data points. What do these terms actually mean, and what is their value?

Georges Seurat was one of the forefathers of impressionist art and synonymous with a technique know as pointillism.

The painting above, “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte,”Georges Seurat, 1884-1886, is one such example of the technique where the entire painting consists of millions of distinct colored dots organized into clusters that form patterns.

At a distance from the canvas, the viewer’s eye is tricked into an illusion which blends these distinct points of color, optically, so as to appear PHYSICALLY blended. From this view you can witness a rich story of 19th Century aristocracy, enjoying a leisurely afternoon picnicking and sunbathing by the waterside. Stand close enough to the canvas and the spell of the optical illusion is lost to miniature islands of color.

ZOOM OUT from the canvas to view a cohesive image.

ZOOM IN to view [more or less] globs of paint !

So What’s the Point [illism] ?

Data Analysis has a LOT  in common with Pointillism. Each data point is part of a bigger cluster, a bigger pattern, a BIGGER picture; that, tells a story through images. To demonstrate, try this:

ZOOM IN to the canvas for a moment and eyeball a single point of color. Isolate it. Hold it.

I chose a single glob of red on the red parasol!

Now, ZOOM OUT. Keep going. Keep going. Keep going.

Observe the entire canvas, now, and think for a moment about YOUR single point of color in the context of the vast sea of miniature, colored islands.

How well does your SINGLE POINT of red or blue, or yellow, describe the WHOLE?

Does the single island of red or blue, or yellow DESCRIBE the story of the painting: 19th Century aristocracy enjoying a leisurely afternoon, picnicking and sunbathing by the waterside?

Now let’s imagine for a moment that this single point of red or blue, or green is a single data point. Let’s call this data point “click,” [as in, say, an ad. click]

How well does “click“[ or red or blue, or green] describe a story of 19th Century aristocracy enjoying a leisurely afternoon, picnicking and sunbathing by the waterside?

Is it realistic then, to suppose; that, “click,” a single data point, could describe a story about your organization, your online online ad. campaign or website traffic, among a sea of other data points?

We have become accustomed to viewing data as flat, as with a line graph, but meaningful data has dimension.

Like with Seurat’s optical illusion, the data landscape is rich, and it is beautiful. Meaningful data has a narrative.

To adequately describe this landscape, however, requires a physically blended image of MANY different data points. Without a distinct narrative, your data points are no more than a glob of paint!