Data-Driven Storytelling with Spotify

If you use social media, you have likely seen people share their “Spotify Wrapped” – your musical year in review based on the songs you listened to.

I enjoy seeing my ridiculous compilation of top songs from 2022 all organized into a playlist that makes me nostalgic for the year that has passed. But, of course, I’m a sucker for 90s music and all types of genres, so to also say the playlist is a bit eclectic — would be an understatement!

Of course, some nice, easy-to-share graphics are an excellent way for me to share this with others.

What Spotify is doing is genius!

They are setting the bar for data-driven storytelling, a trend for 2023, and developing an excellent example of how data can be used entertainingly while also boosting their brand recognition.

Not only does Spotify Wrapped give you the story of your year in music, but they make it easy for you to share this story with others through customizable graphics – sparking engagement, conversation, and potential connections with people with the same musical interests.

Spotify also succeeds in pushing its platform out to more users – because people want to share their stories and don’t want to miss out on the chance to be part of a trend.

You likely don’t have the same database of information as Spotify …

… so how can you start using data-driven storytelling in your business?

Check out your analytics – many social platforms and website builders allow you to see what content people are looking at the most; use this to inspire your future content creation.
Share facts about your niche in a digestible and fun way – even if you haven’t collected the data yourself, use what is available to help your audience learn something new (don’t forget to cite where you get the data from)
Use surveys/polls – ask your audience questions; this is the best way to learn about what they need – share the results through a story (maybe even making some shareable graphics to spark conversation), and use the data to help build your business by offering what your ideal clients are looking for

By now, you will see that storytelling is everywhere. If you have data, you don’t have to keep it locked away in a spreadsheet for back-end decisions; use it to create a data-driven story and see the impact you can have!