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Oh, the Insights You'll Show!
- Lisa Ciancarelli
- Apr 1
- 2 min read
Updated: Apr 6
This week, I'm excited to spend a day at Rutgers in New Brunswick, NJ, interacting with some of the most talented up and coming Communication professionals! Returning to my alma mater (indeed, I'm a proud RU Communication graduate!) fills me with inspiration, prompting me to celebrate the occasion by sharing my insights on data storytelling through lyrics! So let's have some fun with rank, trend, profile and context!
Oh, the Insights You'll Show!
You'll rank and you'll trend, and your insights will stand. You'll profile the people, the places, the things, and with context to guide, your story takes wings.
Rank is your ladder; it shows who’s on top. From first to last place, it won’t let you stop. Whether sales or performance or clicks on a site, Ranking reveals who's winning the fight.
Trends are your compass; they point where to go. They show ups and downs, the fast and the slow. With lines that curve gently or spike to the sky, Trends tell us what’s changing and helps to learn why.
Profiles are mirrors; they reflect what is true. They show who we are and what we pursue. From customer habits to market demands, Profiles give stories their human commands.
Context is magic; it brings numbers to life. It explains the big picture and cuts through the strife. A 20% rise? What does it mean? Context makes data insightful and keen.
So gather your metrics and weave them with care. Your rank, trend, profile—place context right there! With charts that enchant and visuals that glow ...
Oh, the Data You'll Know!
Oh, the Insights You'll Show!
So a bit of fun to drive home what I'm sharing in my blogs and learning program. While the concepts of rank, trend, profile and context are relatively fundamental, understanding their relationship to each other to drive valuable, actionable insights, is essential for transforming raw data into meaning and action.
Ranking creates a foundation by organizing data points into meaningful hierarchies that reveal priorities and relative performance, whether comparing brands, products, time periods, or competitive positions. When combined with trending—the analysis of how these rankings change over time—you unlock insights that reveals not just what's happening now, but the direction and velocity of change. This dynamic pairing helps identify emerging opportunities and signals when seemingly low-ranked items might become tomorrow's top performers, giving you the foresight to allocate resources strategically.
Profiles and context serve as the narrative framework bringing life to your data. Profiles create comprehensive portraits of your audiences—their characteristics, values, behaviors, and pain points—allowing you to personalize messaging and anticipate future needs. Context is the critical spotlight illuminating the entire data landscape, transforming statements like "sales increased 10%" into meaningful insights that consider historical performance, industry trends, competitive positioning, and external factors.
By integrating these four analytical approaches, you move beyond merely sharing data to telling compelling stories to drive smarter business decisions. Remember, numbers alone rarely tell the full story—it's the thoughtful application of rank, trend, profile, and context that transforms information from interesting to invaluable. And thanks to Rutgers School of Communication for inviting me to COMMchella this Wednesday, RU, rah, rah!!
