Numbers are an important part of storytelling for my sector, the built environment, and B2B businesses more widely, but how you present data within your writing is critical.
Strategic presentation of numbers can enhance clarity and support the story; poor presentation can confuse and lessen the impact.
Here are 5 things to consider when including numbers and data in your copy:
1. Number order
Let the order of the numbers support the story.
Talking about growth? Write from X (smaller number) to Y (bigger number):
❌ Office rents have grown to £105 from £100
✔️ Office rents have grown from £100 to £105
Similarly, when talking about a reduction/decrease, write from X (bigger number) to Y (smaller number):
❌ Vacancy has decreased to 5% from 7% in the last year.
✔️ Vacancy has decreased from 7% to 5% in the last year.
2. Absolute numbers vs percentages
Choose whether to include the absolute number or a percentage based on the emotional impact of the point you are making.
Absolute numbers give a tangible scale:
We’ve added 378 apartments to our rental portfolio in the last 6 months.
Percentages can be used to indicate momentum or trend, particularly when the absolute numbers are small.
We’ve increased our portfolio of rental apartments by 8%.
3. Make numbers human
Numbers can feel abstract, particularly to a non-technical audience, so convert to a human or more relatable alternative.
For example:
20% of house purchases are first-time buyers.
Alternative:
20 out of every 100 homes bought are first-time buyers.
For scale, consider converting to something more relatable. For example, sites can become the size of a number of football pitches and the length/height a number of double-decker buses.
Humanising numbers can be particularly helpful with sustainability stats. Convert CO2 savings to an equivalent number of trees, for example.
4. Don’t include too many numbers
Be wary of including too many numbers, particularly in one sentence, as it can dilute the point you want to make and potentially cause confusion.
Try to declutter by removing unnecessary numbers or rephrasing:
❌ Retail rents grew 4% to reach a new record high of £250 per sq ft in 2 prime locations due to demand for space from 3 key sectors: fashion, books and health and beauty.
✔️ Prime retail rents grew 4% to reach a new record high of £250 per sq ft. Demand was driven by the fashion, books and health and beauty sectors which leased space in 2 key locations.
5. Be consistent with units/style
For clarity, be consistent in the type of numbers or measurements you use. It also makes it much easier for readers to draw direct comparisons.
If readers have to work to understand what you are trying to say by doing conversions and calculations, they are more likely to scroll on to something else.
Examples of where consistency = clarity:
✔️ Number formats: 200k or 0.2M, 1.2M or 1,200,000 (don’t mix the style).
✔️ Currency: Choose one that is most relevant to your readers and stick to it. Don’t present some figures in £s and some in $s, for example.
✔️ Metric vs imperial: Similar to currency, don’t mix them up. Choose either metric (metres/m2/kg etc) or imperial (feet, sq ft, lbs etc) or include both if that better serves your audience.
NOTE: Examples are purely for illustration only
🖥️ Get in touch if you want help turning numbers into powerful stories.
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