There is a very specific style of B2B content that is truly crushing it right now...

Data storytelling.

And Peter Walker, the Head of Insights at Carta, is the king of it. He broke down his full playbook for us.

Why Data Storytelling Is the Missing Piece in Your B2B Content Strategy

Let’s be honest. Most B2B content on LinkedIn is pretty dull. 

But if you’re lucky, between the humblebrags and cookie-cutter posts, you might spot a post from the Head of Insights at Carta, Peter Walker. 

Carta is a platform that helps businesses manage their equity. But you won’t find Peter hyping up organized cap tables. Instead, he’s built an audience of 100,000+ LinkedIn followers by sharing stunning data visualizations that tackle the questions startup founders actually care about.

We spoke to Peter, who broke down the exact systems, processes, and tools you can use to bring data storytelling into your B2B content strategy.

Why your B2B content strategy NEEDS data storytelling

Here’s the problem with your product-focused marketing strategy: your B2B product/service is a very small slice of a very small niche. 

If you only talk about your product, you’re missing out on 99% of what your audience actually cares about: their own problems.

Data storytelling lets you join the conversations happening outside your bubble.

• Brand value of being a trusted authority: In crowded B2B markets, being seen as a trusted voice is invaluable. The credibility you build with high-quality, insightful content often outweighs the ROI of flashy ad campaigns or website redesigns.

• Instant authority through unique insights: Data storytelling gives you a perspective no one else can offer. Good content is all about fresh perspectives and insights that make people say: “Ah s**t, I didn’t know that.” 

• Your ticket into your ideal customers’ DMs: Truly shareable content opens doors that would otherwise be closed tight. When your data storytelling is relevant, it’s the kind of thing people screenshot and send to a friend or discuss in WhatsApp groups.

When your audience trusts you to deliver value, they’ll come back when they’re ready for what you offer.

3 steps to create a data storytelling content machine

The mere mention of the word “data” is enough to send a shiver down the spine of the non-technical folks amongst us. It just sounds… complicated. And boring.

Good news: Peter laid out three easy steps to create eye-catching, insightful data visualizations that even your mom could whip up.

1. Find some clean, useful data

Peter is blessed with access to data from 40,000 companies.

I know what you’re thinking. While Peter’s dataset looks like the Library of Alexandria, yours is looking like a kid’s bookshelf.

Peter’s advice? Even small datasets can tell big stories. In fact, in areas where data is scarce, even the simplest insights can stand out and spark conversations.

It’s not size that counts, it’s how you use it. 

The key is to focus on being transparent about what you’re working with rather than presenting it as absolute truth. This transparency goes a long way in making limited data feel useful and credible.

If you’ve got active customers, you’ve got data somewhere. Time to start putting it to good use. 

2. Create data visualizations

You need to be a data wiz or a graphic designer to create great visuals, right? 

Nope.

There are tons of user-friendly tools that make it easy to create incredible data visualizations. Follow this simple 2-step process:

1. Create the visualization with a data analysis tool: Peter suggests starting with a tool like Flourish. Just upload your dataset, browse through the templates, and play around until you hit on something that works. It’s easy and beginner-friendly. If you’re ready to level up, try Tableau - that’s Peter’s go-to. It’s more flexible but comes with a bit of a learning curve.

2. Bring it to life with a graphic design tool: If you’re using Flourish, you can pair it with Canva (there’s a direct integration) to customize your charts easily. For Peter, the magic happens in Figma after he’s gone deep into the data in Tableau.

You can even use AI tools to help streamline your analysis. Tools like Vizly, GPTcsv, and ChatGPT have data analysis functionality to help you find insights in your data. However, Peter isn’t 100% convinced…

3. Tell a story

So what is Peter’s secret to great data storytelling? Start with the questions your audience is already asking. 

Go to where they are - whether that’s LinkedIn, Twitter, or even podcasts - and pay attention to the gaps in their conversations.

Your job is to answer their questions in a way that’s helpful and easy to understand. Speak the language that they use.  

Then comes the key part: repetition. The more stories you tell, the better you’ll get at figuring out what clicks (and what doesn’t).

What are you waiting for?

You’re a B2B marketer. You see how powerful data storytelling could be for your content strategy.

Now let’s talk about bringing this to life:

1. Convince your leadership team: Leadership needs to buy into the idea that this is about building trust and authority. Pitch it as a low-cost experiment (a few hours of someone’s time a week).

2. Choose who’s going to post: In smaller companies, having the founder lead the charge is a solid move. But as your business grows, it’s smart to share the spotlight. Tap into the expertise of your team or partner with creators who know your audience. 

3. Start finding stories: There are two ways to approach this. One, create structured reports to answer consistent questions over time, like Carta’s quarterly “State of Private Markets.” Two, dive in and explore. Tools, like Flourish, let you play with scatter plots and filters to uncover trends and turn raw data into insights your audience cares about. 

Your B2B content doesn’t have to be boring. Start playing around with the powerful tools you have at your disposal and see how data storytelling can turn your content from something “meh” into something memorable.

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