Intelligence Lab
How we collect, clean and tell stories with data. Three stories are real. Ten studio samples show what a study could look like before you commission one: seven on synthetic data, three on real public or our own data. Every chart says which it is.
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Real data Verified figures from our own sites or published research, with the source under every chart.
Method sample Synthetic data built to show the method. No client, no real result, nothing to quote.
Real data · our own site01
We ran our own Search Console data through the method we use for clients. It was not flattering, which is why we publish it.
−82%monthly search impressions, November 2025 to October 2026
3.9% → 31.6%top-ten share of impressions, then of clicks
204,827 : 10impressions to clicks on our services page
Source: Google Search Console export for 1stcontent.co, 12 months to 4 November 2026. Shares are of the top 1,000 queries.
Real data · published by Caban02
Caban Corporate Advisors publishes the African Growth Capital Monitor. Its Q3 2026 edition reconciles trackers that disagree and asks what the data means for founders, investors and sellers.
24%spread between four credible trackers on the same half-year
$83mSouth Africa, fifth in H1 2026
−44%rounds of $100k to $1m, 179 down to 100
Source: Caban African Growth Capital Monitor, Vol. 21, Q3 2026 (published July 2026), citing Africa: The Big Deal, Launch Base Africa, TechCabal Insights and Condia. Figures are as reported at the time and are restated by trackers as deals are disclosed. Volumes 1 to 19 were compiled retrospectively in July 2026; the Monitor has published quarterly since Vol. 20.
Real data · published by TBL Accounting03
TBL Accounting publishes a quarterly Cash & Tax Brief that tracks SARS, CIPC, Treasury and HMRC changes and turns each into what changed, what it means and what to do, with dates and sources.
1% → 10%late interim EMP501 penalty, rising 1% of annual PAYE for each month outstanding
10.25% → 10.50%SARS interest on tax owed from 1 September 2026
4 datesflagged between October 2026 and January 2027
Source: TBL Accounting, Cash & Tax Brief, Q3 2026 (July to September 2026), citing SARS notices and HM Treasury. Penalty, rate and date figures are as stated in that edition.
Studio samples
Think of these as designs in a shop window. Each shows the method, the chart form and the question a real study would answer. Seven use synthetic data and three use real public or our own data, and each is labelled. None is a client result, and none names a company.
Method sample04
Customer segmentation
What it shows. Segments plotted by purchase frequency and basket value, sized by customer count, so we can see which groups deserve different messages.
What a real study needs. Customer-level transaction data, a loyalty or CRM identifier and a rule for activity windows.
Synthetic data for illustration. Not a client result.
Method sample05
Attribution and media mix
What it shows. A last-click view against an attribution-guided view that credits email, WhatsApp and in-store media. A real study would also model month-end pay cycles. The shape of a reallocation, not a promised result.
What a real study needs. Channel spend, conversion paths across online and in-store sales, and pay-cycle timing from your own sales data.
Synthetic data for illustration. Not a client result.
Method sample06
Churn and retention
What it shows. Retention curves for three segments. Steep early curves point to onboarding or price problems; flat ones point to loyalty. We would add real ICASA subscriber figures for market context once checked against the primary source.
What a real study needs. Subscription start and end dates, monthly usage and a clear churn definition.
Synthetic data for illustration. Not a client result.
Method sample07
Omnichannel journeys
What it shows. The same five-step journey on four channels, drawn as ribbons that narrow where customers leak out.
What a real study needs. Event data from each channel, a common customer ID and consistent stage definitions.
Synthetic data for illustration. Not a client result.
Method sample08
Loyalty and cross-sell
What it shows. A propensity heatmap of member segments against categories. Dark cells are where a personalised offer is most likely to fit, so offers are not sent to everyone.
What a real study needs. Member-level purchase history across categories, offer history and a consent record.
Synthetic data for illustration. Not a client result.
Method sample09
Customer lifetime value
What it shows. A cumulative value curve. The steeper it rises, the more a few customers matter to the budget.
What a real study needs. Customer-level revenue and margin over a long enough window, and an agreed horizon.
Synthetic data for illustration. Not a client result.
Real data sample10
Demand and promotion timing
What it shows. Monthly retail sales in 2024, indexed to the average month. December sat 38% above average and 55% above January; November sat 16% above. A promotion calendar should be read against this curve before dates are fixed.
What a real study needs. Your weekly sales by product and region, your promotion calendar and stock data.
Source: Stats SA, Retail trade sales release (P6242.1), October 2025, Table 1, unadjusted sales at constant 2019 prices. Index: monthly sales divided by the 2024 monthly average.
Real data sample11
Cultural and behavioural audiences
What it shows. One square is one percent of South Africans. English was the home language of 8.7%, while isiZulu and isiXhosa together were 40.7%. Home language is not the same as language understood, so a real study would add media and survey data before changing creative.
What a real study needs. Your response data by region, language and creative version, and a test design.
Source: Stats SA, Census 2022, as reported by BusinessTech (10 October 2023). Shares are rounded; to be checked against the Stats SA primary release.
Real data sample12
Vanity metrics versus outcomes
What it shows. Our own impressions and clicks fell together, and the click rate stayed near 0.06 to 0.07%, so more impressions alone would not have meant more enquiries. Visibility is a vanity metric until it is tied to enquiries.
What a real study needs. Search Console data plus enquiry records by source, so clicks can be followed to outcomes.
Source: Google Search Console export for 1stcontent.co, 12 months to 4 November 2026: 434,086 impressions, 253 clicks.
Method sample13
Sentiment and share of voice
What it shows. Weekly net sentiment for one brand with the events that moved it: an outage, an apology, a fix. The team sees which action shifted the signal. Real public search-interest data can be layered in later.
What a real study needs. Social, review and support data for your brand and competitors, with agreed classification rules.
Synthetic data for illustration. Not a client result.
Your study
Tell us the decision you need to make. We will say which data would answer it, what the analysis would show and what it would cost, before you commit to anything.
Run it on your own business
Search & AI · 01
Enter a web address and see how search engines and AI crawlers read the page: titles, headings, structured data, robots rules and more.
Run the check →Automation · 02
Estimate the hours and rand a repetitive task costs each month, and what automating part of it could save. Your numbers stay in your browser.
Open the calculator →Training · 03
Ten quick questions on skills, data, policy and ownership, with a plain-language summary of where to focus first.
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