How to Make a Double Bar Graph in Power BI with AI

Creating a double bar graph in Power BI is a fantastic way to compare two different sets of data across the same categories. This tutorial will walk you through exactly how to build one, customize it for maximum clarity, and even use Power BI's built-in AI tools to get it done faster and uncover deeper insights.

What is a Double Bar Graph and When Should You Use It?

A double bar graph, often called a clustered bar chart, places two bars side-by-side for each category. This side-by-side comparison makes it incredibly easy to see the relationship between two different metrics instantly.

It's the perfect choice when you want to answer questions like:

• How do this year’s sales compare to last year’s sales for each product line?

• Which marketing channels are bringing in more leads versus actual customers?

• How does forecasted revenue stack up against actual revenue for each quarter?

• Are my Facebook Ads or Google Ads campaigns performing better in different regions?

If you're comparing two values over a set of categories, a double bar graph is one of your best and clearest options.

Setting Up Your Data for Power BI

Before you can build the graph, your data needs to be in the right shape. Power BI works best with well-structured, "tidy" data. For a double bar graph, you ideally want a table format where each row represents a single category and separate columns hold the values you want to compare.

Let's say you want to compare marketing spend versus the revenue generated for each campaign. Your source data in an Excel or Google Sheet file should look something like this:

Here, 'Campaign Name' is your category, while 'Marketing Spend' and 'Revenue Generated' are the two values you'll be comparing side-by-side for each campaign. Having your data structured this way makes the process of creating the graph in Power BI simple and intuitive.

Creating Your Double Bar Graph: The Step-by-Step Manual Method

Once your data is ready, it's time to build the visual. We'll start with the classic drag-and-drop method, which gives you full control over every element.

1. Launch Power BI Desktop and Import Your Data

First, open a blank Power BI report. In the ‘Home’ tab of the ribbon, click on Get Data. For our example, you'd choose ‘Excel workbook’ or 'Google Sheets' to find and load your file. Power BI will show you a preview of your tables, select the one you need and click Load. Your data will now appear in the ‘Data’ pane on the right-hand side of the screen.

2. Select the Right Chart Type

In the ‘Visualizations’ pane next to the Data pane, you'll see a collection of icons for different charts and graphs. For a double bar graph, click on the icon for the Clustered bar chart or Clustered column chart. A bar chart displays data horizontally, while a column chart displays it vertically. For comparing long category names, bar charts are often easier to read. A blank visual will appear on your report canvas.

3. Add Your Data to the Visual

With the PROPERTIES of the blank visual selected, you’ll see fields below PROPERTIES titled ‘Build a Visual,’ with options like Y-axis, X-axis, and Legend. This is where you tell Power BI what data to use. Following our marketing campaign example:

• Drag your category field (e.g., Campaign Name) from the Data pane into the Y-axis field.

• Next, drag your first value (e.g., Marketing Spend) into the X-axis field.

• Finally, drag your second value (e.g., Revenue Generated) into the X-axis field as well.

As soon as you drag the second value into the X-axis, Power BI will automatically place two bars side-by-side for each campaign. It's that simple! You now have a functional double bar graph.

Customizing Your Graph for Better Readability

A default chart gets the job done, but a professionally formatted one tells a much clearer story. Power BI’s formatting options let you fine-tune almost every aspect of your graph's appearance.

Select your chart to bring up the ‘Format your visual’ options in the Visualizations pane (it looks like a paintbrush icon).

Adjusting Colors and the Legend

By default, Power BI assigns standard colors. You can change these to match your brand or to make the distinction clearer. Under the ‘Visual’ tab in the formatting pane, find the Bars section. Here you can manually set the color for each metric ('Marketing Spend' and 'Revenue Generated'). You can also format the Legend to change its position, title, and text style.

Adding Clear Data Labels

It’s often helpful to show the exact value for each bar directly on the chart. To do this, find the Data labels option in the formatting pane and flip the switch to ‘On.’ You can then customize the font, size, color, and position of the numbers to ensure they are easy to see without cluttering the visual.

Refining Your Titles and Axes

Clear, descriptive titles are critical. Go to the ‘General’ tab in the formatting pane and expand the Title section. Change the default title to something more descriptive, like “Marketing Spend vs. Generated Revenue by Campaign.” You may choose a different font, font size, and color here too, to match your brand guide.

You can also clean up the X-axis and Y-axis. For example, you'll already have the legend and Title with clear metric names, so let's simplify that view, removing any redundant details that might confuse the visual’s readability and purpose.

Using Power BI’s AI to Build Your Graph Instantly

Manually building and dragging is not at all difficult, but why drag and drop when you can just ask Power BI to build the visual for you? Power BI includes some clever AI features that can speed up your workflow immensely. Let’s explore two of the most popular to help build reports instantly in Microsoft Power BI.

Building Charts with the Q&A Visual

This feature allows everyone, regardless of their proficiency with Microsoft’s Business Intelligence tool, to ask for anything in Power BI by writing in their native language. Programming skills are no longer necessary. Power BI will interpret user questions perfectly!

Here's how to use it:

1. First, get the data inside Power BI Desktop from a source as seen in the examples above.

2. When available for editing, go to the Visualizations pane, click on the Q&A icon, and a new text box will show up on your report canvas.

3. Try writing prompts like: “compare marketing spend and revenue generated by campaign name” or “clustered bar chart of marketing spend versus revenue generated by campaign.”

4. Press the Enter (⏎) button, and Power BI’s natural language processing will interpret your request and generate the exact double bar graph you need, delivering insights based on its ability.

5. You can refine the Q&A result by clicking the icon beside the text box to turn it into a normal visualization and fine-tune it with coloring and styling.

There are many interesting ways to create graphs, and using this feature can save you time and effort while providing deep insights.

Uncovering Insights with "Smart Narratives"

Once you’ve built your double bar graph, Power BI’s AI offers features like the Smart Narrative to help translate data into actionable recommendations.

This visual automatically scans data and adds narratives summarizing the main facts in your report. It's helpful for stakeholders to see trends or important comparisons and generates text summarizing the most insightful information this report delivers:

“Across all campaigns, the Holiday Blitz delivered the highest revenue at $75,000, showing a similar increase in marketing spend compared to other events.”

This dynamic text updates along with your information, helping you keep an informative narrative available at all times.

Final Thoughts

Creating and customizing double bar graphs in Power BI is now more accessible, especially with Power BI's AI functionalities. Anyone can achieve a professional-looking job with ease.

Thanks to years of development and research, these AI capabilities are at your fingertips. While not everyone may know Microsoft or Power BI, platforms like Graphed offer a natural-language conversation experience to enhance your data-driven decisions. Try it for free at Graphed's main website and see how this tool can help you deliver and share informative insights efficiently. Graphed