It’s certainly not a coincidence that so much of what we share online today is picture related. There’s just so much information around us that we cannot possibly remember it all in a limited amount of time. This is why using infographics in your marketing content is so important.
Using infographics to convey figures and data will help people absorb information in a much more efficient way. A way of presenting information in a visually appealing and memorable form, infographics allow your audience to engage quickly, gain insight, and absorb relevant information in bite-sized pieces, while also offering a variation within your content marketing strategy.
What is an infographic?
Infographics are graphic visual representations of information, data, or knowledge, intended to present complex information quickly and clearly.
There’s a consensus that “a good infographic is worth a thousand words,” providing an effective way to convert information into a memorable and visually appealing form.
For marketers, infographics offer a different way to engage your audience. However, some information lends itself more to infographics than others and there are tips for using them to the best effect.
Why are they so popular?
In many ways, the infographic has been around since the dawn of time. Think about those paintings that cavemen etched into walls or the hieroglyphics used by the Egyptians. All these are infographics that tell a story or impart information using pictures.
The last decade or so has seen a steady rise in the use of infographics for content marketing in a bid to educate, entertain and engage an audience.
Infographics are now one of the most popular types of images for marketers, with 30% of content creators crafting their own original infographic images.
Why? Because, according to statistics, infographics cater to the way we process information:
- 90% of information sent to the brain is visual. (MIT)
- 65% of people are visual learners. (Pearson)
- 99% of all sensory information is filtered out by the brain almost immediately. This means that only 1% of information actually gets through to the brain. Infographics are in this 1%. (QUE Publishing)
Meanwhile, in content marketing terms:
- Content with relevant images gets 94% more views than content without relevant images. (Quick Sprout)
- 42% of marketers reported that infographics and other original graphics were the most engaging. This was higher than any other form of visual content. (Venngage)
- Infographics can increase web traffic by 12%. (Demand Gen Report)
- 81% of people only skim the content they read online. The average user reads 20-28% of words during an average visit. (NN Group)
- Infographics are liked and shared on social media three times more than any other type of content. (NN Group)
When to use an infographic?
Like any content, using infographics is all about offering them in the right place at the right time. So here’s a quick checklist of when you might consider using an infographic:
- When there are lots of data – Infographics are a great way of converting data and statistics into a visually compelling form.
- If the information is hard to understand in written form – If your information is complex when written or hard to get your head around due to the numbers and statistics involved, an infographic may be a more effective way to tell the story.
- If you haven’t used too many recently – Infographics are part of a wider content strategy, and as such should be used sparingly. You don’t want to bombard your audience with an infographic a week, but rather use them when they will offer something relevant or the best way of telling a story.
- If your audience likes them – Just as some content lends itself to infographics, some audiences absorb them more readily than others. If you’ve trialled infographics and your audience just isn’t that into them, find a different method of relaying information.
Nine tips to use infographics in your marketing:
The key thing to remember with infographics is that they are a visually compelling way of telling a story or relaying data. The best, most often shared infographics all feature the following traits:
- A good story – A great infographic tells a story using pictures and few words, so consider what story you’re trying to tell. Is it interesting, pertinent, timely or relevant?
- A journey – As an infographic is a story, it will take your audience on a journey from beginning to end using pictures and very few words. Consider where you will start, where you will finish and how you will get there visually.
- A new angle – Just as you use new angles for blog posts, infographics should also feature a “fresh take on things”.
- Practical value – Pretty pictures are lovely, but an infographic should offer value to your audience. That means you should ensure your infographic either offer new information or provides existing information in a new and engaging way. This makes your infographic all the more shareable.
- Well-structured – Clarity is the key to an infographic, so structure it well, taking the audience through a natural sequence of information from beginning to end.
- Key message – While an infographic tells a story, the audience should walk away with one key message, and you should be clear on what that is.
- Visually appealing – Remember an infographic is a visual presentation of data, so make it appealing. Keep it uncluttered, and clearly structure the content so it is easy to follow with very few words. Don’t forget a headline
- Accurate and well-researched – As an infographic is all about data, ensure that what you are presenting is accurate and well-researched, with current, relevant information.
- Short and sweet text – An infographic is not a brochure, an essay or a traditional blog post. It’s about offering bite-sized pieces of information in a visually appealing way. Keep the text short and sweet, and if the content isn’t lending itself to that, it needs to be presented in a different format.
Tools to create infographics in your marketing:
Due to the popularity of the infographic, there are a host of tools available to help you easily and affordably create them. Two of the best are:
- Canva – Not only does Canva allow you to easily create beautiful documents and designs, but they also have a dedicated section just for infographics where all sorts of templates, designs, tips, and tools are available.
- Visme – Visme is an online platform specifically devoted to creating infographics and other visual content like charts, reports, social graphics and banner ads. Visme allows you to choose from hundreds of beautiful presentations, infographics, and other templates or use content blocks to quickly create custom designs from scratch. Tap into millions of icons, images and fonts.
Highlights:
[0:00] Introduction
[0:35] What is an infographic?
[0:50] What makes a good infographic
[1:25] Tips on how to use infographics to the best effect
[1:50] Using infographics in content and education marketing
[2:10] Infographics cater to the way we process information
[2:35] Infographics in content marketing terms
[3:25] A checklist of when to use an infographic
[4:31] Nine tips for infographics
[7:25] Subscribe for the next podcast episode
Resources Mentioned in the Podcast:
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