source: NeoMam Studios
For brands, or even services, infographics are a brilliant way to communicate data that would normally be pretty hard to digest. And with 65% of us being visual learners (Forbes, 2013), it's such an easy way to take advantage of something that's on a plate for businesses. In the past, companies would have hired graphic designers, or those with a dab-hand for photoshop - but now, it's completely different. For most companies, infographics are perfectly easy to create, and the relevant software is totally accessible. When infographics are done right, they can communicate messages that stick in the minds of your audience - whether that be why you should be buying something, how you should be designing something or where you should be finding something, these infographics are essential to boosting your brand.
According to Arrow (2014), there are a good few reasons why using infographics should be part of your strategy:
- Inbound links to your site - letting others use your infographics means more search engine optimisation.
- Increased following - depending on what you're using platform-wise, infographics increase followers/subscribers, sharing is the new viral.
- Credibility - publishing infographics that are either relevant, useful, educational, or filled with information can boost your rankings within your market.
- Branding - speaks for itself, establish your brand; logos, slogans, taglines, message etc.
- Multi-purpose - can be used as print media within your company, not just for their viral tendencies.
But be aware, infographics can go terribly wrong, be cautious not to mislead your audience, or worse, include too much that it's difficult to even look at. Be clever with the images you use, and be careful not to make silly mistakes (a bad example is shown in the image below published by World Bank).
source: The Guardian
Who knew that just over 3/4 looks like just under 3/4? Rookie mistake. So it's important to get this stuff right, and it's not hard to match images to data, as long as you sit down and plan it out properly. Imagine you're the one looking for the information, how would you want to see it? How would you respond to the image if it was the first time you looked at it? Ask people - test your infographics.
It has to be said, the benefits that come with the correct use of infographics are great, although it appears to be quite an easy thing to get wrong. It's being careful with the data selection, and choosing what is absolutely relevant and necessary is vital, but above all, it is the image and words that portray the data that is key to a successful infographic.
REFERENCES:
Arrow, S. (2014) Content Marketing: 10 reasons to include infographics in your strategy. SteamFeed [online] <http://www.steamfeed.com/content-marketing-10-reasons-include-infographics-strategy/>
Chalabi, M (2013) 16 Useless Infographics. The Guardian [online] <http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/gallery/2013/aug/01/16-useless-infographics#/?picture=414071380&index=4>
McCue, T. (2013) Why Infographics Rule. Forbes [online] <http://www.forbes.com/sites/tjmccue/2013/01/08/what-is-an-infographic-and-ways-to-make-it-go-viral/>
