Increase awareness with infographics

You’ve heard the saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” and that has never been truer than in today’s age of information overload. Send me an article and I may or may not read it depending on the length and how much time I have. But send me an infographic and I am probably going to take a minute to peruse it. Like me, consumers simply don’t have time to read everything we want them to know about our latest campaign, product, or offering. Consumers want sound bites. But how do you accomplish that when presenting content online? Enter the infographic.

Infographics are not a new concept; in fact, they were all the rage in content marketing just 3-4 years ago. Unfortunately, as their popularity increased so did the number of poorly done ones and with the truly good ones harder to find in the ensuing clutter of content, some were left to conclude that infographics were no longer effective. That’s not the case though. Infographics are still a great way to bring your message to life and engage with your audience.

What is an infographic?

Simply put, an infographic is a way of taking information, data or knowledge and turning it into a graphic, which is much easier to understand. Whether you are telling a story, drawing comparisons or just listing facts, an infographic takes your information and wraps it up in a visually-pleasing package that is not just more fun to read, it’s also easier to comprehend.

Infographics tell stories that are in sync with the way most of us like to learn. Sixty five percent of the population are visual learners. We’re visually wired. 90% of the information transmitted to the brain is visual and is processed 60,000 times faster in the brain than text. It’s why most people would rather look at an infographic than read text with the same content. Infographics allow the reader to scan and then decide if they want to seek out more information.

Not only are infographic more likely to be read, they are also more likely to be shared. The content needs to be good though. A useful and relevant infographic can have a wide reach when it’s pinned, tweeted, liked, shared and embedded over and over. And, when they bear your logo and brand identity they can be a great branding tool. It’s also a great way to drive traffic to your website as people share it and link to it.

It’s not about you.

Your goal with an infographic should always be to provide value to the audience. An Infographic should not be used to simply promote a product, service or your brand. This may leave you thinking: Then what story do I have to tell? This is where you can get creative. What do you thinking your members need to know? An Instructional infographic could work well for something, say, walking members through the steps involved in setting up a digital wallet. Remember your intent is to provide value, not receive it. Also, look for different angles, especially on common subjects. Looking at the example above, instead of walking members through the steps involved in setting up a digital wallet, show them stats on the benefits of using a digital wallet to make it more appealing to those skeptical to the idea.

Make it relevant.

What topics are trending in the industry which you could educate members on with a well-done infographic? Google Trends and LinkedIn Pulse are good resources to see what topics are trending. To bring topics closer to home, look at your own content that received high engagement. What could be repurposed into an infographic that you could share again to provide the same information in a different and more engaging way? Just make sure you do your homework and research. You want to be able to back up your information after all.

Keep it simple.

Less is more on an infographic so keep words to a minimum and use negative space to help readability. Look for unique and visually appealing ways to convey data, keeping in mind that the goal is to highlight key information and quickly and effectively as possible.

Share it.

One of the appeals of the infographic is that it’s so easily sharable. Make sure you include your social media buttons when displaying so people can easily share with friends. Email a thumbnail of relevant infographics with a link to you member list. And be sure to post to all your social media channels. Infographics can else be easily displayed as posters, handouts, etc.

Infographics are a fun way to get your message across and when done right, can be really effective. Take a look at your current content and see what information would work as a good infographic for your organization.

Jeff Kjoller

Jeff Kjoller

Jeff has extensive experience in branding, art direction and graphic design, having served employers and clients in a creative capacity for more than twenty-five years. After graduating from the University ... Web: www.loudthought.biz Details