Written by Amanda Austin, our talented intern.
If infographics aren’t part of your company’s marketing strategy, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to shine above your competition.
Humans are visual creatures. In fact, 90 per cent of the information transmitted to our brains is visual data. Images, charts and bursts of colour are therefore perfect attention grabbers.
People are constantly bombarded with information across all platforms – from social media and email to television and even mobile phones. Instead of sifting through the information slush pile, humans are becoming increasingly skilled in the art of ignoring. That’s why visually appealing content is so important.
Infographics allow marketers to combine text and images to easily explain concepts while keeping readers interested. Humans have an average attention span of 8.25 seconds, according to the Statistic Brain Research Institute. So infographics don’t just attract people, they increase a company’s odds of transmitting their messages to potential customers simply because they take less time to understand.
Behind the scenes attraction: infographics and SEO
When individuals want to find a particular product or service, they head to Google. If your business doesn’t rank high, it won’t show up frequently in searches, resulting in a loss of revenue and new customers.
Luckily many methods can help companies boost their SEO. For example, HTML code can be embedded in infographics, so their text is included in searches.
Embed code can also be created for infographics so that people can easily feature your infographics on their websites, blogs and other online platforms. Embed codes create inbound links when used on external sites, helping to drive traffic back to your website.
Infographics can be shared across all social media channels to boost brand awareness too.
Not all infographics are created equal
All great infographics tell a compelling story, have interesting and credible data, clearly present information, don’t focus too much on self-promotion and provide an obvious takeaway for the reader.
Design elements like colour, font and layout can all impact an infographic’s effectiveness. Have a look at NeoMam’s infographic resource for a quick tutorial on how to create eye-catching infographics or check out Hubspot’s list of best infographics in 2015 or a compilation of the 90 best infographics on the web for inspiration.
Don’t sweat the numbers
If you agree that infographics are great marketing tools, but you’re intimidated by numbers, don’t despair. Many companies and websites can help you create awesome infographics for your company.
Here are some easy-to-use sites to get you started:
It’s also possible to create infographics using PowerPoint. Check out this great guide to learn how.
Now that you know the ins and outs of infographics, and what they can do for your company, try making some today!
