If ‘longform’ content was the buzzword of the past year, then infographics is definitely a major contender for 2014/15. For those of you who are already marketing-savvy, then you probably already saw this one coming. You could even argue that it was a natural progression. As more companies continue to produce longform content, online users are being bombarded with more information than ever before. It’s been estimated that the average person is exposed to 174 newspapers full of information on a daily basis.
Take a moment to think about that. This is a staggering amount of information.
However, if you think people are actually reading all of this content, then you’d be sorely mistaken. Whether we’re scrolling through Twitter, or reading the news, most of us will skim-read the majority of online content. Although longform content has numerous benefits, this is undoubtedly a huge problem for businesses. Something needs to change in order to make online content easier to digest and more memorable for users.
This is where infographics takes centre stage. When done well, a good infographic has the capacity to engage with people on an unprecedented level. Additionally, there are numerous benefits for businesses who choose to bring infographics into their content repertoire. They have the capacity to make content more shareable, improve SEO, and help to increase overall brand awareness. In this sense, infographics can be immensely useful.
Nevertheless, infographics are only beneficial to a brand when they’re done well. If you don’t have a visual product, or a great concept, then your infographics will fall by the wayside. Additionally, many companies use already use infographics so it’s important to utilise a distinct and eye-catching design. As always, it pays to do your research and develop a market strategy which is unique to you and your brand.
Do users need infographics?
At the most basic level, an infographic can be defined as the following:
‘’A visualisation of data or ideas that tries to convey complex information to an audience in a manner that can be quickly consumed and easily understood’’
The primary purpose of a great infographic is to give people information in bite-sized chunks, making them easier for audiences to digest and process. There have been numerous studies conducted by psychologists, for example, which demonstrate the power of visuals as a memory aid. Words can often be difficult for the brain to retain but images carry much more longevity. Interestingly, it would seem that colourful and unusual visuals are more like to stick in our minds. This is because the human brain is primarily a processor of images; our sensory cortex is dedicates greater function to processing visuals rather than words. Have a look at these statistics:
- 65% of the population are visual learners
- Visuals are processed in the brain 60,000x faster than written text
- Our brains only retain 1% of the information we are given on a daily basis
In the world of marketing, visuals are incredibly important for users. Here is a good example. You might not be able to remember the slogan of Coca-Cola or Starbucks, but you’ll certainly be able to distinguish their logos. It’s the same principle for other forms of content marketing. Businesses require infographics in their written content if they want it to be memorable and engaging.
More than a visual: the benefits of infographics
Beyond the benefits for users, infographics are incredibly useful for businesses too. Here are some incredible statistics on infographics for 2014:
- In the publishing industry, companies who use infographics receive (on average) 12% more online traffic than their contemporaries.
- Over the past 2 years, infographic search volumes have increased by 800%
The reality is that while users increasingly rely on infographics, businesses will have to meet this demand by producing their own. If you don’t, then you run the risk of producing content that people can neither remember or easily share. Here are some of the most important reasons why businesses should consider creating infographics.
Image courtesy of: www.searchenginejournal.com
Create more appealing content
One of the main reasons for using infographics is to create more visually engaging content. As we’ve already seen, people are drawn to information which looks fantastic and is easy to remember. It’s like being in school when you used cheat-sheets and spider diagrams to better recall difficult topics. It’s the same idea with content marketing. Infographics are simply more engaging than a massive volume of text.
Infographics also help to make websites look more attractive to users. People (like me!) love bright colours and interesting images which catch their eye. In addition to this, a great infographic can make a website seem much more professional. Online users know that infographics take time, energy, and expertise. If you make the effort, then users are more likely to respond positively.
Some infographics these days even incorporate movement into their visuals. Here is a fantastic example. The infographic is colourful, attractive, and entirely interactive. As you scroll down the page, users are given more information and able to digest the infographic at their own pace. Although Airbnb is not something I specialise in, I’m sharing it with you now because their infographic simply looks fantastic. Now, isn’t that clever?
Increase brand awareness
One of the benefits of using infographics is that it can potentially increase your brand awareness. If an infographic is done well, then it’s much more visually memorable than just text by itself.
In order to create a great infographic, then you should use similar colours, formats, and styles throughout your content. This is so important because it will achieve a sense of continuity throughout your online material. If your users can begin to recognise your infographics, then you are increasing your brand awareness.
Like many other mediums on the internet, infographics are a saturated market. If you can create a distinctive and engaging infographic, then you’re helping to distinguish your company from its competitors. In this sense, infographics can be an incredibly powerful marketing tool. They help businesses to narrow-in and reinforce their brand image through visual marketing.
Make content easier to share
In conjunction with increasing brand awareness, infographics are also very easy to share. For example, if you publish an infographic using WordPress, then several social media sites (like LinkedIn and Facebook) will allow you to embed the code online. This means that your content and infographics can be easily shared and seen by others.
One of the benefits of creating infographics which are easy to share is that you can generate more leads. In the legal sector, for example, infographics have the potential to create consumer and competitive interest in your brand. Given that most companies now use a variety of social media websites, infographics can be shared across the board with remarkable ease.
Like written content, it’s vital that infographics are engaging enough that users will want to share them regardless of their own interests. For example, I might stumble upon an amazing infographic about consumer trends in the property sector. This isn’t something I’m particularly interested in (I’m sorry to say) but I might share it with a friend, especially if I found it visually stunning.
In this sense, it’s vital that infographics are designed to make people want to share them. Just because infographics are shareable, that doesn’t mean that users will necessarily want to.
Improve SEO
Believe it or not, infographics can help to improve your overall SEO strategy. By creating content that people want to share, you can increase your web traffic and your overall brand awareness. However, in terms of SEO, more clicks and shares means that businesses can improve their ranking on search engines. Google’s ‘Page Rank’ algorithm rewards websites who bring in large volumes of online traffic. With this in mind, infographics can be incredibly important for generating revenue and interest for their brand.
What makes a good infographic?
With all of this in mind, there are many advantages for businesses who choose to use infographics for their websites. However, like most things in life, there’s no point in half measures. If you want to create a great infographic, then there are several considerations you might want to take on board. Don’t worry, though; it’s more fun that it sounds!
Here is a brief summary of the tips/tricks to create an engaging and memorable infographic:
- Make sure your concept is visual: not every idea will translate well into an infographic. Pick your battles and make sure your data has a visual slant. If your data could be displayed on a graph or table, for example, chances are it’ll be more engaging as an infographic.
- Ensure that your topic is focussed: an infographic should contain a manageable size of information. If your topic is large, then you run the risk of overwhelming your audiences. When this happens, then users will merely scan your content like any other block of text.
- Check to see if your topic is relevant: if you want to make sure your infographic will be shared, then it’s useful to create content which is directly valuable to your consumers. There are several online tools available which will help you decipher what topics are trending on social media (like Google Trends or Twitter).
- Create a narrative: one of the benefits of using an infographic is that you can convey a narrative in your content. Great infographics have a natural flow to them, with the visuals guiding users about what information to look at next. Depending on your brand and message, you’ll want to develop a narrative that is unique to your business.
- Do your research: some of the best infographics utilise this medium to convey information about statistics. Quite often, data can be terribly boring to read if it’s not presented in an interesting way. In this sense, infographics can be a fantastic excuse to showcase all of your research and data-collection skills. Get creative, do something exciting, and develop an infographic that you would want to read.
Overall, creating an infographic isn’t difficult if you have the right tools at your disposal. Whether you have some tech-savvy employees in your office, or you’ll outsource your infographics, all infographics share a common narrative. They need to be well-planned, brilliantly executed, and shared as much as possible.
So, do businesses need infographics?
At this point in time, I think I’ve made my point pretty clear. There are numerous benefits to using infographics, not just for users but also for your business. Infographics have the potential to increase brand awareness and improve your overall SEO strategy. A great infographic will scream to be shared; something which will help to develop your rankings on search engines websites. In this capacity, infographics simply make good business sense.
The trouble with infographics, however, is that it’s easy to create them poorly. If they aren’t planned and designed well, then they’ll be thrown into the proverbial garbage heap of lost online infographics. This is a sad waste of resources and won’t showcase your company’s true potential. If you want some advice, then it’s best to share ideas and create an infographic which is unique to your business (rather than just an imitation of another). Use infographics as an excuse to try new things and improve your design skills.