We already established in a previous article how visual content can help you get the best out of social media. In the following text, I would like to give you more information about other key visual materials that can be used in marketing: infographics.
An infographic is a visual representation of data which has the purpose to showcase complex information and, among others, is loved by the IT industry. A really nice definition of an infographic is a “picture painted with data”, as written by Venture Beat here.
Infographics’ use has lately exploded, especially taking into consideration that people are mostly visual learners (according to 65% respondents of the survey mentioned in this Forbes article.) So widely spread are infographics currently, that websites mocking their extensive use appeared.
Supposing that you have already decided to create an infographic to sustain your marketing efforts, here are the main things you should focus on before getting to work:
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Goal: What you must clearly define before producing your infographic is what you want to obtain: to get more likes, grow your website traffic, start a debate or direct people to a landing page? Based on your defined target, you can then start compiling the data.
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Data: Infographics should contain compelling, well researched and important content, with data and statistics that showcase the most relevant aspects of the presented topic. Based on the previously defined goal, you can present your information in a very business-like matter or you can add a funny twist if you are looking for shares and likes.
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Design: Be creative and daring! Remember that a picture is worth a thousand words, so you want to present your data in an attractive matter, which will make people read the material until the end. Display the information in a logical matter, use pictures and design connectors and try not to overcrowd the whole thing.
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Promotion: Now that you have completed your work on the infographic, the fun part can begin :) Remember that infographics have a lot of potential for becoming viral marketing materials, so come up with a funny or unconventional idea for promoting it and you are well on your way to achieving your designated goal.
Other valuable resources can be found here: Tools, Tutorials and Free Infographic Elements
Therefore, if you believe that a picture is worth a thousand words, than you most definitely love and have already used or are planning to use infographics in your communication process.
There are plenty of tools, some of them free, as the ones that can be found here (1, 2, and 3) , that can let you create a great looking infographic which can become your next successful marketing tool, so get to work and let us know how it goes!
