A picture is worth a thousand words. But sometimes you need the words as well. How much more effective is it then to use both words and picture, or more accurately, words in a picture? That’s the principle behind the Rise of the Infographic, which has been around for a long time (think: weather maps) but only recently came within the reach of the average person. The development of new digital tools make it simple to create the combination of imagery and data that makes an infographic, and this means anyone can now take advantage of the option in their content marketing. 
Here’s how to build an effective infographic that speaks directly to your target audience, imparts the information you want them to know.
1. Have a Definite Goal
Decide before you begin on the goal of your infographic, so that it has a strong focus. Are you creating it because you want to:
- Raise awareness about facts and figures pertaining to your business?
- Educate your readers about a specific aspect of your industry?
- Provide a resource for easy distribution?
- Generate sales leads?
- Create content for your website?
- Build your thought leadership?
Any and all of these are worthy purposes, but you can’t address them all with one piece of content. Decide what your primary focus is and create an infographic to serve that, and you’ll enjoy all the benefits of infographics.
2. Make it Attractive
Your infographic needs to be eye-catching enough to make your reader want to read it. In addition, it needs to be designed for easy consumption, so the reader can take in the information in a few seconds. Create a foundation that flows. Walk your reader through the story, so he doesn’t have to figure out where to look next. Use attractive, easy-to-read colors that fit with the topic, and ensure that your key points are clearly displayed and identified. Keep the text to a minimum, and focus on displaying the data you want your reader to take away as simply and clearly as possible. Lastly, make your design fun to look at, and keep in mind where you want your reader’s eye to fall next.
3. Avoid Complexity
Remember the KISS principle? Keep it short and simple. Long, unwieldy infographics—like long, unwieldy blog posts—just don’t get read in their entirety.
- Identify your main target audience and craft your infographic specifically for them.
- Keep a clear visual focus on the information it contains and don’t include any more data than you need to make your point.
- Take care not to allow your design, imagery and artistic licence get in the way of delivering your message.
Your infographic needs to present a key message, supported by evidence or insights and followed by a call to action, if applicable. That’s all.
4. Add a Story Line
The point of content is storytelling. Always has been, always will be. To capture and hold your reader’s attention, an effective infographic needs to tell a story. Create a “story line” or narrative by starting at the beginning, presenting a supportive middle and providing a solid ending. Introduce the issue that you plan to solve at the outset, so your reader knows what to expect from it. Follow up with substantive information and data to support your position, end with your conclusion or resolution and steps your reader should take next.
5. Credit Your Sources
Credibility is everything, and the quickest way to break yours down is to make data-filled statements without proving the origin of the facts. By crediting your sources, you show that the information is trustworthy and you take credit only for gathering and presenting it. This indicates transparency and reliability and solidifies your reputation in your industry.
6. Remember Your Branding
Remember to brand your infographic clearly so it’s obvious who created it. This is especially important if you’re including a lot of industry data that could be attributable to your competitors. You’ve done a lot of work creating an image that represents your particular view of the information, so don’t let anyone else take credit for it—not even accidentally. Add your company logo at the end and state clearly that it is created by you.
7. Share it Widely
You want your hard work to be seen, right? And getting it seen widely requires distribution across your target audience. One of the great advantages of an infographic is that it presents a quantity of data in a single image, which makes it easy to share and distribute. Post links on your social media profiles and invite your network to share it further.
Submit your infographic to distribution sites such as:
- Visual.ly
- Cool Infographics
- Daily Infographic
Encourage your readers to link to or share your infographic, and include a mention and link back to it in any guest blogs you publish.
*Image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net
