Visual content sells and visual IQ is on the rise. This is an undeniable fact about the digital age. The fastest growing social media networks revolve around visual, video and image sharing. Studies show that when adding a picture to information shared, people are 65% more likely to remember it three days later.
Without great graphics or outstanding visual content, it’s touch for a business to get very far. And unless you’ve got a photography studio or are particularly handy at graphic design yourself AND you have extra time on your hands, coming up with all of the content you need to market yourself and stand out in the digital landscape can be rather overwhelming.
For more stats to back up visual content marketing check out inc.
In addition to great pictures, infographics are a particularly useful visual component to include in your social media posts to generate traffic to your site and set yourself up as a leader in your industry. Infographics are particularly important for service or information based industries that may not have particularly interesting or pretty photos to share on the regular. However, creative examples of infographic design appear in all industries and niches.
What makes a good infographic good?
A good infographic is many things: it captures the attention and is something share-worthy, that is, it makes people want to pin it to their Pinterest board or retweet it or share it in facebook, on reddit, lnkedIN or in forums…heck maybe people even email it to their friends or colleagues! Regardless – in order for an infographic to elicit this type of reaction it must be well designed, laid out and communicate data in an easily digestible visual manner.
The following are three aspects that every infographic design should include:
- Strong data – data should be well-researched and support your company goals or whatever point you’re trying to make. Nothing sends potential clients running like a poorly researched or blatantly wrong information on an infographic.
- Story or flow – Infographics work best when you have a story to tell – when you know what the narrative you want to communicate visually to display your data. Have a purpose in mind for your infographic and also have a way to communicate how each component works with the other components. While it may not seem immediately obvious that storytelling is important to the infographic format, it is. Stories always sell. Even if what they’re selling is something like how to file for a super boring, minute tax deduction. Use your infographic to make even that minute tax deduction seem like the coolest thing in the world.
- Design – this factor is important above all else. How your infographic is designed, from the way data are represented to the colors used and even the typeface is incredibly important for capturing customer interest and conveying data. Bad or incongruent design will only confuse customers, not excite them.
There are a lot of infographics out there, but so many do not contain these three basic components. Those infographics come across as shoddy work and can reflect badly on the company that distributes them. You’ll find the best infographic designs have these 3 tips included in their layout.
How to layout your infographic in a visually appealing way
General Infographic:
- Don’t be afraid to include Include white/blank space in your infographic layout. If you pack it too full of datapoints people will only skim over it.
- Visualize data by using images or vector elements, charts or graphs.
Source: fintalk
Data Driven Infographics:
- Use images, graphs and a variety of charts to give your data context.
- Choose 1 defined topic – similar to an article topic.
- Stay on topic – tell your story
Source: Pinterest
Comparison Infographics
- Break up sections of your infographic design with lins and different colored or shaded backgrounds; this will create a clear division between comparisons.
- Align each data-point compared at the same levels and make sure the layout is balanced and symmetrical.
Source: Pinterest
How do I build an infographic?
Building an infographic from the ground up requires a lot of time and some intensive knowledge about infographic designing. Whether you have a background in design or are simply passionate about sharing things that you know, you can learn how to build infographics of your own – if you have the time and tools for it.
Alternatively, you can use online infographic tools – some for free – to drag and drop graphic components and data into a premade template. There are certainly some limitations to using this type of software, some drawbacks include; stolen data, clunky graphics, limited customization capabilities and non-removable watermarks. Additionally, using a premade template might cause further headaches, due to the limited design options and infographic shapes. If you have a particular design scheme in mind, using an infographic template might be more frustrating than helpful.
If your infographic is under 5 data points then typically using one of these design template software is feasible (assuming you have the time to fiddle around learning the software and performing layout tweaks). However, if you are wanting custom images or layouts then working with an experienced infographic designer will serve your investment and produce a more ‘stand out’ infographic.
For an infographic on visual branding – check out Shutterstocks’ here.
Getting design help
Because designing infographics is so much more of an art than a simple drag and drop formula, getting some professional design assistance with creating share-worthy infographics is never a bad idea. Unless you’ve got the time to develop a talent for designing them yourself and the money to drop on some of the pricier design tools, you’ll probably end up fairly dissatisfied and disillusioned with attempting the design yourself.
When you work with our team, not only do you get access to professionals who have developed many an infographic design before, your dedicated Design Manager will work with you to determine the specific research and layout components needed. Revisions are always free so we can work together to build the infographic to your specifications. Incofgraphic design is included in our unlimited graphic design package and we are here to help you create and share infographics as often as the mood strikes.
From including the data you’ve meticulously researched to using that perfect color of blue that represents your company or incorporating a specific typeface that no one else uses, we are ready to listen to your requests and turn your info into the infographic you need to succeed in the social marketplace. So you can spend less time worrying about how to make obscure financial information relevant to Millennials online, and more time doing whatever it is that makes you successful.
Get your posting fingers ready, because soon you’ll have the infographics that your customers never even knew they needed to see!