Creating an infographic is a powerful way to communicate information visually. The key to a successful infographic is to make information engaging, easy to understand, and shareable. This is helpful online, as people tend to be too lazy to read detailed written content.

Because of this fact, infographics offer many benefits from a digital marketing point of view. These include better UX metrics on your site, better organic visibility, and improved social media engagement.

With that in mind, we’ll be looking at a step-by-step process to create an infographic. First, though, let’s start with the basics.

What is an Infographic?

An infographic is a pictogram. This means it combines summary text bullet-point ideas with interesting and eye-catching visuals. An average person can spend just a few minutes reading an infographic and get a nice overview of what may otherwise be a very complex subject.

Colourful infographics help people process information. Care must be taken in the infographic design to avoid excessive clutter that makes the infographic hard to read. The infographic content also needs to be factual, interesting, and useful.

Studies reported by Xerox show that people are up to 25 times more likely to comprehend information when shown using pictograms. In fact, the reader’s attention span seems to increase to 82% when infographics are used instead of just plain text.

It doesn’t stop there, however. An infographic is also helpful when giving public presentations about a particular concept. While the details are explained by the presenter to the audience, the attractive visuals make it easy to follow along.

Moreover, the infographic serves as an outline guide for the presenter to help make sure the topic is covered logically and organised without leaving out a discussion of important parts of the lecture or presentation.

Outline Presentation in Infographics

Incorporating the concept of an outline presentation in your infographic can significantly enhance its structure and readability. Here’s how to effectively use this approach:

1. Hierarchical Structure
   • Use a clear hierarchy that mimics a traditional outline
   • Main points become primary sections
   • Sub-points become subsections or supporting elements
2. Visual Cues
   • Use indentation or connecting lines to show relationships between ideas
   • Employ numbering or bullet points to indicate order and importance
3. Progressive Disclosure
   • Arrange information from general to specific
   • Allow viewers to grasp the main ideas before diving into details
4. Consistent Formatting
   • Use consistent colors, fonts, and styles for each level of the outline
   • This helps viewers quickly understand the structure of the information
5. Clear Headings
   • Use descriptive headings that summarize the content of each section
   • This allows viewers to quickly scan and understand the overall message

Example Outline Structure for an Infographic: I. Main Topic A. Subtopic 1 1. Supporting point 2. Supporting point B. Subtopic 2 1. Supporting point 2. Supporting point II. Secondary Topic A. Subtopic 1 B. Subtopic 2

By incorporating these outline presentation techniques, your infographic will guide viewers through the information in a logical, easy-to-follow manner, enhancing comprehension and retention of the key messages.

Suitable Infographic Subjects

As we just explained, infographics are all about making information clear and engaging, so good subjects tend to be those that benefit from visual aids and can be broken down into digestible chunks. Here are some areas to consider:

• Data Visualization: This is a classic infographic strength. If you have statistics, comparisons, or trends to explain, an infographic can turn numbers into a compelling visual story.
• Processes & How-Tos: Infographics can excel at explaining step-by-step processes like crafting something, using a product, or completing a task.
• Comparisons & Contrasts: Need to compare different features, products, or ideas? Infographics can use visuals to highlight key similarities and differences.
• Complex Topics: Infographics can break down difficult subjects like scientific concepts, historical events, or social issues into manageable pieces with illustrations and clear text.

Here are some specific ideas that can explained in infographics:

• Current Events: Recent news stories or trends with data and visuals.
• Health & Wellness: Guidance on healthy habits, fitness routines, or nutrition information.
• Science & Technology: Scientific discoveries, new technologies, or visualization of the parts of something complex.
• Business & Marketing: Company data, marketing strategies, or product comparisons.
• History & Timeline: Historical events or timelines of important dates.

The best infographic ideas are those that target a specific audience and have a clear goal. Think about what information you want to convey and who you want to reach, and then choose visuals that will resonate with them.

Crafting Compelling Infographics

Creating an effective infographic requires a well-defined process encompassing planning, designing, and refining. Let’s break down this process into manageable steps:

Step 1: Define Your Purpose and Audience

Before embarking on the creative process, clearly define the purpose of your infographic. What message do you want to convey? Which audience are you targeting? Understanding your goals and audience will guide your content and design choices.

Step 2: Gather and Organize Your Data

Infographics are primarily data-driven, so gather relevant information from credible sources. Logically organize your data, identifying key takeaways and patterns that will form the foundation of your infographic.

Step 3: Choose a Compelling Visual Narrative

Determine the visual story you want to tell. Consider how the layout, colours, and graphics will guide the viewer’s eye and enhance the understanding of the data.

Step 4: Review the Raw Content and Highlight the Key Elements

The next step is figuring out what you want to create an infographic about. This is harder than you might think. Essentially, you need to have an in-depth understanding of the topic to pull out the key information for users.

Say, for example, we want to create an infographic that convinces people to invest in SEO for their business website. The key information that we want to present in our infographic would be as follows:

• Internet marketing includes having a web presence designed well for search engine optimization (SEO) and links to social media for maximum impact.

• Companies need an internet marketing strategy that includes website development for ease of use and proper display on mobile devices, plus continual SEO efforts to increase organic search engine results and achieve high rankings on the search engine results page (SERP).

• Companies benefit from having an Internet marketing strategy that monetizes customer behaviour in support of long-term strategic goals. To be successful, a company must identify the target market and be able to determine the best methods to reach them.

• These methods usually are a combination of attracting attention by providing high-quality content, paid advertising campaigns, social media influence, brand awareness efforts, and customer retention and reward programs.

Step 5: Extract the Key Elements

Once you understand the overall message you’d like to convey to the readers, it’s time to start paring this down to key points. The idea here is to tie what you’re trying to say to the readers’ overall goals.

Since our example is a B2B infographic, this means tying our subject matter to the profitability of a business. So, in our SEO example, we might want to tie the following elements to the business’ profitability:

• Internet marketing
• Web presence
• Search engine optimizatio
• Social media
• Website ease of use
• Proper display on mobile devices
• Organic search engine results

Step 6: Organize the Key Elements Into Logical Groups

Next, we aim to break each element we want to tie to profitability into more discrete variables. In other words, we’ll break down these ideas into measurable variables to quantify them and establish a link between them and revenue. Here are a few examples:

Internet Marketing

• Web presence – Site traffic and content variables
• Search engine optimization – Keyword data
• Social media – Ad spend

Strategic Goals

• Target market
• Audience behaviour
• Brand awareness

Step 7: Find Data

Now, it’s time to start pulling together the data you’ll use in your infographic. The most compelling infographics present an indisputable statistical link between the topic and the goal.

This requires good data. Essentially, you have two options for sourcing data for your infographics:

1. Conducting original research
2. Relying on existing data

Researching original data isn’t as complicated as you might think. Most businesses these days have all kinds of data at their disposal. For example, you’re probably already tracking how users use your site in Google Analytics. You might pull similar data from other business analysis tools.

Even if you don’t have this data already in hand, you can easily survey your customers. Alternatively, you might choose to use existing data. Simply create a visually appealing infographic using open-source data and credit its owner.

Step 8: Add Engaging Graphics and Visuals

Be sure to select graphics and create a layout that makes your infographic easy to read, and leave plenty of white space. Leverage various visual elements, such as icons, illustrations, and charts, to make your infographic visually appealing and engaging. Establish a clear visual hierarchy to guide the viewer’s attention. Use size, colour, and placement to emphasize important elements and create a logical flow.

Prioritize clarity and readability. Use a consistent colour scheme, easy-to-read fonts, and ample white space to ensure your infographic is comfortable to view and understand.

You should also display a thumbnail image version on a clickable web page to see a zoomed version. Also, offer the infographic as a downloadable PDF file.

Be sure to have contact information about the organization at the bottom of the infographic and, when appropriate, have a call to action. Response to the call-to-action usually increases by using incentives, such as offering an email sign-up or a discount on the next purchase.

Step 9: Test and Refine

Seek feedback from colleagues or potential viewers to identify areas for improvement. Refine your infographic based on feedback, ensuring it effectively conveys your message.

Effective Infographic Design Best Practices

To design an impactful infographic that delivers a clear message to a specific audience, there are a few things you need to apply. When it comes to sizing, for instance, aim for vertical dimensions of 12,000+ pixels for shareability. Horizontal infographics can be 6,000+ pixels wide. Limit word count to mostly essential keywords and facts. Too much text might overwhelm the reader. ~100-500 words is ideal.

You should also use sans serif fonts like Arial or Roboto for clarity and vary text sizes to create a hierarchy.

Employ the 60-30-10 rule – 60% graphic elements, 30% text, 10% negative space. Use complementary colours that reinforce your message and brand. Limit to 2-3 colors.

Creating Effective Data Visualizations

Choose chart types that make sense for the data – bar charts for comparisons, line charts for trends over time, pie charts for percentages, etc. Limit the data points plotted to the most essential facts and statistics. Avoid overloading.

Employ design elements like colour, bolding, and highlighting to highlight key data points. Make sure you use consistent formatting and styles across all visual elements and charts for congruency. Label charts clearly and include descriptive titles explaining what is being visualized.

Design and Layout

• Use whitespace and spacing between elements to avoid a cluttered look—group-related elements.
• Arrange visuals and text following the conventional Z-pattern for reading. Lead with key points.
• Break up long text sections with relevant images, subheadings, icon lists, pull quotes and other elements.
• Establish a clear visual hierarchy through sizes, colours, and styles. Make what’s important stand out.
• Use alignment, repetition, and proximity to organize – and align similar items, repeat styles, and related items.

Distribution

• Publish natively on your blog or site with metadata descriptions to drive organic traffic. Enable social sharing.
• Promote on social channels like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Create teaser posts that link to full version.
• Pitch influencers and publications in your industry to feature or link back to your infographic in content.
• Insert into relevant slide decks and presentations. Use as blog column sidebars or lead generation opt-in gifts.
• Repurpose into different formats like videos, webinars, and other visual content. Expand each key stat/fact.
• Deepened Data Visualization
• Choosing the right chart type is crucial for effective data visualization. Here’s a guide to help you select the most appropriate chart for your data:
• Bar Charts
• Best for: Comparing quantities across categories Example: Comparing sales figures across different product lines
• Line Charts
• Best for: Showing trends over time Example: Tracking stock prices over a year
• Pie Charts
• Best for: Showing parts of a whole (use sparingly and only for 3-6 categories) Example: Market share of top competitors in an industry
• Scatter Plots
• Best for: Showing relationships between two variables Example: Correlation between advertising spend and sales
• Heatmaps
• Best for: Displaying patterns in complex datasets Example: Website click patterns or geographical data
• Common Pitfalls to Avoid:
• Overcomplicating charts with unnecessary 3D effects
• Using pie charts for more than 6 categories
• Starting Y-axis at a non-zero point, which can exaggerate differences
• Using inconsistent scales when comparing multiple datasets
• Comprehensive List of Infographic Tools
• For Beginners
• Canva: User-friendly with many templates
• Piktochart: Great for simple infographics and reports
• Visme: Offers a wide range of infographic templates
• For Intermediate Users
• Venngage: Powerful features with a focus on data visualization
• Infogram: Excellent for creating interactive infographics
• Snapseed: Specializes in map-based infographics
• For Advanced Users
• Adobe Illustrator: Professional-grade tool for custom designs
• Tableau: Powerful data visualization software
• D3.js: JavaScript library for creating complex, interactive data visualizations
• Free Options
• Google Charts: Free, customizable chart and graph tools
• Flourish: Free for basic use, specializes in data storytelling

Conclusion

Infographics are easy to understand and easy to forward to others. They thrive on shareability, which makes them a very convenient way to communicate with customers and potential clients. Organizations that publish infographics frequently become an authority on a specific niche topic.

So, consider promoting your creation on social media platforms or including it within a blog post, and remember, the goal is to inform and engage. By following these steps and unleashing your creativity, you can transform complex information into an infographic that cuts through the noise and enlightens your audience.

Now, prep your content, explore visual options, design a masterpiece, and share your message with the world, one infographic at a time!

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