What are infographics? Why are they important for a company’s marketing purposes? Infographics are a collection of imagery, charts, and minimal text that give an easy-to-understand overview of a topic. In the past decade, they’ve become a staple of communication in classrooms, the workplace, and across the internet. Visuals tell a story faster than words. Infographics are great at communicating information quickly and excel at breaking down complex content that might be hard for someone to understand by reading only. Oftentimes, large amounts of numbers, statistics in a spreadsheet, or even large chunks of text can be daunting to the reader. Infographics are used a powerful tool that allow the viewer to easily digest information using visual data, charts, and statistics. 

 Infographics have been around since hieroglyphic times, but have been popularized by being used in journalism. I mean, without infographics we wouldn’t have maps! I know for a fact I wouldn’t survive without my Google maps on my phone. They are used in almost every field. We see them everywhere every day; they are an integral part of our communication.  

The standard types of infographics used in content marketing are:  

1. The visual article is when long pieces of texts are made more compelling with pictures. 
2. The flowchart answers a specific question and gives readers choices. 
3. The timeline takes the information and puts in place chronologically so that the reader can better understand elements in the context of history. 
4. The list supports a claim of view through steps, rules, or reasons.  (This is a list.  Had we made it pretty, it would be a list infographic.) 
5. Number Crunch is when a designer uses lots of charts, graphs, and stats.  
6. Versus comparison is when two things are put side by side so that the viewer is better able to compare them. 
7. Data Dump is when the infographic takes a lot of complex data and puts it into a unique and clean design. 
8. The Map shows cultural and behavioral trends by location. 

Infographics can be incredibly useful for any business. Companies are fighting to connect with their audience and a well-placed infographic can achieve a lot.  90% of the information transmitted to the brain is visual, only 20% of text is remembered, and infographics are 30 times more likely to be read than just text alone. They are also extremely shareable, making them a great tool for content marketing, especially in social media marketing. 

Infographics are great because they:   

1. Grab people’s attention. Being visual, a well-designed infographic can grab the attention of a viewer much better than a bunch of text.   
2. Demonstrate expertise. Showing research by showing graphs and charts, can enhance a company’s credibility.   
3. Make complex information less confusing. Instead of reading through tons of boring text with a lot jargon, infographics can display the same information quickly in a digestible manner.   
4. Boost the value of the brand. In addition to showing the value your business provides, by branding your infographics you are reinforcing your brand image and equity.   
5. Make a company’s content viral. Due to their nature of being able to quickly share information they are perfect for being spread across social media channels.   
6. Increase SEO. By sharing infographics on a company’s website or social media channel, they generate backlinks that can help drive SEO.  

Infographics are a dynamic tool, but they still need to follow the basic rules of design. As always, they should avoid layout sins, and use the elements of design to help make a visually pleasing design. I would start with a sketch or an outline of the general idea for the infographic. Elements you can include are photos, illustrations, graphics, and even motion and video. Companies should follow any necessary style guides to ensure brand consistency. Good use of color of typography are pertinent to a well-designed infographic. Related items should be group together and white should be used to avoid any confusion.  A grid can help align everything and ensure proper hierarchy. Ensure balance and try to avoid walls of text. Visual elements take the place of large chunks of words. Research should be done on what could be used to best visually show the content. A bar graph, a pie chart, a timeline, or something else? Also, make sure to cite all of your sources on your layout. The end goal is an infographic that educates and attracts a viewer.  

Infographics have been gaining steam over the years and the popularity of social media has increased the use of them. Brands should take note of how others use them and try to see if they would incorporate into their strategy. Content is king and it’s no wonder with good material and a pleasing design, brands can connect with their audience in a way that they may not have seen before. 

Finally, it doesn’t matter how pretty your infographic is if the content isn’t compelling. Companies need to make sure that the content is worthy of sharing and creating an infographic to begin with. Businesses first need to make sure that their content marketing strategy is solid.