In today’s world of digital marketing, an infographic can be defined as a graphic visual that translates complex information quickly, clearly and in an engaging way.
As a business owner, you probably already know many of the reasons why your business needs infographics. Some of the convincing stats about why you need infographics floating around the web include:
- 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual (Source)
- The average user only reads 20-28% of words on a page (Source)
- Infographics are 30x more likely to be read than text articles (Source)
- Using infographics can improve web traffic by 12% (Source)
- Infographics are liked and shared on social media 3x more than any other type of content (Source)
Stats like these are part of the reason that infographics gained popularity among marketers. However, many of these statistics date back to 2014 and before. With so many infographics flooding the scene, businesses may be wondering whether infographics are still effective or not.
Yes, infographics are still effective!
Here are just some of the reasons your business needs infographics as part of a marketing plan in 2018 and beyond.
1. Infographics Work Across Multiple Platforms
Creating content uses up a lot of your business’s resources, so you want to make sure each piece of content gets maximum usage. Infographics can offer a great ROI because they work across multiple platforms including:
- Social media
- Blogs
- Sales letters (read how)
- Reports
- Printed posters and flyers (offline marketing is still a valid tactic!)
2. Infographics are Replacing Whitepapers
Marketers have talked about how traditional whitepapers are a relic of the past. While we still need whitepapers, no one is interested in reading multiple pages on complex data. Customers and clients want information quickly and in a straightforward way.
Infographic whitepapers are a solution to the dead whitepaper. The infographic shown above was used in a white paper released by the UK government. Visualizations like these help strike the right balance between entertaining and informing, plus building brand collateral in the process.
3. Infographics Are Still a Valid SEO Technique
One of the reasons that infographics became so popular with marketers is because they are great for organic link building. All you need to do is include an embed code with your infographic. When other websites use your infographic on their sites, you get a natural link to your desired page.
Infographics can also indirectly improve SEO because they do so well on social media. While social media isn’t a direct ranking factor, social matters for SEO: The top-ranked pages in Google have vastly more social signals than other pages.
4. People Crave Facts and Stats
We live in a society where fake news is shouted from the rooftops. It might seem like statistics don’t matter in this world where people make decisions based on emotions and gut feelings. However, as The Guardian points out, this has actually created an opportunity for data.
Individuals trying to “work out what is really going on” are hungry for data so they can make informed decisions. Infographics are a great way to provide this data to your audience.
Note: It’s important that your infographic data actually be correct to get this benefit! Make sure that you do your research, aren’t cherry-picking data, and cite sources. Otherwise you’ll end up like these misleading infographics.
5. Infographics Are Readily Available to Small Businesses
If you need a reason why to use infographics for your small business, it is this. You can visit websites like Daily Infographic or Visual.ly, search for infographics in your industry, and then share them in blog posts or on social media.
It doesn’t matter that your brand didn’t create the infographic. By sharing an infographic which is useful to your audience, you position yourself as an expert and gain the trust of customers.
Of course, it is still best to create your own infographic with a unique story and branding. However, if your business budget can’t afford a design team, you can still share worthy infographics from the web.
6. Infographics Spice Up About Pages
For B2B brands, the “About Page” is one of the most important pages on the website. Including infographics is a great way to get the message across while showcasing the personality of your business. This has been done excellently by brands like Moz, AirBnB, The Vehicle Group, and Visionaire.
A lot of About Us pages also contain employee profiles. These profiles are great at increasing your conversions because potential customers find it easier to connect with real human beings.
Take a cue from the new trend of infographic resumes and put employee profiles in infographic form instead of the standard, formal (read: boring) template. This helps the humanity behind your business shine through in a trendy, engaging manner.
7. Visual Stimulation Increases Client Retention
As Lucid Press points out, consumers aren’t just exposed to loads of content, they are exposed to competing brand messages all at once. If your brand isn’t able to keep consumers focused on your message, you risk losing them.
Visual stimulation is critical to keeping consumers focused on your message in these ways:
- Visuals are the first impression customers get of your brand.
- Visual content keeps customers engaged by compelling them to continue experiencing the content.
- Customers associate superior image quality with brand quality.
- Visual content is more memorable and keeps your business top of mind.
So take a look through your website and other marketing platforms. How visually stimulating are they? If your website fails to deliver on the eye-candy, then your business needs infographics.
8. Pinterest Keeps On Growing
In April of 2017, Pinterest had 175 million active users. By September, that number had grown to 200 million (Source). There’s no denying the importance of Pinterest as part of a comprehensive marketing strategy.
Your business needs infographics as part of its Pinterest strategy as a way to stand out. And, with the vertical image layout, scannability, and optimal pin size (which is approximately 735 x 1102px), Pinterest feed is set up for infographic success.
Tip: Make sure the font on your infographic is legible on the Pinterest home feed, including when viewed on mobile.
9. Infographics Make Content More Digestible
In today’s digital world, you’ve only got 7 seconds to grab consumers’ attention. How are you supposed to do this when you have complex information to convey?
Practices like including headings and bullet points to make it more scannable are important for text content. In fact readers tend to stick around longer to read text that accompanies infographic. However, nothing beats infographics for making complex info digestible.
You can still keep your long-form content (and should!) but supplementing it with an infographic is a great way to ensure all users – including those crunched for time – are satisfied.
10. Your Business Needs Infographics For a Diverse Content Plan
Let’s face it. If your content plan consists only of blog posts (or reports, videos, product images, etc.), your users are going to get bored.
To keep users engaged and coming back for more content, you need to offer them variety. Infographics shouldn’t be the only type of content on your website and marketing channels, but they should definitely be a part of the overall plan!
How do you use infographics in your business?
Image credits:
“Infographic Resume” (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) by Devign Elements
“Growing Social Media” (CC BY 2.0) by mkhmarketing
“Infographic: Geological disposal: Making” (CC BY-ND 2.0) by DECCgovuk
“1.17% of the UK” (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) by DimitraTzanos
“circlescape” (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) by Zeptonn
“Search Engines Love Content by Go Local” (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) by Go Local Search
“pinterest_infographic” (CC BY-ND 2.0) by Stefan Leijon
“Cover Infographics” (CC BY-ND 2.0) by Stefan Leijon
“mesmerized by numbers” (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) by hsingy
“Linkedin maps data visualization” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by luc legay