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How to create a great infographic

06 July 2015 | Phil Brown

If a picture tells a thousand words, then an infographic is priceless. The power of visual content in B2B marketing is hard to ignore, so it’s no surprise that studies frequently reveal that people remember only 20% of what they read, but 80% of what they see (Bruner, 2001).

In the same way that the white paper became one of the mainstays of thought leadership campaigns, infographics have become one of the most powerful weapons in the content marketer’s armoury. In the recent survey Content Marketing Trends for 2015, infographics saw the greatest increase in usage, jumping from 51% to 62% (Mathieu, 2014).

Where white papers tend to provide more substance and depth, the reader needs to be fairly committed to the process to spend time fully reading one. Infographics however are far more useful to capture attention in the early stages of the customer journey, as well as to get key messages across succinctly.

As infographics have become such a strong tool for content marketers, we’ve put together some useful pointers on how to develop a great infographic:

1. Have a clear message

Before you start developing your infographic, you need to be clear on your key message. It’s often easy to let the creative process run away with things – sometimes you can get so focused on how something looks that you may end up losing sight of your key message. So, before you start designing, you should be very clear on what message you want your infographic to convey.

2. Make it insightful

In complex B2B buying cycles, you are looking to challenge the status quo. An infographic is no different from other types of content in that your first and most important job is to convince your prospect that the world around them has changed and they need to take action.

Good infographics are those which relate to a particular issue or challenge that the audience is facing, and therefore are relevant and interesting. An infographic should also be insightful and distinctive, telling the prospect something that they did not already know or had not yet considered. You want people to sit up and take notice of what you have to say.

3. Make it credible

There is no point developing an infographic if its credibility is going to be undermined by poor quality data. You’ll need to prove your story, so your infographic needs to be based on sound data that is reliable, honest, clear and compelling.

Your data can be sourced through desk research, but just make sure that it supports your story and that you refer to any sources so the data can be cross-referenced.

An alternative but more costly option is using data that has been sourced through external research. The benefits of this are that you can scope out the research that specifically supports your infographic and, as the research would then belong to you, you own the IP and it would be uniquely yours.

4. Make it actionable

Infographics need to earn their keep as well as look good. So you need to ensure that the infographic is actionable, with recommendations for what your audience should do in relation to the challenge or opportunity that you’re focusing on. Ideally this action should be connected to what you do as an organisation. There is not point investing the time and energy in developing a great infographic if it does not go on to create a sales opportunity.

5. Make it engaging

It’s not always easy to design an infographic in a way that makes sense and still keeps the viewer interested. Usually you will have a lot of data but will need to create an engaging yet concise visual story out of it. This can be challenging at first, however these tips could help you with the design process:

Wire-frame the infographic

Wire-framing the infographic enables you to work out a storyboard and layout for the design. You may already have an idea in mind of the story you want to tell, but as you start laying things out you may discover you’ll need to change your approach. We also find that wire-framing the infographic can be a great way of sharing the story with clients before the more advanced design process starts.

Tell a story

All good stories have a beginning, middle and end. Infographics deserve the same treatment. At the beginning of the infographic, you should introduce the challenge. Next, back it up with data. Then finally you can end the infographic with your solution.

Create a hook

Every good infographic should have a hook or primary take-away that enables the reader to instantly understand what you are saying. If possible, place the hook at either the start or the centre so that it grabs more attention.

Use visual metaphors

Using visual metaphors can help to bring the story to life. Good story-tellers often use metaphors to capture the imagination – this can work the same way for infographics.

If you’d like to discuss how OneGTM could help you develop engaging infographics as part of your content marketing plans, call us on 020 3693 1211