There are loads of free infographic creation tools out there where you simply plug in your
data and they churn out some sort of visualization.
If you need to create an infographic quickly and your KPI is “deliver infographic”
and no one cares about the quality, then these tools are great.
However, if your infographic is part of a marketing strategy that is measured on prospect
engagement and lead gen, then a plug and play infographic tool isn’t going to cut it.
In my opinion, nothing worth doing is that easy.
So, if you’re tasked with creating a quality infographic that people are drawn to and that
actually supports your marketing objectives, then here are 8 steps to follow:
Set an objective Don’t do anything in marketing without an
objective.
At TopLine, we believe in “content with a purpose” which means every piece of content
is produced with a clear purpose in mind.
Is that purpose to drive visits to your website?
To generate followed links to support your SEO strategy?
To make a story more appealing to journalists as part of your PR efforts?
Maybe you’re doing the infographic to simplify a complex concept that your sales team finds
they have to explain repeatedly?
Whatever it is, your purpose should guide you throughout the creation phase.
Once you have your purpose, think about how you’re going to distribute the infographic
– as the distribution strategy will definitely inform the content and the design.
2.
Map your data Start by looking at all the data sources available
to you: does your company have its own data?
What publicly available data can you use?
How has the data been used before?
Will you need to commission research?
How might the data be of interest to the target audience?
Why would they care about it?
What benefit does it bring them?
Do you need to use all the data?
Interrogate your data until you genuinely understand it.
Have a brainstorm with your team, discuss the data in detail and make sure you’ve
got your head around it!
3.
Figure out what your audience wants This isn’t an infographic issue – it’s
a wider marketing issue.
Your marketing strategy should be built around an understanding of what your target customer
wants.
And of course this needs to be tied back to your business objectives which is a tricky
task.
Once you’ve chosen your wider subject and you know your potential sources of data, refine
your hook to make sure you’re creating an infographic that’s going to appeal to the
market.
Here’s how: • Speak to people in your target audience
and get their opinions / feedback.
• Look on tools like BuzzSumo and Google Trends to see what is trending – what are
the most shared topics on a subject.
• Use a keyword research tool to identify what people are searching for around the subject.
Then tie this back to your purpose – how do you match the data you have with what the
audience wants and still achieve your purpose?
It’s not an easy task, but it’s worth doing thoroughly if you want your infographic
to be successful.
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4.
Tell a story An infographic isn’t simply a place to vomit
out all the data you have.
You need to establish what the story is that your data tells and what the point is that
you are trying to make with that story.
A list of facts and stats isn’t interesting.
You need to have a story or a purpose behind it.
5.
Find a visual metaphor Take something from the real world that can
be used to visualise the data you have and create a visual metaphor.
That way people will instantly recognise, understand and remember it.
If your data is about school results, make it a report card or a blackboard.
If your data is about gambling, use a pack of cards or a roulette table or a slot machine.
The opportunities are endless and you can carry the metaphor throughout the infographic.
For example: The periodic table of SEO success factors
by search engine land.
The race to economic growth by Grant Thornton: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/78813062205784201/
6.
Create your design brief It’s not your designer’s job to come up
with the concept and understand how to visualise your data.
You need to work with the designer to develop a brief that will result in the most creative
output.
I recommend sitting down with your designer and explaining to him or her what you are
trying to achieve with the infographic; working on metaphors together and honing and organising
the the content you need to display.
7.
Design Infographic templates are boring.
I recommend working with a creative designer who understands how to use design to communicate.
The designer won’t just summarise your data on a jpeg and call it an infographic – she’ll
use visuals instead of words; graphs or icons instead of numbers.
She knows that someone should be able to skim through the image and get the gist without
actually having to read it in detail.
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8.
Promote Once your infographic is ready, it’s time
to start promoting it.
This should be relatively easy as you would have considered distribution right at the
start.
9.
Finally, don’t make these infographic mistakes: • Making it too complicated – infographics
are about simplifying complex data into an easily digestible format.
So if the reader has to really think to be able to understand it, then they’re going
to most likely abandon it.
• Making it too generic – infographics about broad subjects aren’t going to be
of interest to your target audience.
And even if they are, then you will already have loads of competition.
• Giving the raw data to a designer and asking them to turn it into an infographic.
That’s not fair.
The designer needs you to interpret the data and brief them on what’s important.
• Over-stretching the metaphor.
Metaphors are great but they only work so far – your data cannot perfectly be explained
as a recipe or a map – so keep the metaphors high-level.
Now you know how to make a proper infographic, good luck: and thanks for watching.
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