By Joe French July 21, 2021 Content
In an increasingly time-pressured world, social media users are much more likely to read an infographic that they see on their newsfeed than a weighty article. Because of this Infographics are becoming a common feature of many of our daily streams of information. Visual content is now a mainstay of digital creation. News outlets, charities, companies and government agencies have been widespread adapters of the format and research has found that using infographics can increase your web traffic by 12%! However, the most successful infographics provide a killer combination of good design and rich, interesting content. Without further ado, here are ClientsFirst’s top 8 tips for breathtaking infographics. A common mistake that companies make when designing infographics is to try to design an infographic around a topic that they think will be generally popular. This comes at the cost of neglecting your target audience.Create infographics for your target audience
The best performing infographics are those which best satisfy gaps in their audience’s knowledge and then fill these gaps with the appropriate information.
When coming up with your topic, keep it relevant, specific and targeted.
The infographic below, made by the Lumina Foundation, has a clear subject and clearly presents its data.
Read more: Keeping your audience at the heart of your content strategy
Less is more! Be simple
The primary advantage of infographics over blogs is that they distil advanced ideas into a simple visual format.
If you make your infographic too complex, they lose their edge. They become a form of cognitive overload instead of a concise storytelling mechanism.
Limit the amount of information contained in your infographics so your audience can clearly identify the main points being communicated.
This infographic by Advergize, which compares global advertising spend from 2012-2015, conveys its message with little copy and only a few main design points.
Go easy on the text
When creating an infographic, use text sparingly. The text should work with the graphics in a cohesive manner. Much like the tip above, trying a 'kitchen sink' approach won't win you any favours.
Stand-out visuals are eye-catching. Blocks of text are not. You don’t want your audience to perceive an infographic as a struggle to get through.
Despite the good design, this infographic by h&h looks a bit too busy:
This can be avoided by returning to a single, relevant point that you want to communicate to your target audience.
Promote your infographic
Companies often create infographics on the assumption that they will attract plenty of likes and shares, raising the profile of their brand and positioning them as thought leaders.
And they can be great for that! However, they don’t automatically explode in popularity. It takes work and a good connection to your community.
As well as sharing the infographic on your company’s social network pages, try to reach out to any influencers in your network and ask them to feature your infographic. This can help get the viral snowball rolling.
Read more: How to get more out of your content through digital
Make sure it’s easy to view
Sometimes an infographic can look great from a designer’s perspective. However, after it is resized, the copy can be lost. Absolutely be sure that the font is easy to read.
The smaller text on the below infographic by Nest is unreadable to anyone in your audience without a magnifying glass at hand. Even then, the distorted content becomes a blurry mess.
As much as is possible, keep everyone involved in the infographic creation and distribution process involved throughout. This can help you avoid these simple technical blunders.
Keep your infographic to a manageable size and length
Infographics that are too long risk losing the reader’s interest. Go beyond 9000 pixels in length and you’re likely to be presenting the reader with too much information: you risk detracting from your central message.
Also, you need to optimise any infographics for mobile users. Statista report that 61% of North American internet users accessed social media via mobile. If you plan on posting your infographic on your social media channels, make sure that it’s easy to read on smartphones.
Add white space
Any graphic designer will tell you that white space is important. Unfortunately, infographics are often visually overcrowded. This makes it hard for users to focus on the stand-out characteristics of the infographic.
The designers of the below infographic by the International Networks Archive have gone slightly overboard on the content. Although, this could be an attempt at using overcrowding as a design technique to highlight their point that there’s a lot of US government red tape!
Headlines matter!
If your infographic doesn’t have a great headline, people are less likely to read it, let alone share or react to it.
Three things set good headlines apart: they are short enough to understand at a glance, they grab attention and, lastly, they describe its content.
Taking a little more time to come up with a headline that really packs a punch pays off in the long run. Don’t waste your design budget - even the best designer can’t make a great infographic if you don’t get the fundamentals like the title right.
If you take the time to get each of these elements correct, you'll be creating helpful, visually pleasing infographics in no time. If you need some help creating content that appeals to your audience, get in touch.
