Taking a look back to just 5 years down the line, the whole gamut of human communication was way different than it is today. We have gradually entered into a visual web that demands more and more visual communications. Graphic designs, preferably Infographics, and videos are the buzz now that connect us to one another. Finding the critical elements of an Infographic that makes it prone to this connectivity is vital.
Considering business, digital marketing involves establishing a robust connection between individuals. Communicating your message to the right audience at the right time in the right manner is what digital marketing is all about. Designs must do the talking to keep the communication stream alive.
But how? There are a lot of options scattered when it comes to dispersing quality content. Infographics, Videos, eBooks, Blogs, Podcasts… There are also different types of Infographics. Anything you choose, the communication factor must be imbibed strong enough to make the content marketing fruitful. People need to share your stuff to make them recognized.
Speaking of Infographics, they are a classic combination of graphics and texts as we all know that creates maximum impact on the audience. If we delve deep into its anatomy, the two rules of thumb for a successful Infographic are:
- Compelling design
- Appropriate and successful promotion
These two activities jointly contribute to the success of an Infographic. The onus of making the design shareworthy lies upon you, so knowing the significant elements of an Infographic that are responsible for its success is paramount.
The Web of the Internet
The Internet is a massive place of connected devices that produce tonnes of Big Data everyday. Approximately 300,000 tweets are tweeted every day on Twitter. And around 2.5 Million videos, images and texts are uploaded to Facebook every single day. 220,000 images are uploaded to Instagram daily.
These whopping figures suggest that the web is a noisy place. Your content must cut through the noise. Infographics, as they say, help others to understand loads of information in a visually engaging manner. The only critical thing to keep in mind is the shareability of an Infographic.
Does the design have all the elements that would guarantee its success? Will it be remembered by people when they leave your site? Is it engaging enough to increase brand exposure for your company? And most importantly, is the design potent enough to increase leads?
One must always remember, the attention span of humans is feeble, and with time and other diversions, this span is waning fast. So what makes a good Infographic that holds gaze and attention? The following are the crucial elements of an Infographic that create a striking and shareworthy design, potent to go viral!
1. An Engaging Data to Show and a Compelling Story to Tell
A well thought out data story is a vital element in an Infographic that shapes the entire design and makes it engaging. One must work on a particular area of interest that would appeal to a set of audience. Which content or topic will resonate with what kind of people, is a thing to research and develop.
Your data story must be succinct, able to make a comparative analysis and will be shared the most. The data must not always be all digits and numbers. If the data contains accurate and relevant information, packed with a compelling narrative, you have got your very own shareworthy Infographic!
2. Being Useful and Handy to the Audience
There are different types of Infographic designs. What purpose does your design serve? Does it push your brand to your audience? Does it explain your product or services? Or does it informs and teaches something? A ‘How-To’ Infographic is definitely well-received by the audience who are in search of a visually engaging data visualization that explains them how to do something they want to.
Apart from entertaining, an Infographic must also be useful to its audience. Once its usefulness is recognized, people will appreciate it by sharing to more individuals. Pertaining to some crucial Infographic elements, what purpose your design serves comes first and foremost.
3. What Makes all the Heads Turn? A Well-Written Headline!
You only have a few seconds to grab your audience’s attention. They are exposed so much of data flow, if you fail to stand out, nobody will take notice of you. A brilliant headline is required to make a mark. Frame the headline is such a manner, that a viewer cannot resist to click and view the design.
That’s how you can goad people to your Infographic piece. Also, incorporating relevant keywords will help in your SEO and allow the design to come up in the searches. Keywords related to your brand can help gain a maximum amount of brand exposure and brand recognition. Use hashtags for the trending topics that compel someone to check out the design you have created.
4. Simplicity is the Ultimate Key to Success
Infographics are all about visuals, graphics and illustrations. But too much of anything is worse as we know, don’t overcrowd your design with too much of these. A success inducing element of an Infographic lies on its minimalistic approach, and not jampacking the design with too much of imageries.
The ‘Less is More’ concept is ideal for any design to make it shareable across all channels. Keep enough room for white space so the design can breathe. For a lot of information in a small container, strategic white spaces are mandatory. Your audience must get the time to process the information they behold, so give them short bursts of data that can be processed in sequence. Too much of visuals also affect the legibility of the design.
5. The Perfect Font Size and Typography
Honestly, these are the most important elements one must pay attention to while creating their Infographic pieces. Avoid confusion by using a maximum of two fonts and typefaces. Whether you have to highlight a fact, and bold/increase the typeface, place the data visually to guide the viewers from start to end.
Break the design by different sizes of headlines. There must be enough legibility in the headlines so that even in thumbnails, the data can be perceived.
6. Rich, Value-Adding and Captivating Content
Content is not just the King, but the Monarch. It is 2019 and still, we are dependent mostly on well-written content to spruce up our page rank, our SEO quotient and usability to the netizens. So keep a firm hold on the content or copy of the infographic. As the name says, these beautifully designed graphics give out essential information, so if the content is written in a sloppy manner, the shareability declines.
Avoid any run-of-the-mill work and focus on high quality and error-free content. Consider framing up a rough sketch of the content by jotting down the essential bullet points. And then start elaborating them. This bare-bones outline will help you create exceptional content that will appeal to your audience and make the design shareworthy.
7. Infographics – Labyrinth of Graphs, Charts and Tables
The importance of Infographics is attained only when the assorted data is merged into a single unit. So much so, that the target audience can grasp the data smoothly. The magic of data visualization lies in augmenting plain and simple data visually. Infographic is the ultimate data visualization that breaks complex charts and graphs, into easy to understand nuggets.
Graphs and charts are important elements of data visualization that disseminate the exact information you want to. Making these charts and graphs visually engaging is in the hands of the designer. Only a professional data visualization artist can strike a perfect balance and let the design tell a brand story.
8. Keep the Color Appropriate and Thematic
Colors play a vital role in triggering human emotions. So ensure this element in your design stays stable. Infographics do more than just communicate information, they establish a connection between the viewers and the person behind the creation of the design. To evoke this feeling, one must be thorough with the colors to choose the design.
If the topic is somewhat light-hearted, consider using a color that is on the lighter side. And if you deal with the somber topic, try using darker shades. The color scheme must be two to three maximum, too many colors will repel the viewer. Warmer colors like red and orange are well accepted in Pinterest. Also staying true to the brand colors is imperative as that relates your brand to the digital asset.
9. Infused Thoughts and Innovations in the Design
Anything innovative, unique and that stands out, catches our eyes. An Infographic is shareable only when it has got something unique and innovative in it. Be it the content, or the design. Mostly the design holds our gaze so pay attention to the design. Ensure the design is innovative enough to make heads turn.
Whether you take up the design on yourself, or you hire a professional design agency, the design must communicate your brand message most innovatively. Once that is attained, the shareability quotient will get a boost.
10. Timelessness is Precious
This is another quality or element that must be present in an Infographic to make it shareworthy. One would never want to create an ‘use and throw’ piece of design with so much effort and creativity. So think for a topic that is timeless or that can be easily updated to make new. Let your design surpass days, months and years and stand contemporary for the years to come.
Though this is not a very easy task because with each day, things change. So something contemporary five years back, might not be now, or two more years down the line. Yes, strive for topics that somehow manages to escape the barriers of time and lasts long.
11. Abiding by an Authentic Source and the Citation of it makes an Infographic Successful
Credibility is a must-have for an Infographic. To achieve a credible status, cite the sources properly at the end of the design. Citing the references and resources is an important element of an Infographic. That makes your audience know the origin of the stats and figures you have put in your design.
Your audience has all the right to know the origin of the information in case those are not first-hand. You may take your data from as many sources you like, but back up your data by mentioning them at the bottom. Make sure you pull your data from reputable sources and not questionable ones.
You can only make your data credible by pulling data from reliable sources. Also, the list of your resources is not endless. Limit yourself to a certain point of R&D.
12. Optimization for each Social Media channels
The digital ecosystem is a fierce place where the competition is tough and ruthless. Everyone here is craving for more and more exposure and attention. Social media can be considered as the perfect place for gaining attention and engagement. And social media is synonymous to likes and shares. But you need to make your design look good on these social channels.
So ensure your Infographics designs are well optimized for the social media platforms. Staying aware of the specific dimensions and resolutions that Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram or Pinterest requires, is the best way to make your design shareworthy.
13. A Wholehearted Review Process and Double Checks
Error-free design is in itself a positive element that augments the share-worthiness of an Infographic. Infographics are referred to as an authentic source of information and hence, it has to be error-free in every aspect. Even the smallest of typos or minor grammatical error can diminish its credibility in front of a viewer.
So always perform a double check to be sure that there’s no error in the design, be it grammatical or any typo error. Get as many eyes you can to make the necessary changes because your eyes would get saturated, seeing the same design continuously. And that’s why many petty errors go unnoticed. And as typos are hated in Blogs articles, so they are in Infographic designs. This fact check is crucial to make your designs shareable and well accepted to the mass.
14. Urge the Audience to Take an Action
One of the major elements of an infographic to make it shareworthy is to equip the design with effective calls to action. A CTA will not let your brand get away from them and will guide them in the right direction. Ask yourself that what you want your audience to do once they complete reading the Infographic.
Do you want them to share it with others, or make them know more or bring them back to your website! Based on your preference, place the call to action buttons on strategic positions. You can also put a CTA button halfway the design in case a reader doesn’t intend to finish till the end. Calls to action are the best ways to urge the audience taking up an action. This element can make your design shareable to a great extent.
15. Shares, Shares and more Shares!
Another vital element for a successful Infographic is its ‘shareability’. This element lies in the way the embed code is provided in the design. One must make it easy for the viewers to get the code for a smooth sharing experience. Let others share your design in their Blog post by including the embed code. Keep an eye on the positioning of the social sharing buttons. These must be positioned such so that they are noticed quickly by the onlookers.
Bonus Point
To get the most out of your Infographic, submit your design to the submission channels so that it gets a broader reach. Organize a full-proof promotional campaign that will get more eyes for your infographic. You may also include the design in your Blog article as it will multiply the viewership of the design. More the design is viewed, higher gets its shareability quotient.
Final Thoughts
Infographic happens to be an effective visual content for your company that brings in new leads, sales, boosts your brand recognition, as well as establishes you as an industry expert. Effectiveness of Infographics can then be deemed truly. That said, one must aspire to make the designs popular, engaging, shareworthy and attractive to reach and influence the audience. they are also great as standalone content because these designs are self-sufficient.
We also have Infographic video, Gifographic, 3D Infographic, Interactive Infographic now, to join the league and help in our digital marketing efforts. These examples of Infographics can be leveraged for every successful digital marketing venture. All the quintessential elements mentioned above will enable you to create an extraordinary design that will act as a vessel to generate more leads and revenue. Each of these components is vital for your design to bring value to you and your brand.
Follow these tips and start creating more visually effective designs that get double the shares your digital assets are getting now.
