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6 Steps to Creating Successful Business Infographics [Guide]

6 Steps to Creating Successful Business Infographics [Guide]

Infographics are a visual way to reach your audience and an effective marketing tool to improve website visibility.

People like understanding complex things quickly in fewer, less complicated steps. And using visuals is amongst the best ways to convey your message and help them learn. By creating business infographics, you can not only increase engagement and brand awareness, but boost your website traffic.

In fact, research shows that 65% of people are visual learners. It’s because the visual content is processed by a human brain 60,000 times faster than written content. The visual information that is transmitted to the brain shares 90% of all the information that it actually gets.

How the Brain Processes Visual Information

Furthermore, an industry study by Backlinko and Buzzsumo, shows that infographics receive 25.8% more backlinks than other popular forms of content. People also prefer sharing articles with images and graphics, which means that this type of content can not only improve your website’s authority, but significantly boost traffic.

Due to the dual advantage of infographics, plus, the increase of online visitors via social media, has paved ways for the bloggers and marketers to increase their audience very quickly. The format has grown in relevance over the years and 86% of businesses expect them to play an important part in their strategy in the future.

While to attract people’s attention, infographics need to be visually compelling and interesting, it isn’t always about images and creativity. Your success depends upon two important factors:

  • Relevance. The infographic content needs to be aligned with your business objectives.
  • Distribution. Consistent and massive promotion of the content is crucial to get continuous traffic and links.

If you want to learn how to create infographics with the potential to double your traffic, continue reading this post until the very end. We will walk you through everything you need to know to be successful. In this post, you’ll learn:

  1. The Essentials of Infographics
  2. Coming up with relevant Infographic Topics
  3. Creating Shareable and Useful Infographic
  4. Designing and Publishing Infographics
  5. Distributing Infographics
  6. Infographic Testing

Now let’s have a look at the 6 steps in creating infographics:

1. The Essentials of Infographics

First of all, not every business infographics you create will receive the same response. Even if you know how to make a good infographics and do everything by the book, your audience may still not like it.

In fact, Francesco Franchi from the Fast Company thinks that most of the infographics are not engaging and therefore, receive no acclimation. According to Franchi, they lack “infographic thinking”. So how do you ensure you create engaging infographics? Here’s a secret:

There are three basic elements behind the majority of the infographics that go viral: the method and its consistency, unique story, and trustworthy statistics.

Related Post: Infographic Marketing 101: A Repeatable Workflow for Busy Bloggers

1. Consistent Method

The method of creating infographics can affect its value. How you choose an appropriate method is based on your target audience, just as it is with making any other content marketing decision.

You can decide to create your infographic with the help of flow charts, sequential data, graphs there are so many options to choose from.

“The Guardian” has published a review on a selection of useless infographics with their criticism on each type. Checking it out will help you learn what to avoid and how to keep your infographic in balance.

However, whatever method you choose, what matters is that you maintain consistency and follow through. If you decide to combine multiple approaches, consider visually distinguishing them so it is clear that it is intentional. This way you will also minimize the risk of the viewer becoming confused.

2. Unique Story

For a good infographic, the second most important element is an interesting story with the right emotions to connect your readers. One popular way to attract an audience is to add graphics of people and characters to the infographics. This makes it more relatable and interesting:

A unique story is powerful enough to spice up a common topic. According to “The State of Storytelling”, published by The StoryTellers,

“We are entering the age of stories.”.

Stories help leaders to inspire employees and colleagues help them show the best out of them.

One of the great examples of storytelling is Jon Morrow’s post at ProBlogger. He shared his story of quitting his job, moving to paradise and being paid to change the world. Although it is not an infographic, the post did change the lives of thousands of readers.

Jon Morrow’s story has earned over 9,700 likes, 3000+ tweets, and more than 150 comments.

If you know the art of storytelling via infographics, you’ll be thrilled to know that photo posts account for 93 percent of Facebook’s most engaging posts. Creating awesome social media visuals, can help your posts get 84% more click-throughs, 104% more comments, and 53% more likes than text-based posts.

However, it’s good to know that your infographics don’t necessarily have to contain data from your own research – you can use facts and figures from trusted research by third parties and even syndicate information from different sources. . Statistics and facts are vital for increasing the value of infographics.

3. Statistical Data

According to H.G Wells:

Statistical thinking will one day be as necessary for efficient citizenship as the ability to read and write”.

This is especially true for infographics as the audience tends to pay more attention to content backed with valid data. You can establish trust and encourage engagement by incorporating verifiable facts and figures. For example, these two infographics, published by Socialmouths and QuickSprout, show multiple data points. They have done quite well ever since they were published.

Statistical data indicates that apart from you, there are more people, including industry experts, who support the information you are sharing. This gives your infographics more credibility and more value. Furthermore, people simply love statistics, and seeing them in your business infographics makes them more likely to share.

2. Coming Up With Relevant Infographic Topics

The attention span of readers is getting shorter every year. To be successful you must adapt to the modern ways of attracting your audience who are looking for instant satisfaction and quick solutions. The best way to do this is by creating business infographics on attention-grabbing topics that may inspire your target audience.

Furthermore, when choosing the topic, think of the title as well. The headline is the first thing the user sees and the most important one. If it doesn’t grab their attention, they are unlikely to click on the link to view the infographic. In addition, it should match your topic and the audience. For example, if your audience likes “How to” posts, make sure your infographics are “Tips” or “How to” steps.

1. Research Trending Topics

What are currently the top trends in your niche? Are you aware of the popular keywords? Do you know what people are talking about these days? If you’re able to answer these questions, you will probably be able to make the best business infographics. You can take help from the resources, such as Moz, Google Trends, and others to search these.

For example, if your niche is communication and technology, you can come up with fresh and trendy topics, such as the latest smartphone reviews, 5 amazing new apps, and much more!

2. Go For Evergreen Topics

Evergreen content is highly shareable and ensures regular traffic over long periods of time. There are certain topics that never die. They tend to repeat or stay relevant on social networks for a long time. By searching what’s popular on Linkedin, popular Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and other similar platforms, you can come up with influential business infographic topics that people in your industry care about.

For example, you can create an infographic with the title “5 Simple Steps to Install WordPress” – a handy tutorial guide that every newbie wants to read.

3. Choose Controversial Topics

Controversial topics aren’t too difficult to find. You can search for hot topics on social platforms. Or come up with interesting thought-leadership content regarding your industry that will make a fascinating business infographic, and may make people reconsider their POV.

Here are few examples of controversial topics include:

What makes these topics controversial?

The topics are debatable. People reading these titles will probably be thinking:

  • How can someone lose that much weight in just 5 days?
  • Does this article have any good news for laborers with low wages? Is there any development in this regard?

The moment your topic stimulates their thought process, your readers are hooked. This is a reason why choosing controversial stories makes popular infographics. However, make sure to deliver valuable content, no one likes click-baits, and they can ruin your credibility.

4. Find Out The Most Viewed Content

Research topics on other sites and find out the most viewed content. Use the data and to create engaging infographics. For example, you can search most viewed YouTube videos and dig deeper to choose topics.

Furthermore, you can look for interesting recent industry research that can show you what’s new in your field, and what your customers may find relevant. The more shares and references the study has, the more people care about it.

You can also check out your competitors’ most popular topics. Of course, the goal is not to steal their ideas, but focus on the same keywords and provide valuable content in the form of business infographics.

You can adapt the titles of popular content in your infographic title to make it more captivating for readers. But what matters more is to create something worth sharing.

3. Creating Sharable and Useful Infographic

Once you’re done with researching topics and you’ve decided on the titles, the next step is to create a useful infographic. Remember, people have different definitions of “useful” content.

In general, useful content has the following characteristics:

  • It should be well-researched.
  • It should have actionable tips with simple steps.
  • It should be logical and easy to follow.

As mentioned, emotionally appealing business infographics are shared more than others, as well as visually the people find useful. Combining the two will help you create shareable business infographics that bring value to the users.

This pie-chart shows what emotions add to the content’s shareability. You can choose appropriate emotions to associate with your brand that will engage your audience.

Creating Sharable and Useful Infographic

Where to Find the Data

You can use any or all of the following data resources, each with a high level of trust and a variety of authentic research:

When it comes to research and analysis, it is hard not to mention SWOT. For a detailed guide, we recommend the Essential Guide to SWOT AnalysisBusiness Plans Hub.

You may also include corporate blogs, spreadsheets, white papers, and professional bodies to search your topic and content.

Read out all the information you have gathered and decide whether it provides a complete overview of the topic. If not, continue your search and add more facts.

The Structure and Layout of Your Infographic

To structure your business infographic, you can create your own design or use a template. Note, that it must have one of the two essential features:

  1. Provides actionable advice. Informative infographics always tempt users to share them. For example, this Guide to Redesign Website from Quicksprout has everything that it takes to create an informative and attractive infographic.
  2. Provide entertainment. You’re probably thinking of getting attention through humor, fun, and passion. Take a look at this Mashable’s infographic explaining the cost of turning into Iron Man 3 in Real Life. People have gone crazy sharing it!

Now that you have decided the purpose, you can build your structure.

The Structure and Layout of your Infographic

A different approach is to divide the infographic into three sections along with header, takeaways, and sources.

The Header should be used tactfully to create an enticing title.

If you wish to further explain the title, use Subheading. For example, if the title is “How to Come Out of Stress After Breakup”, you can explain it further as “5 Useful Tips to Successfully Go Through the Distressful Post Breakup Period”.

The key message of your infographic should be placed in the First Section, after the headlines. Here, people will relate to your topic. Use the data you have collected in supporting data points.

Maintain the flow in Section 2 Header with another key message to elaborate your purpose, backed by proven results to support your data.

Follow the same format in Section 3, using Header and supporting data points. Add as many sections as you like, but all should be in a sequence leading to a constructive solution or Call to Action.

Here, you should add your complete URL. For example: “Visit: (URL) for more information”. Don’t forget to include Sources in your infographic to validate your information.

Understand the Color Combinations

Your color choice can make or break your business infographic. Use red to intensify the emotions of the readers.

For examples, the colors in this Beatles songs infographics, make the information pop, and make it visually compelling to the user:

You can read more about how colors affect purchase decisions and how to use them in your business infographic here:

How Colors Affect Purchase Decisions and How to Use Them Effectively

4. Designing and Publishing Infographics

The next step in creating your infographics is to come up with a compelling design.

However, now that you have done almost 60% of the work, you should decide whether you are going to design it yourself or hire a professional?

Hire a Designer

If you don’t have a graphic designer in-house, you should consider reaching out to one who can help you implement your business infographic and make it look professional. You can hire great designers at fairly reasonable rates on Fiverr, Dribbble, or Upwork. You can sign up on any of these websites as an employer, make an account, and hire the right person for this job.

While most of the time you can easily find what you are looking for on these platforms, if you don’t succeed, you can increase the range of selection by posting job ads on other freelance websites as well.

Use Infographic Тemplates

In case you want to try creating the business infographics yourself, here’s a way to do that as well. Make an account on Canva and get access to hundreds and thousands of templates using their infographic maker tool. They also have a handy tutorial on how to create an infographic design.

Designing and Publishing Infographics

This way, you can not only save time in finding designers but you can always create more than one business infographics and explore different ideas to get better chances of maximizing your web traffic and engagement.

Publishing the Infographics

You can either upload your infographic to your website or share it on social media and blogs. If your goal is to generate traffic and gain more visibility, the both options are worth considering more.

Publishing the infographics on all your communication channels will increase the chances of people seeing it and sharing it. Furthermore, if you write an article that supports and expands the information, and optimize it for SEO, you will make the business infographics more visible in search, and that will additionally boost performance.

Generate an Embedded Code

Before the infographics goes live, make sure to generate an embedded code to make it easy to share and publish it on other properties and marketing channels.

Here’s how to do it:

  1. Upload the infographics on your blog or webpage.
  2. Generate embedded code so that the people who share your business infographic can link back to it. You can use this embedded code generator by filling in the blank spaces. You can also use infographic journal or WordPress plugins to generate embedded code of your infographic.
  3. After the code is generated, copy-paste it beneath your infographic making it easier for the visitors to share it on their blog posts.

5. Distributing Infographics

There are different ways to distribute your business infographics:

  • Hire a freelancer. First of all, you can hire a freelancer to do work for you, using the same websites we mentioned when discussing designers. They can submit the business infographics to third-party websites for a fee.While most sites might not accept it, there is still a chance to obtain a reasonable number of inbound links and web traffic.

Distributing Infographics

  • Do it yourself. You can also submit the infographic yourself with the help of this easy guide by Quick Sprout.
  • Share it on platforms. There are plenty of sites that share documents where you can upload your infographics as well. For example, 4shared, Killer Infographics, and Scribd.com are good sources to get a traffic boost.

WordPress plugins also make it easier for your audience to see your infographic in a larger version. Use Digg Digg for instance, and install Lightbox Plus to make your audience more excited.

6. Infographics Testing

To find out what works best for you, you can compare different formats for the same business infographics. To do this, you can create a number of layouts with some modifications in the fonts, colors, and placement to determine which of them gets maximum traffic for you. Use top 50 infographic fonts shared by template.net to create a variety of infographics.

Make a habit of testing and include it in your sales strategy to find out which business infographics get you most engagement.

Conclusion

Business infographics are more relevant than ever. They help people obtain the required information more quickly and efficiently and are a highly shareable form of content. Furthermore, they can be used both as a stand-alone format and as an addition to other mediums, such as social media posts and blogs.

Creating business infographics and distributing them is no longer a choice, it has become a necessity. If you think you don’t have a budget, apps such as Canva, Visually, Infogram, easelly, Venngage, Piktochart, etc. make creating infographics easy even for beginners.