HOW INFOGRAPHICS CAN ELEVATE YOUR MARKETING
Last updated on July 30, 2019
Visual content has quickly become one of the most necessary marketing strategies used in business communications today. With 90 percent of information transmitted to the brain being visual and people now dependent on visual cues more than ever, infographics are a powerful form of visual communication. This can elevate your marketing, by transforming standard text into impactful content.
According to a recent survey from Venngage, on how visual content influenced marketing strategies for 2018 and how it will impact plans for 2019, 69 percent of online marketers reported that visuals are very important or an absolute necessity to their marketing strategies. Eighty one percent of businesses predicted that they will rely heavily on visuals, as part of their marketing strategies in 2019 and 2020.
The Social Media Today infographic illustrates other compelling visual content marketing statistics from that survey.
Another Social Media Today infographic showed that one of the digital marketing trends that will rule 2019 are infographics. Infographics are performing better than any other type of content. Why? Visual user-generated content is more engaging than brand-produced photos, which has become a major challenge for brands using visual content marketing. Also, the demand for interactive content is increasing. People are moving away from static Web 1.0 content pages and towards interactive Web 2.0 and 3.0 content.
Infographics can elevate your marketing by:
Bridging communication gaps
Businesses have a wealth of knowledge and information to share with customers and prospects, but often are challenged with the task of communicating highly technical information to its target audiences. Infographics are an effective tactic to transform industry jargon into a digestible message and can elevate your content marketing strategy.
The graphical representation of information and data is data visualization. By leveraging infographic design and pulling key data, you support the end user by helping him/her comprehend complex information, as well as lead him/her through the three stages of the buying cycle: awareness, consideration and decision.
Some infographic design elements include:
- Pie charts
- Timelines
- Informational lists
- Visualized numbers
- Bar charts
Through using these elements, you’ll offer the user an easier way to understand data, trends, etc. They work well because they’re attractive, easy to scan and simple to share.
Let’s say you’re a bank looking to convey your services. In a quick snapshot, you have the ability to organize a myriad of information in a simple, yet absorbable way. The best part? Once the user leaves you, he/she has a higher likelihood of remembering the information. When relevant visuals and information are paired, people retain 65 percent of the information three days later, as opposed to only remembering 10 percent if they just heard it.
Stopping people in their tracks on social media
Create impactful infographics that stop people in their tracks on social media by hiring a graphic designer. Choose one who not only has design experience, but also is a skilled infographic creator (also referred to as an information designer), to generate ones that are completely customized and creatively driven.
Another option is to use a free online infographic maker, such as Canva. The tool enables you to choose an infographic template or design, from scratch, using its drag and drop tools. You just need to add your information. Canva also has a library of icons, to represent data.
When you go through the process to choose the right social media platforms for your business, be sure to customize your infographic for each platform. Try to tune in to what your target audience will be looking for, when they’re on each social media platform. Likewise, share your infographic across social media platforms including Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.
Just remember, relevance is key. When content syncs up to the end-user’s needs and wants, that’s when the magic of engagement and conversion starts to happen. When images are relevant, users invest more time in absorbing that information as opposed to just reading plain text.
Utilizing downloadable content as a lead generation tool
One of the many benefits of using infographics to tell your story is that you can make them downloadable content. Leveraging downloadable content on your website is a highly effective lead generation tool. In conjunction with a pay-per-click campaign, you can target key audiences with specific goals and needs. Then, you can offer solutions to initiate a conversation between them and your sales team.
For example, when using a downloadable infographic for a human resource company you can specifically separate CEOs and HR directors searching for ways to better streamline their HR department and save money. With a valuable, memorable, downloadable and data-rich visual for key contact information, suddenly your sales funnel becomes focused and effective in its pitch and strategy. This leads to an increase in marketing ROI.
How the general population consumes content and makes decisions has changed dramatically over the past decade. It continues to evolve. With the increasing amount of creative and strategic competition in the marketplace, identifying compelling topics and working with professional designers is crucial in generating traction and referral traffic. Ultimately, this will lead to decision-making that impacts your bottom line.
Are you interested in learning more about how infographics can elevate your marketing? Contact us today, to begin the conversation.