What Is an Infographic About? How to Benefit from It?

 

Hi, there!

Do you want to know what is an infographic about? And you are not alone! It looks like more and more people are interested in this topic.

According to an article in Forbes, in 2017

• 74% of marketers count on visuals in their social media marketing;
• 56% of companies questioned use infographics;
• 84% who’ve used them consider the medium effective.

Let’s see one more proof. As Google knows a lot of stuff, I decided to “ask” Google trends what is the interest towards the keyword “what is an infographic.”

 

 

The result of the graphic is self-explanatory. In the last few years, people’s curiosity towards infographics has dramatically increased. And it’s logical. Infographics might help so many walks of life to present them better.

Internet marketers, affiliate marketers, online sellers, bloggers, managers, who prepare their corporate presentations, students who can present their work more attractively – the list is long!

In this text I will cover the following topics:

1. What is the formal definition of his concept?

2. Why its popularity is an upsurge?

3. How can you benefit from infographics?

Let’s start.

 

The definition for infographics

According to Wikipedia, infographics are graphic visual representations of information, data or knowledge intended to present information quickly and precisely.

It is that simple. But let’s dissect this definition, to get the maximum understanding of the concept.

 

1. It is visual.

Yes, you accept it rather as a picture than as text. We all know the power of the visuals and the old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. Images and videos are also visuals.

No wonder that YouTube is the second biggest search engine nowadays! You see how popular are Pinterest and Instagram! Even Facebook turns into the more visual platform!

 

2. It is a text.

At the same time, it is a text, as well! Typically, you can get informed there, as there are a message and knowledge inside it.

 

3. It is graphic.

Sometimes, you can find graphical elements there, which can help you see the processes in their dynamics.

 

4. It is statistics.

You will find a lot of data in a typical infographic. The numbers will help you quickly quantify the information, and compare stuff.

 

5. It is concise and compact.

You will receive a small file, which is easy to copy and paste, download and upload, giving you the gist of a specific topic.

To demonstrate you its power, as an experiment, I decided to create for you a quick and very simple infographic, including above five points, I’ve just depicted for you:

In fact, the information is the same. You can easily see for yourself which way is more eye-catching, attractive and memorable.

 

Please, reflect on the following: I bet that when you opened this text, you instinctively searched for any visuals and in fact, you first went through the infographic and then you got back to the beginning of the article! Am I right?

 

WATCH this short video for the power of visuals.

 

Now we have the definition of an infographic decomposed. It’s time to move to the next subtopic.

 

Why are infographics so popular?

In this overwhelming environment, full of thousands of messages attacking people every day, one would prefer to see and read an infographic, instead of plain text.

Let’s face it: text will not disappear, but it will be more and more replaced by or mixed with visuals. Let’s see some advantages of infographics:

1. It is 3 in 1

An infographic could be an efficient instrument – you could reach a few goals, creating only one file! It is perfect to attract, inform and catch the attention of a reader.

 

2. It is portable

I’ve already mentioned how easy is to share an infographic file. It is “a piece of cake” to upload it in a blog post like this, in visual-based social media, or in a PowerPoint presentation to support your statements.

 

3. People have a visual nature

It’s proven that when we have visuals in a text, we understand it better.

People are more focused and follow the directions better when they have images in the text, vs. having an only plain text in front of them.

Listeners are more persuaded by a speech, accompanied by visuals, vs. only verbal speech.

There is a definite hierarchy of the senses when it comes to accepting external signals.

It is easy to remember around 10 % of what we hear, 20% of what we read, and the whopping 80% of what we see!

Well, you already know what is an infographic about! You have so powerful “weapon” to engage with your readers, listeners, audience, co-workers, managers, and whomever you want to commit. It is time to learn how to use it wisely and appropriately.

 

How can you benefit from infographics?

What sort of information to include?

• Flowcharts: When you have a lot of objects you want to introduce in your message, better relate them in diagrams as this will become more apparent to the audience;

 

 

• Maps: When you mention different regions, you could show them on a map;

 

• Timelines: When your message is related to presenting historical facts, or development of an idea in the time, show a timeline graph;

 

• Comparisons: When you have two or three objects to compare (like products or services for example), display them in a table, so that audience can easily compare the different parameters;

 

• Images: When you want to stress on how exciting or beautiful a specific object is, show it in a high-quality picture;

 

• Data: When you want to comment on data, related to lots of figures (the economic results of Q4 for example), you will want to use data charts and graphics;

 

• Text: Concisely, you will want to include text to explain what is it all about.

 

What will be the effect from infographics?

• You will look like an expert. I want to stress on the word “look like.” I don’t comment if you are or you are not an expert on the topic you are presenting.

All I want to say is you will subconsciously “add” more confidence in the audience, receiving your message that you are an expert.

• If you create a blog post with infographics, your content will become more attractive, and it is more likely that some readers will click and share them on other websites or social media.

 

• Brand popularity: If you have your infographics branded with your logo or domain name, it will lead to increasing your brand awareness;

 

• Increased traffic: It is more likely that readers click on linked infographics and come to your website, increasing your traffic. This will create backlinks and will improve your search engine optimization (SEO).

 

• You will be able to monetize your website more efficiently

 

 

Conclusion

I think, now you have an idea why infographics can be very useful to consider adding in your performing strategies.

Don’t get me wrong. It is not a panacea. At this stage, it cannot substitute a text or a video. But it is another solution to make your message attract your audience and reach more people.

All you have to do is to TAKE ACTION and start using infographics as soon as possible:)

I would love to hear from you! Do you (plan to) use infographics? Leave me a comment, and I will answer you!

 

To your better messages,

Tony