It is strongly believed that a .jpg is worth a thousand .txt’s as it only takes a split second to see a picture and a lot more to read a text. The time has come for brands to visualize their data and convert their brand ideas into Infographics. Let’s see how they can rise with the benefits of Infographics on social media. An infographic, which ideally means “information graphic”, is basically a clear visual representation of information or data. Due to their design and structure, infographics are believed to foster enhanced content recognition & information retention. Marketers and brand managers can add this to their brand content strategy for a stimulating benefit & outcome.

Accelerating decision making to a great extent, according to topmarketingschools.net Infographics that are relevant, timely and executed properly have a potential to reach upto 15 million people.

With the influx of social media and the shift of information or news sharing in a digital format, infographics make place for brands that have a story to tell which can be encapsulated in colourful graphics and colourful pie charts. Infographics can be used in annual reports, presentations, research content, newsletters and blogs. Consumers want the information that we share to be visually appealing & not text based. Majority of people are visual learners only. More than 80% of learning is visual. People can only remember 20% of content they read.

Well, why don’t you have a look at what Infographics are all about before proceeding?
Just check the Infographic below to witness how data visualization is a great visual treat.

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Copy the above code to embed this Infographic on your website & share.

Infographics:

• · Communicate a message
• · Present huge data or information in a compact way
• · Analyze the data in order to discover cause-and-effect relationships
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Infographics are composed of:

• – Visual Elements
  Colour coding
  Graphics
  Reference icons/symbols
  – Content Elements
  Time frames
  References
  Statistics
  – Knowledge Elements
• Facts
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How do they matter for brands?

Digital marketers have already started creating infographics. It can be a great resource for firms that want to widen their marketing horizons. Pinterest had already taken place on social media with a visual treat that it offers. The pace with which this platform is moving is even quicker than Facebook, Linkedin & Google+. Understanding the potential and reach Facebook had also introduced the Timeline Update in February 2012 showing an increased level of photo engagement.

Using visuals is yet another way to survive the game of social media marketing. With Infographics you can describe your brand. You can simply transform the information you want to share into blocks of pictures that are bold & attractive. It is indeed a fun & unique way to reach millions of people.

• · They are visually appealing
• · Foster brand exposure through Social Media
• · They are cost effective
• · They compress the information & communicate easily

Brand managers should definitely integrate Infographics to their online marketing strategy. Going by the online space where people have too little time to sit back and read , a visual treat will be welcomed and appreciated to a very large extent.

• · Brand will first have to find a story to tell using the statistical data they have.
• · Drive traffic by posting it on the brand page or website
• · Post & share it on Social Media. You can tweet, post, pin & share.
  • · Include a little bit about your company with your web site URL at the bottom, use it as Link Bait. In case someone shares it you still retain the credit as the creator.

Readers absorb the important information from infographics & feel motivated to share it across platforms. Yes, it has to be that effective! Ideally, Infographics can fit any topic provided it represents data that is necessary and relevant to the readers.

ROI of Infographics

It is essential to measure the business performance of Infographics. The business objectives, organizational culture you operate in & your definition of return on investment (ROI) contribute to this analysis. The ROI is calculated with a formula which is: (Gain from an investment – Cost of the investment) / Cost of the investment

Your content marketing plan would be considered beneficial if its able to show ROI and is able to be measured. The basic costs are associated with design, development, publishing & promotion of your brand’s infographic. It might not be important to measure the direct association between the infographic marketing efforts & revenue but, it is very important to analyse & measure the association between resource allocation & marketing performance.

Measuring the Value of Infographics is another method that evaluates both, the tangible & intangible benefits of this communication & marketing tool over a period of time.

Tangible metrics signify the exposure that your infographics are getting across different digital & social media platforms:

Inbound links

• – Use Google Analytics & Google Webmaster Tools can be used  to calculate the number of sites that link back to your infographic content.
• – Incorporate an embed code to track people who copy & paste the code to embed your infographic on their sites.
• – Back links, apart from measuring the awareness, also provide insight into the types of people & websites that are publishing your infographics.

– Use Google Analytics to measure how many page views & unique views each infographic on your website, page or blog is generating.

– Use RankChecker to clearly measure the page rank of your infographics on major search engine, Google.

• – Use Google Analytics to check the number of finding your infographics by using specific keywords.
• – Understanding top industry search words will help you refine your keyword optimization in future infographic titles.

– Engagement level with your infographic content is measured.

• – Use analytics functionality to each application you are using to calculate the subscribers to your content across digital channels.
• – These metrics only reflect your potential audience reach and also not all your subscribers would be able see every infographic that you publish.

• – You can track the comments & their tone for each infographic you publish.
• – A social media dashboard tool like the Hootsuite can be used to calculate the tweets, mentions & shares on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+ respectively.

Intangible benefits are coupled with using infographics as an external & internal communication tool.

External includes Building relationships with media, organizations & influential individuals, experience with your brand and the credibility of your infographic offering insight on your organization as a thought leader across the industry.

Internal is based on communication, learning and decision making.

Reasons why the Infographics and Data Visualization work are:

• – An attractive & compelling visualization of data or information you want to share saves people from Information Overload.
  – People usually have a very short attention span, so to convince them in this little time, an infographic works & catches people’s eye.
• – Complex information, data, statistics of becomes easy to understand when represented visually.
• – People remember only 20% of what they read, so data visualization helps in stabilizing the lowering reading retention rates.
• – People are too busy to check the data you publish everyday; by designing something visually enticing, higher engagement level can be noticed.
• – People love sharing visual imageries or infographics on social media that are easy to grasp rather than the textual posts.
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INFOGRAPHICS on SOCIAL MEDIA

Infographics are here to stay in the social media world. Firstly, the visualization of data is the ultimate key to great social media content. On social media consumers have the ability to share your infographics on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest & Google+ leading to greater engagement levels. Therefore, high definition infographics will be marketed through your readers who would love it & share it.

Readability Less is more. Create infographics to speak your brand message, data or statistics. Do not add too many images. Simply, maintain a balance.

Shareability Include your Infographic on all the social media channels of your brand. They can entice a lot of viewers to your brand. When a user likes your infographic, the possibility is either he will bookmark it or share it with his online friends. Therefore, with so many sites linked together, there lies a great potential for your infographic to go viral. Make sure it is unique!

Search Engine Optimization Even the SEO experts are exploring the possibilities of a good branded infographic. Infographics are designed for social sharing & are a highly effective form of link bait which can be used to increase inbound link numbers improving a website’s ranking & provide search engine optimization significance.coming to your mind is what type of infographics are loved the most pr work best? Well, it varies from industry or sector to sector. For some sites it might be charts & graphs for their statistical data but for some it might be pyramid or a map.

Whatever it is, it has to be interesting enough to keep the viewer on your site.

In a nutshell,

• – Infographics can be read quickly. Great for those pressed with time
• – Explain complex issues in a simplified visualization version
• – As infographics are mostly vertically-shaped, the module would show a fragment while enabling the users to click to enlarge
• – Research all the facts and statistics
• – Develop and present a logical story.
• – Reference facts & convey the message quickly
• – Draw conclusions
• – Include your URL on your infographic
• When it comes to designing an Infographic just keep it simple as ‘Simplicity is the best policy’.

Be clear by limiting the information overload
Think in colour as it influences the users in a great way
Be verifiable to display your data a trustworthy source of information
Appealing to the eye is what your infographic should be. Period.

Check out Visual.ly, which launched in 2011 & currently hosts more than 16,000 info graphics. It is the world’s largest community platform for data visualisation. Here, the company’s success has been a direct result of the response to the infographics & their ability to tell a story effectively but more importantly, to serve as a useful tool. For few content marketing infographics that work. Click here

If you are thinking of how to go about making an Infographic, watch out this space for more!

With the growing popularity of Infographics, it is surely going to be the key online success for brands if conceptualized, designed and implemented correctly. As a brand manager how do you value an infographic as a part of your brand content strategy? Would you try incorporating them in your next content plan and measure its effectiveness? We are sure you will be surprised by the amazing outcome of this visual representation. Do share your thoughts.