So, you create infographics as part of your online marketing strategy, but how do you get them to go viral and attract loads of social shares and backlinks?

Growista share their tips for a successful infographic marketing strategy in this infographic.

Here’s a quick summary of what you’ll learn:

• Some stats that show the power of infographics
• Design tips, including size and balance
• Promotional techniques

Check out the infographic for more detail.

 

In the digital age, content is king, but the kingdom is vast and often overwhelming. To stand out, your content needs to be not only high-quality but also engaging and shareable. Infographics have emerged as a powerful tool to achieve this. They combine visual appeal with valuable information, making complex data easily digestible and shareable. This post will guide you through the process of creating a viral infographic that garners social shares and backlinks, enhancing your online presence.

Some Stats That Show the Power of Infographics

Infographics have become a cornerstone of effective digital marketing strategies, particularly for small businesses looking to maximize their reach with limited resources. By leveraging the unique power of visual storytelling, small businesses can enhance their content marketing efforts, increase engagement, and drive more traffic. Here’s a deeper dive into the statistics that demonstrate the effectiveness of infographics, coupled with practical tips for small businesses to harness their power.

Increased Engagement

One of the most compelling reasons to use infographics is their ability to boost engagement significantly. Research indicates that content featuring compelling images averages 94% more total views than content without relevant images. Infographics, by combining text and visuals, can capture attention and keep viewers engaged longer.

Tip for Small Businesses: Focus on creating infographics that tell a story relevant to your audience. Use data points and narratives that resonate with your target demographic. Tools like Canva or Piktochart can help create professional-looking infographics even if you don’t have a graphic design team.

Enhanced Comprehension and Retention

The human brain processes visuals 60,000 times faster than text. Furthermore, people remember 65% of the information they see, compared to only 10% of what they hear and 20% of what they read. This makes infographics an ideal format for conveying complex information succinctly and memorably.

Tip for Small Businesses: Use infographics to explain complicated processes, showcase product benefits, or present industry statistics in an easy-to-understand manner. This can be particularly useful in industries like finance, health, or technology, where explaining complex concepts is often necessary.

Social Media Shares

Infographics are three times more likely to be shared on social media than any other type of content. This increased shareability means that a well-designed infographic can significantly expand your reach.

Tip for Small Businesses: Create infographics with social media in mind. Design them to be visually appealing and easy to understand at a glance. Add social sharing buttons on your website or blog post featuring the infographic to encourage sharing. Use hashtags and keywords relevant to your industry to increase discoverability on platforms like Twitter and Instagram.

SEO Benefits

A single infographic can attract a significant number of backlinks, improving your site’s domain authority and search engine ranking. Websites with a higher number of backlinks tend to rank higher on search engines like Google.

Tip for Small Businesses: Optimize your infographic for SEO by including relevant keywords in the title, description, and alt text. Publish the infographic as part of a blog post with an in-depth explanation of the content. Reach out to industry blogs and websites, offering your infographic as a resource they can share with their audience, which can result in valuable backlinks.

User Preference

Surveys and studies have consistently shown that people prefer visual content over text. According to a survey by HubSpot, 40% of marketers agreed that original graphics like infographics helped them reach their marketing goals in 2020.

Tip for Small Businesses: Invest time in creating original, high-quality infographics that align with your brand’s message and goals. Use them to complement your other marketing efforts, such as blog posts, email newsletters, and social media campaigns. Consistently producing visually appealing content can help build brand recognition and loyalty.

Practical Tips for Small Businesses

Now that we understand the power of infographics through these statistics, let’s explore some practical tips for small businesses to effectively utilize infographics in their marketing strategy.

Understand Your Audience

Before creating an infographic, it’s crucial to understand who your target audience is and what they find valuable. Conduct market research to gather insights into their preferences, pain points, and interests. Tailor your infographic content to address these aspects, ensuring it resonates with your audience.

Focus on Quality Over Quantity

While it might be tempting to produce numerous infographics, focusing on quality is far more important. A well-researched, well-designed infographic that provides valuable insights will perform better than several mediocre ones. Invest in good design tools or consider hiring a freelance graphic designer if your budget allows.

Tell a Story

Infographics that tell a compelling story tend to perform better. Use a narrative structure to guide viewers through the information. Start with an attention-grabbing headline, follow with clear and concise data points, and conclude with a strong call to action.

Leverage Your Existing Content

Repurposing existing content into infographics is a smart way to maximize your resources. Identify blog posts, whitepapers, or reports that contain valuable data and transform them into engaging infographics. This not only saves time but also gives new life to your existing content.

Incorporate Your Brand Identity

Ensure your infographics reflect your brand’s identity by using consistent colors, fonts, and logos. This helps in building brand recognition and makes your content easily identifiable. A strong brand presence within your infographics can also enhance credibility and trust among your audience.

Use Data Visualization

Data visualization is key to an effective infographic. Use charts, graphs, and icons to represent data points clearly and concisely. Choose the right type of visualization for your data – bar graphs for comparisons, pie charts for parts of a whole, line graphs for trends, etc. Make sure the visualizations are accurate and easy to interpret.

Promote Across Multiple Channels

Once your infographic is ready, promote it across all your marketing channels. Share it on your website, social media platforms, email newsletters, and even print materials if applicable. The more places your infographic appears, the greater the chance of it being seen and shared.

Monitor Performance

Use analytics tools to track the performance of your infographic. Monitor metrics such as views, shares, backlinks, and engagement rates. Understanding how your audience interacts with your infographic can provide valuable insights for future content creation.

Encourage Sharing

Encourage your audience to share your infographic by adding clear calls to action and share buttons. You can also create smaller, shareable snippets of your infographic for platforms like Instagram or Twitter. Engaging captions and relevant hashtags can further increase the reach.

Update Regularly

Information can quickly become outdated, especially in fast-moving industries. Regularly review and update your infographics to ensure they remain accurate and relevant. Updated infographics can be re-shared and continue to provide value to your audience.

Case Studies

Sharing case studies of how other small businesses have successfully used infographics can be a powerful motivator. Highlight real-life examples where infographics have led to increased engagement, higher web traffic, or improved SEO rankings. This can inspire confidence in other small business owners to invest in infographic marketing.

By understanding and leveraging the power of infographics, small businesses can effectively engage their audience, enhance their online presence, and achieve their marketing goals. Infographics offer a unique blend of visual appeal and informational value, making them an indispensable tool in the digital marketing toolkit.

Design Tips, Including Size and Balance

Creating an effective infographic requires more than just putting text and images together. It’s about crafting a visual story that is both engaging and informative. For small businesses, getting the design right can be a game-changer in terms of attracting and retaining audience attention. Here are some in-depth design tips to help small businesses create compelling infographics, with a focus on size and balance.

Define Your Purpose and Audience

Understanding Your Objective: The first step in designing an infographic is to clearly define its purpose. Are you trying to educate your audience, showcase product benefits, compare different options, or simply entertain? Knowing your objective will guide the overall design and content strategy.

Knowing Your Audience: Different audiences have different preferences. For instance, a tech-savvy audience might appreciate more detailed and technical data, while a general audience might prefer simpler, more visually appealing information. Conduct audience research to understand their preferences and tailor your infographic accordingly.

Research and Gather Data

Accuracy Matters: The credibility of your infographic depends heavily on the accuracy of the data you present. Use reputable sources and double-check your facts. Misleading or incorrect information can damage your credibility and turn your audience away.

Organize Your Data: Once you have gathered your data, organize it in a logical flow. Identify the key points you want to highlight and think about how best to visualize them. A well-organized data set makes the design process smoother and the final product more cohesive.

Choose the Right Size

Standard Sizes: While there is no one-size-fits-all approach, common dimensions for web infographics are around 600 pixels wide by 1800 pixels tall. This size ensures that the infographic is long enough to convey detailed information but not so long that it becomes unwieldy.

Platform Considerations: Different platforms may require different sizes. For instance, infographics for Pinterest often perform better if they are taller, while those for Twitter or Facebook might need to be shorter and more concise. Adjust the dimensions based on where you plan to share the infographic.

Mobile Optimization: Ensure that your infographic is readable on mobile devices. Many users will view your infographic on their phones, so check that text is legible and visuals are clear on smaller screens.

Maintain Visual Balance

Even Distribution: Balance the placement of text, images, and data visualizations to avoid clutter. An evenly distributed layout makes the infographic easier to read and more aesthetically pleasing.

Whitespace Usage: Whitespace, or negative space, is the empty space around elements in your design. Use whitespace strategically to separate sections and prevent the infographic from looking overcrowded. Proper use of whitespace improves readability and focus.

Alignment and Consistency: Consistent alignment of elements creates a clean and professional look. Use grids or guides to align text boxes, images, and graphics. Consistent spacing between elements also contributes to visual harmony.

Use a Cohesive Color Scheme

Brand Colors: Incorporate your brand’s color palette to maintain brand consistency and recognition. Using your brand colors helps reinforce your brand identity and makes the infographic instantly recognizable as part of your business.

Color Harmony: Choose a limited color palette (three to five colors) to maintain visual harmony. Use contrasting colors to highlight key information and ensure that text stands out against the background. Tools like Adobe Color can help you select complementary colors.

Accessibility Considerations: Ensure that your color choices are accessible to all viewers, including those with color vision deficiencies. Use tools like the Color Contrast Checker to ensure sufficient contrast between text and background colors.

Select Appropriate Fonts

Legibility is Key: Choose fonts that are easy to read. Sans-serif fonts like Arial, Helvetica, and Open Sans are generally more legible on screens than serif fonts.

Font Pairing: Use no more than two or three different fonts to avoid visual clutter. Pairing a bold font for headings with a simple, clean font for body text can create a clear hierarchy and guide the reader’s eye through the infographic.

Font Size: Ensure that the font sizes are consistent and create a clear visual hierarchy. Headings should be larger than subheadings, and subheadings larger than body text. This helps guide the reader and makes the content more digestible.

Incorporate Visual Elements

Icons and Illustrations: Use icons and illustrations to break up text and add visual interest. Ensure that these elements are relevant to the content and help convey the message rather than distract from it.

Consistent Style: Maintain a consistent style for all visual elements. If you use flat icons, stick with that style throughout the infographic. Mixing different styles can make the design look disjointed.

Relevance and Clarity: Visual elements should support and enhance the content. Avoid using images or icons that are purely decorative and do not add value to the information being presented.

Utilize Data Visualizations

Choosing the Right Type: Different types of data visualizations serve different purposes. Use bar charts for comparisons, pie charts for showing parts of a whole, line charts for trends over time, and so on.

Simplify Complex Data: Aim to simplify complex data into easily understandable visualizations. Avoid overcrowding charts with too much information. Focus on the key data points that support your message.

Clarity and Accuracy: Ensure that your data visualizations are accurate and easy to interpret. Label axes, use clear legends, and avoid distorting data through inappropriate scaling or exaggeration.

Keep It Simple

Focus on Core Message: Identify the core message you want to convey and design your infographic around it. Avoid including extraneous information that can dilute the main points.

Minimalist Design: Embrace a minimalist approach by removing unnecessary elements. This not only makes the infographic look cleaner but also helps the audience focus on the most important information.

Include Branding and Sources

Brand Elements: Incorporate your logo and website URL into the infographic. This ensures that viewers know the source of the information and can easily find your business if they want to learn more.

Cite Sources: Always include citations for the data you present. This adds credibility to your infographic and allows viewers to verify the information if they choose. Place the sources in a smaller font at the bottom of the infographic.

Practical Design Tools for Small Businesses

For small businesses with limited design resources, several tools can help create professional-quality infographics without a steep learning curve:

1. Canva: Offers a range of templates and design elements that make it easy to create visually appealing infographics. Its drag-and-drop interface is user-friendly, even for those without design experience.
2. Piktochart: Known for its extensive library of templates and customization options, Piktochart is ideal for creating infographics tailored to your specific needs.
3. Venngage: Provides a variety of templates and design tools, along with the ability to collaborate with team members, making it a great option for small business teams.
4. Adobe Spark: Part of the Adobe Creative Cloud, Adobe Spark offers powerful design tools with a focus on ease of use, allowing you to create stunning infographics quickly.

Real-World Examples and Inspiration

Case Studies: Look at successful infographics from other businesses in your industry. Analyze what makes them effective – is it the data, the design, the storytelling, or a combination of these elements?

Competitor Analysis: Study infographics from your competitors to identify gaps in their content that you can fill. Offering unique insights or presenting data in a new way can set your infographic apart.

Industry Trends: Stay updated with design trends in your industry. Incorporating modern design elements can make your infographics look fresh and relevant.

By following these detailed design tips, small businesses can create infographics that are not only visually appealing but also effective in conveying their message. A well-designed infographic can significantly boost engagement, drive traffic, and enhance the overall impact of your marketing efforts.

Promotional Techniques

Creating a high-quality infographic is a crucial first step, but to ensure it achieves maximum visibility and impact, you need to employ effective promotional techniques. For small businesses, these strategies can help in getting the most out of your infographic, driving traffic, engagement, and backlinks. Here’s an in-depth look at various promotional techniques and how small businesses can leverage them.

Leverage Social Media

Social media platforms are a natural fit for infographics due to their visual nature. Here are some tips for promoting your infographic on social media:

Platform-Specific Strategies:

• Facebook: Post your infographic directly to your Facebook page. Use a compelling caption and relevant hashtags. Boost the post to reach a wider audience and target it to your ideal demographic.
• Twitter: Share your infographic with a concise and engaging tweet. Use trending hashtags and tag influencers or relevant organizations to increase visibility. Consider creating a Twitter thread that breaks down the infographic into smaller parts for more engagement.
• Instagram: Since Instagram is highly visual, post your infographic as a series of images in a carousel or as a single image if it fits well. Use stories to highlight different sections of the infographic. Add relevant hashtags and tag influencers in your industry.
• LinkedIn: Share your infographic as a post on LinkedIn, providing a professional context and detailed description. Join relevant groups and share your infographic there to reach industry professionals.
• Pinterest: Pin your infographic to relevant boards. Optimize the pin description with keywords and hashtags to make it easily discoverable. Joining group boards related to your industry can also increase visibility.

Collaborate with Influencers

Influencer marketing can significantly amplify the reach of your infographic. Here’s how to effectively collaborate with influencers:

Identifying the Right Influencers:

• Look for influencers whose audience aligns with your target market. Tools like BuzzSumo, Upfluence, and Social Blade can help identify influencers based on your niche.
• Analyze their engagement rates and the types of content they share to ensure they’re a good fit for promoting your infographic.

Crafting a Compelling Pitch:

• Reach out to influencers with a personalized message explaining why your infographic would be valuable to their audience.
• Offer value in return, such as featuring them in your content, providing exclusive data, or proposing a mutually beneficial collaboration.

Optimize for SEO

Search engine optimization is critical for ensuring your infographic reaches a broad audience. Here’s how to optimize your infographic for SEO:

On-Page SEO:

• Title and Description: Use relevant keywords in the title and meta description of the webpage where your infographic is hosted.
• Alt Text: Include keyword-rich alt text for the infographic image to help search engines understand its content.
• Content Surrounding the Infographic: Write a detailed blog post or article that expands on the information presented in the infographic. This provides context and additional content for search engines to index.

Off-Page SEO:

• Backlinks: Reach out to industry blogs, news sites, and content aggregators to feature your infographic. Each backlink from a reputable site boosts your SEO.
• Embed Code: Provide an easy-to-use embed code for your infographic on your website. This allows other sites to easily embed your infographic while linking back to your original post.

Submit to Infographic Directories

Infographic directories can help increase visibility and drive traffic to your site. Here’s how to effectively use them:

Popular Infographic Directories:

• Visual.ly: One of the most popular directories, Visual.ly allows you to upload your infographic and reach a broad audience.
• Infographic Journal: A dedicated site for infographics, where you can submit your infographic for review.
• Daily Infographic: Another popular site that features a wide range of infographics. Submit your infographic for a chance to be featured.

Submission Tips:

• Follow each directory’s submission guidelines carefully to increase the chances of your infographic being accepted.
• Write a compelling description for your infographic, highlighting its unique value and relevance.

Email Marketing

Email marketing remains a powerful tool for promoting content, including infographics. Here’s how to use it effectively:

Newsletter Integration:

• Include your infographic in your regular email newsletters. Provide a brief description and a link to view the full infographic on your website.

Targeted Campaigns:

• Create targeted email campaigns for different segments of your email list. Tailor the messaging to highlight the infographic’s relevance to each segment.
• Use engaging subject lines to increase open rates. Examples include “Check Out Our Latest Industry Insights [Infographic]” or “Discover Key Trends with Our New Infographic”.

Personalized Outreach:

• Send personalized emails to industry contacts, partners, and influencers. Explain why the infographic would be valuable to them and encourage them to share it with their network.

Guest Blogging

Guest blogging on reputable sites can significantly increase the reach of your infographic. Here’s how to do it:

Identify Relevant Blogs:

• Look for blogs in your industry that accept guest posts. Tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush can help identify sites with high domain authority.
• Ensure the blogs you target have a good readership and engagement rate.

Crafting Your Guest Post:

• Write a comprehensive guest post that incorporates your infographic. Provide valuable insights and data to complement the infographic.
• Include a call-to-action encouraging readers to share the infographic and visit your site for more information.

Engage with Communities

Participating in online communities can help spread your infographic organically. Here’s how to engage effectively:

Identify Relevant Communities:

• Join forums, discussion groups, and online communities related to your industry. Platforms like Reddit, Quora, and specialized industry forums can be great places to start.
• Look for communities with active engagement and a significant number of members.

Sharing Your Infographic:

• Share your infographic in relevant threads and discussions. Provide context on why the infographic is valuable and how it can help community members.
• Avoid spamming. Engage genuinely with the community by providing value and participating in discussions beyond just promoting your infographic.

Encourage Embedding

Making it easy for others to embed your infographic on their sites can increase backlinks and visibility. Here’s how to do it:

Create an Embed Code:

• Use an embed code generator to create a simple code that others can copy and paste onto their websites. Include a link back to your original post to ensure you get credit.
• Provide clear instructions on how to use the embed code.

Promote the Embed Option:

• Highlight the embed option on your infographic’s landing page. Use a call-to-action encouraging users to share the infographic on their own sites.
• Reach out to bloggers and website owners in your industry, offering the embed code as an easy way to add valuable content to their site.

Monitor and Respond

Tracking the performance of your infographic and engaging with your audience is crucial for sustained success. Here’s how to do it:

Use Analytics Tools:

• Use tools like Google Analytics, BuzzSumo, and social media analytics to track the performance of your infographic. Monitor metrics such as views, shares, backlinks, and engagement rates.
• Analyze which channels and strategies are driving the most traffic and adjust your promotional efforts accordingly.

Engage with Your Audience:

• Respond to comments and shares on social media. Thank users for sharing your infographic and engage in conversations about its content.
• Monitor discussions on forums and communities where you’ve shared your infographic. Provide additional insights and answer questions to keep the conversation going.

Repurpose Content

Repurposing your infographic into different formats can extend its reach and lifespan. Here’s how to do it:

Break Down the Infographic:

• Create individual social media posts from different sections of your infographic. This provides bite-sized content that can be easily consumed and shared.
• Develop a blog post series that dives deeper into the data and insights presented in your infographic.

Create a Slide Deck or Video:

• Convert your infographic into a slide deck for presentations or webinars. Share the slide deck on platforms like SlideShare to reach a broader audience.
• Develop a short video summarizing the key points of your infographic. Share the video on YouTube and social media to attract video-centric audiences.

Conclusion

Promoting an infographic effectively requires a multifaceted approach, combining social media, influencer partnerships, SEO, email marketing, and more. By leveraging these promotional techniques, small businesses can maximize the reach and impact of their infographics, driving more traffic, engagement, and valuable backlinks. Remember, the key to successful promotion lies in understanding your audience, providing value, and consistently engaging with your community. With these strategies in place, your infographic can become a powerful tool in your content marketing arsenal.

Conclusion

Creating a viral infographic involves a combination of thoughtful design and strategic promotion. By understanding the power of infographics and following best practices in design, you can create an engaging and visually appealing infographic. Implementing effective promotional techniques will ensure that your infographic reaches a wide audience, driving social shares and attracting valuable backlinks.

Remember, the key to a successful infographic is delivering valuable content in an easily digestible and visually appealing format. With the right approach, your infographic can become a powerful tool in your content marketing arsenal, boosting your online presence and helping you achieve your marketing goals.