How to make a successful infographic in 7 steps?

What is an infographic?

It is a graphic representation of information on a given topic, whose purpose is to simplify the way in which the topic is presented with the help of images, icons and other visual elements. 

For the Content Marketing of a company, it represents an opportunity to reinvent its content and reach its consumers in a practical way.

7 Steps to create useful infographics

Learn more at how to make an infographic is key for them to be of great use in your company's marketing. We bring you these brief steps and, later on, some design trends for this year.:

• Choose the theme:

Have a central theme or thematic axis in mind before you start, so you can focus your research on relevant issues and avoid filling up with unnecessary information that may confuse your consumer. 

According to the above, you will also determine the type of infographic you should create. Later on, we will tell you about these types.

• Explore sources of information and organize them: 

Remember to look for reliable sources that support the ideas of your infographic, this way you will generate more confidence in your consumer. 

Once you have a variety of information resources on the topic you have chosen, be sure to rank them according to their importance. It is essential to distinguish which sources are best suited to what you want to express and what the consumer is looking for.

• Choose the style that best represents you: 

To differentiate your infographic from others with the same theme and attract the attention of your consumers, it is a priority to choose a style that not only identifies your brand, but that is in line with the theme and the type of consumer to whom this graphic representation is addressed.

In this case, you must take into account elements such as:

• Colors
• Typography
• Size
• Format (according to the publication site)

The most important thing is that all these elements communicate consciously.

• Write the texts and select the relevant images: 

When writing the texts of your infographics, it is necessary to keep them short and clear. Try to use a tone and register appropriate for the type of consumer you want to impact.

The objective of infographics is always to simplify the information, so long and tedious to read texts will not be relevant. 

Also select images that complete the meaning of your texts in an implicit way, so that the consumer can retain the key aspects of each piece of writing. writing.

• Design a draft: 

Before preparing a publishable version, place all the elements in a draft. You will be able to see if there are any errors and adjust them prior to their disclosure, in addition to ensuring the harmony of all the elements it contains.

• Review the final infographic and optimize it: 

Once you have made the necessary adjustments, optimizing your infographic is the next step. While you can publish it as you finish it, it may not finish loading before your consumer can see it. 

For this reason, choose to compress the final file of your infographic so that it has less weight and keeps its quality intact. The ideal weight of an image for the web will depend on its format (PNG, JPG, GIF or WEBP) and size. For an image 1200 pixels long, the ideal weight on average would be between 200 and 300 kb.

• Publish it and measure its effectiveness: 

From the beginning, you planned the target platform for your infographic. When you publish it, if you chose social networks or your company's website, it will be easier to evaluate the success of this type of resource on your platforms. 

You will also be able to determine the best time and way to produce and publish these graphical representations in the future, as well as include them in your Content Marketing strategy.

What platforms can you use to create your infographics?

You could use free platforms, such as Canva, Genial.ly o Piktochartor paid, such as Adobe Spark o Infogram.

Types of infographics you can create

To make your infographic effective, it is paramount to identify the type of infographic you can create from your topic. Below, you will see some of these types: 

Informative infographics

Comparative infographics

Chronological infographics

Sequential or process infographics

Statistical infographics

3 trends for the development of infographics 

• Serif fonts

It is becoming increasingly complex to get consumers' attention in the digital environment, but the right typography can help you significantly. 

Serif typefaces are classic and elegant fonts that capture the user's attention, so using them has become a trend.

This type of text font allows your consumers to focus more on what your infographics say and reflects both stylization and reliability to the reader. 

• Inclusive visual resources

Using images or icons that promote inclusion and human diversity is increasingly a significant element in the design of infographics. 

These graphic resources not only demonstrate the importance of tolerating differences and promoting respect, but also highlight the brand's values on the subject. A brand that is aware of reality and diversity has great potential for growth.

• Curious facts

Undoubtedly, curious facts always raise positive doubts in consumers, so they are a good opportunity to share information on a topic. 

This trend is full of valuable and brief content, so that your brand can convey its message in a creative way and make people curious.

The use of fun facts also implies that your consumers perceive your infographics as subtle and light sources of information. Since they are exposed to millions and millions of pieces of information a day, it can be tedious to feel like they are being sold to all the time, so this trend would get them to view your content for the fun of it.  

HTML5 infographics: a resource with movement

Just as there are classic infographics in image and text files, there are also animated infographics known as HTML5 infographics. This type of graphic representation is usually found in GIF format or video files, which is why they are also called gifographies.

How to make an HTML5 infographic?

To elaborate them, you must follow the same steps as with classic infographics, as described above. 

However, in these, you must involve visual resources and even texts with movement that are presented gradually and in an organized manner as your consumer advances in the visualization.

There are also some that not only include moving visual elements, but also change graphics when the consumer passes the cursor over them. Thus, they are also interactive resources with the potential to remain in the memory of those who observe them. 

The interactive example of El País

A clear example of such an interactive graphical representation is the X-ray of three outbreaks of Covid 19published by the newspaper El Paíswhich shows the change of the background images as the reading of the information progresses.

Why should you know how to make an infographic?

Infographics have several utilities for your company's Content Marketing: 

• They allow you to combine formats in your marketing strategy, because you can adjust information that you already have written in a content of your networks or website. This way, you can refresh the way you transmit information and save time in content production.
• You make it easier for your consumers to understand and access your content.
• You balance the development of written and visual content to give more variety to your consumers.
• It is a resource that you can use with other tools in your marketing such as Storytelling, videos, blogs, ebooks, among others...

Now you know the basics about how to make an infographicSo, go ahead and explore further in your marketing!

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