Infographics - powerful marketing tools but need skilful design

Sylvia Schutte

They can simplify a complicated topic, make a boring subject interesting, make sense of an idea in a few visual steps and position the writer as an expert. However, they need to be thoroughly researched, meticulously written and skilfully designed to be effective and boost brand visibility.

“We’re living in a digital era so we’re constantly flooded with information,” says Sylvia Schutte, MD at integrated agency Stratitude. “This is why we strive to find unique and creative ways to help our clients successfully engage with, and grow, their online audience. One way we achieve this is through infographics that are carefully crafted in order to add value.”

While an infographic educates and informs, it can also build brand awareness, drive engagement, grow website traffic and improve SEO rankings. When done well, infographics communicate processes, visually represent products and show your market how you meet their needs.

“Humans are visual but this doesn’t mean you can just throw together pictures and words. Much more thought goes into creating an infographic and it starts with the content. The subject matter has to be relevant to your target audience and provide genuine value because ultimately you want it to be shared. Because there is so little text, the content has to be high quality, accurate and drive home the narrative. When it comes to the design it must be visually appealing, easy to digest, and above all – simple. Logical flow is critical in an infographic and vibrant visuals need to support concise text.”

Infographics can be a useful tool in a digital marketing strategy but they must be supported by website content that engages the reader. A good infographic can go viral, which is why it is essential to have social media functionality to make it easy to share or embed. Not only can infographics provide branding opportunities and an improved user experience but also they are a powerful way to attract backlinks and they can benefit an SEO campaign.

“People love a good infographic and if it is relevant, interesting or useful, they will quickly share it on social media, helping to make your marketing campaign a hugely successful one. There are many different avenues for brand promotion and we show our clients how we can use an infographic to create a brand experience with anything from product brochures and internal communications, through to customer education and PR. We see huge value in creating quality infographics as they allow us to share a client’s message, product or service in a cohesive, simple and effective way,” concludes Schutte.