Do infographics capture and hold your attention?
What is so great about infographics and do they work?
I have a few designers on my team that love creating infographics. So far the infographics have performed slightly less than our standard email marketing efforts. This could be the design and I am willing to experiment more, but I thought I'd ask here first if the mosaicHUB community thinks infographics are effective.
Have you used them before in your campaigns? How did the audience react? What percentage of text vs. image did you use in the infographic? Do you get SEO credit from infographics?
Thanks for sharing and Happy New Year!
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Jan 7, 2016
Hi Cynthia,
Assuming you sent the infoG out via email...how big was the list? What other channels did you send it out?
We did one and leveraged it for months thru multiple channels - email, social, wrote a press release on it, PDF, video and also created a 11x33 direct mail piece out of it.
Here is the page that has the infoG as well as the video -
http://www.nyccorporatevideoproduction.com/why-video-production/video-resources/infographic/
Robert
Jan 7, 2016
Yes, I love infographics. They are only frowned on when they state the obvious.
Jan 6, 2016
Infographics are a way to connect with visual audiences that you can still do on a small budget. But this gets tricky, and spending more time doesn’t necessarily improve their quality or performance. You need to distinguish strategy from a panicked reaction to shortening attention spans. The real design challenge lies in sizing your infographic to suit where it will be consumed and under what conditions. Smartphone screens constrain infographics greatly, and this makes the longer ones harder to read, and the information isn’t always worth the extra effort.
Whether the infographic is simple or complex, it needs to be both clear and compelling. Too many end up being a combination of confusing, banal, and overdesigned.
Designers who’ve seen a lot of infographics tend to dismiss them as passe’ (i.e. “jumping the shark”). But marketers and data people are using them to reach their audiences.
Some people like infographics that are “high-density”, while others think they’re “busy”; An infographic with lots of white space may be aesthetically elegant, but make sure the amount of information you want to convey justifies the design effort. Designers need to understand their audiences’ tastes, and match their information needs with a calibrated aesthetic. Analytics and performance numbers can aid in this, but other customer research can provide useful feedback also.
Jan 6, 2016
That's such a great question. I've worked on good ones, and bad ones. The best infographics entertain while informing, and make an emotional connection that draws people closer to a brand - or even a conversion. The worst infographics are a narcissistic foray into what we love about our product. These get made far too often, and not only are they ineffective, they can actually harm a brand by underlining how out of touch we are.
Just like any good design or copy, I think the key is to start with the reader/viewer and think about what is truly relevant to them. And to resist the urge to simply illustrate what's important to us. It sounds easier than it is--especially when it comes to balancing client desire with actual results.
Jan 6, 2016
Infographics leave me cold. They are typically too big to be conveniently shown to an audience, and so it becomes difficult to discuss them with people. They also tend to be quite generic and so include info that isn't of great interest to me. I find that the data/info is more valuable and I can then use it as I need to.
Jan 5, 2016
I have read all of the comments to the point of this writing, and must agree with everyone here. Judy's strategy is very noteworthy, and yes, people are largely visual.
What I find interesting are infographics that are created with a lot of white space, meaning the points are bold, with plenty of blank background to allow the reader to concentrate on one point at a time. Most "creatives" try to jam more info in than is necessary.
While we don't make it our business to create our own, I will (with permission) re-publish a good one I come across. It's the information I want to share, not necessarily get credit for something. Doing so also aids in developing a working relationship with the very best infographic publishers.
If you know your audience, you'll know if they value your production.
Jan 5, 2016
Well, infographics are effective only when used in mild to moderate contents. It also depends on your product and target audience for your product. If the target audience are majority of young business entrepreneurial with front line products then it may work in moderate content.
Else you have to keep it simple and use mild infographics and more emphasis on the words and description with highlighted bullets to make it more impressive.
In essence marketing is trial and error process, certain things work certain don't. Never give up, set a time limit for this gamble and move on. Text vs. image works in fair to moderate contents depending on target audience.
Jan 4, 2016
Infographics are super effective when:
They are information presented with briliant graphics. Not just text placed on image with icons.
Not too long. Under 5-7 points or 30 seconds stay on an infographic performs best
The topic is right, in demand and hot
Designed well with the correct visual hierarchy
Answering your questions:
Have you used them before in your campaigns?
Yes, mostly in social media
How did the audience react?
Loved it and demanded more
What percentage of text vs. image did you use in the infographic?
30:50 to 50:50 text vs. graphic
Do you get SEO credit from infographics?
Yes when given embed option
Jan 4, 2016
People learn through different ways, methods, techniques, or even devices. And online marketing professionals need somehow to get to know their customers preferences when referring to communication or content delivery channels. Videos, images, photos, infographics, 160 characters sentence, ebooks, emails, webinars, phone calls, podcasts, etc, are so many ways to direct people attention into what we want them to see, understand, and probably socially share. However, there are projects or ideas that are strictly better done using one way more than others. For SEO purpose, you cannot completely rely on images naming conventions, for e.g; when the information, data, stats and research results are so critical for marketing and educational purpose, we should use as many of the strategies and mediums better suited for your target market preferences, easy delivery of the content, and clears call to actions.You need to get to know more what of the mediums you are using are somehow converting more people into customers, visitors, or frequent readers - are they responding to your call to action? are they doing what you want? are they really reading the infographic?
Keep this in mind, despite of target market, mobile devices are here to stay and have evolved how we consume content, how we get information, which content we choose over another and in our own time. Images scale on responsive devices, and a big percentage, if not all, of the information get lost; no ones care enough for information like that. Marketing online using email is better done with text, sporadic simple clear images. Infographics require a better approach, and most people rarely get good infographics. However, if you are creating infographics with clickable detailed sections, that may work too. When delivering content with Pinterest or Instagram, then infographics have found one of its perfect channels.
A 75-80% text in a marketing campaign is critical, especially with emails.
Sol.
Jan 4, 2016
Are you using the infographic to explain a process? I know that the majority of people are visual and they are on the run - so an infographic works - but you need more then the infographic - when I use one - not only do I name the file the keywords of the infographic but I also bullet key points below the infographic and include live links - none of the search engines can read a .jpg file - they do read the file name and they read whatever text is included outside of the infographic picture. In essence I follow up with a summary (in text) of what the infographic is about - that way I am satisfying both the audience and the search engines.
Jan 4, 2016
In our experience while infographics were very popular a couple of years ago, they seem to be losing favor for just about every channel with the exception of Pinterest. I'm guessing that's because Pinterest's layout tends to lend itself to an infographic image aspect ratio.
I think that, for certain markets, infographics have 'jumped the shark' somewhat, as more and more are produced without strong enough content to stand-out.
Jan 4, 2016
I don't like most infographics. When the artist makes one so convoluted it requires explanation (and unfortunately, most do) what;s the point. Make a good old-fashioned pie chart or bar graph, and I'll be happy.
Jan 4, 2016
I agree with you. The simpler, the better - and give me links to go deeper if I keep interested.
Jan 4, 2016
People prefer content in different forms. I personally prefer video over text. Infographics help get content into those kinds of people and are more likely to be shared which helps get you more exposure and links. This is where it can help with SEO.
I don't think emailing infographics works well. Putting them in blog posts or social media, specifically pinterest or instagram, works well get get views and shares. Text vs image doesn't matter. A well designed infographic should convey UNIQUE content in an interesting and visual way. What is your potential customer interested in? Not what you want them to be interested in either.
You made a good point and shared a fantastic strategy.