Content Creation

6 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Creating an Infographic

CopyPress

January 7, 2016 (Updated: February 2, 2023)

As a company that creates awesome infographic after awesome infographic, we’re always excited when a client wants to dabble in that form of media. Unfortunately, not every client is ready and armed with the right information. When this happens, we work together to answer the following six questions.

Keep in mind that while this article focuses on six main issues, you’ll undoubtedly have many more questions as you go through the infographic process for the first time. The key to success is to be flexible and to understand clearly what you want and why.

How Will This Help My Business Goals and Bottom Line?

Image via Flickr by Alex Mueller’s Daily Photo

What is your expected ROI from an infographic? Not only will answering this make sure infographic design is in your budget, but it will also help us decide what we need to feature to make you hit your target KPIs.

For example, Client X ordered an infographic because she wanted to increase traffic to her site. With that in mind, we created additional images that matched the size requirements for Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn for easy sharing. We added enough to the images to interest people, but we encouraged viewers to click through to her website to see the whole thing.

Alternatively, Client Y wanted to drive existing site traffic deeper into the sales funnel. He had a strong readership but struggled to get visitors to seek out consultations or even give up an email address to join his mailing list. With these goals in mind, we tailored the copy on the infographic to highlight how the business can solve his readers’ problems.

The more we know about why you want an infographic, the more we can do to help you. Understanding this helps you help us.

How Is My Infographic Different From What’s Already Out There?

Occasionally, clients will be firm on what type of infographic they want and how it looks. These infographics are easy for our team because we’ve usually seen them before. They’re also terrible for your team because everyone has seen them before.

So you want an infographic about recycling that shows bottles wrapping around the world? It’s been done.

What if we made an infographic about cloud computing that features the sky with different thought bubbles in the clouds? We see it all the time.

We recommend researching what’s out there so you can see what’s been done and find ways to improve it. Challenge us to wow your audience with something they’ve never seen before. We’ll have more fun with it, and your customers will be much more likely to share it and talk about it.

How Long Will the Information Stay Relevant?

‘Tis the season to create year-end reviews and new predictions. While it’s exciting to look back on “The Dress” and Caitlyn Jenner at the ESPYs, most people can barely remember those events six months later. This year’s predictions will seem novel for about a month, but they could completely miss the mark by early March. This complete lack of staying power actually damages your content marketing efforts in three ways:

• Your traffic will sink like a stone a few weeks later.
• Your bounce rate might actually increase from the poor content.
• You will have to work extra hard to create and share something new, as the old and stale content is unusable for social media engagement.

At the very least, we recommend that your data should stay relevant for a year. This way you can share it with multiple audiences and continue linking to it on your blog. Treat your infographics like stinky cheeses. They should only build more SEO and share value as they age.

Can I Sum Up My Infographic in One Sentence?

Clutter is the enemy of good infographics, which is why you should approach the project with a common idea that runs through it. For example, a health blog would approach a theme like “processed foods damage your health beyond your digestive system.” This infographic would show how processed foods affect the brain, skin, eyes, and nervous system beyond straightforward weight gain.

Going in, be sure to stick to a core takeaway that audiences should leave with. Not only does this make it easier to explain, but this also helps your call to action. Having a takeaway also gives the designers more creativity, as they can experiment with multiple ideas around a common theme.

Will This Infographic Align With My Existing Content?

Earlier this year, we talked about the benefits of animated video in your marketing strategies. If you’ve already experimented with illustrations and other design elements, then you should consider carrying the theme throughout the infographic process.

Keeping consistent with the design of your digital media is a quick way to establish branding on your site. If your brand isn’t well known, then promoting different types of media with similar themes is a great way to introduce it. If your brand is already widely known, then your audience will easily recognize the design elements and focus on the content of the infographic.

While we review your site for existing content before we dive in and create our own, the easiest way to help us out is to tell us what you already like. We can mimic that style and create something that’s on brand for you.

Am I Enjoying the Creation Process?

This one is often overlooked, but it’s important both for you and for us. If you’re not enjoying the content creation process, then ask yourself why. Is it because the idea is boring? Then your audience will think so, too. Is it because your designers are fighting you every step of the way? Then it’s time to find new designers.

The purpose of these questions is to get the conversation going and sort out the nitty gritty before diving into the fun stuff. Audiences love infographics because they’re different from traditional blog posts, and you should enjoy creating them, too. Make sure you go in with clear ideas and needs, and your designers should take those and run with them. If everyone is on the same page, then the process should be as smooth as silk.

Amanda Dodge

CopyPress writer

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