Infographics have created quite a buzz in the content marketing sphere, and for good reason. They combine two compelling mediums — text and illustrations — to not only engage your audience, but to teach, entertain, or help them. If your infographic features well-written content and professional design, you can spread it far and wide using these seven strategies.
Dress Up Your Email Campaign
Image via Flickr by Janitors
If you have an email list, use it to share your infographic. Your email subscribers have voluntarily given you permission to share your content with them, and infographics can help prove that you’re worthy of that trust. Email manager recommends certain types of infographics specifically for email, such as educational, data-driven, or comparative infographics.
Believe it or not, the evidence starts in ancient history. Our ancestors communicated through images because they didn’t have a text-based mode of communication. Flash-forward to the present: 90 percent of the information our brains process comes from visual content. That certainly makes a strong case for using infographics in your email campaign.
However, you don’t want to irritate your audience. Make your infographic relatively short and sweet so your subscribers don’t have to scroll too much, especially if they’re using mobile devices.
Add Color and Visual Interest to Your Blog
Once you have an infographics in hand, don’t let them languish on your hard drive. Instead, share them with the world via your blog. The infographic can stand on its own, or you can add an introduction and conclusion for SEO purposes and to give your audience a taste of what they’ll see in the infographic. This latter option works well if many of your readers consume your content via RSS or email subscription.
Just make sure your infographic proves relevant to your niche and topic. Don’t post an infographic just for the heck of it; instead, figure out what information your audience wants to learn, then deliver it in the form of an infographic.
Educate Your Audience in White Papers and on the Internet
White papers can get dry and boring in a hurry if you don’t break up the text with compelling imagery. However, stock photos and one-off illustrations often prove insufficient to engage your reader. Instead, use imagery to both interest and educate your audience.
You can also use infographics in place of your about page on your website. Create a timeline infographic that explores your company’s history, for instance. Alternatively, create resource pages on your site that use infographics to deliver information quickly and with a high engagement factor.
Share Your Resources Via Social Media
Social media exposure can spread your infographic far and wide, but only if you post your infographic wisely. Most mediums, such as Facebook and Twitter, will only show small portions of an image. You need that small teaser to prove compelling enough for a click.
Use a snippet that encourages your readers to click through so they can view the whole image. Don’t cut off words or images in your thumbnail because you’ll turn off readers, so consider using the header of the infographic or a particularly interesting section.
Encourage Your Network to Repost
Infographics are meant to be shared. Let your network know that they’re free to repost it on their own social media pages, blogs, and other online properties. Just request a link back to your site in return. As more people see your infographic and associate it with your business, you’ll gain brand recognition, which can lead to increased sales in the future.
You’re shooting for the stars, of course — the viral infographic. Writing for Social Media Today, Irfan Ahmad posits that infographics need certain qualities to go viral:
- Keep the word count low (under 364 words if possible).
- Consider using blue as your primary color because it’s proven successful.
- Focus on health or entertainment if you want the most shares on Facebook.
- Use business-related infographics if you’re targeting LinkedIn and other business-oriented social media sites.
However, there’s no secret sauce for viral infographics. You need compelling content, rich imagery, and exposure to give your infographic the boost it needs to make its way around the web.
Stir Up the Press
If you’re sticking to the age-old formula for press releases, you’re living in the dark ages. These days, most press releases appear in pixels rather than ink, so you can use multimedia to make your press releases more compelling for both news outlets and their readerships. Infographics allow you to add more information to your press release without drowning the reader in text.
Use infographics in press releases to tell a moving or entertaining story, to disseminate a large number of facts or figures, or to compare and contrast your product or service with the competition. It’s an easy way to gain fast exposure and to encourage news outlets to pick up your release.
Recycle Your Infographic for Maximum Impact
Evergreen infographics work better than time-sensitive infographics. In other words, you want your creation to prove as effective two years from now as it is today. Not only do evergreen infographics continue to get shared long after you first post them, but they also lend themselves to syndication and recycling.
For instance, you can submit your infographic to repositories like Daily Infographic. These sites collect thousands of infographics from all over the world. The sites’ visitors can search for infographics that meet their needs, then repost them on their own online properties.
You can also recycle your infographics internally. You might post an infographic as a single blog post, then use it in another blog post down the road as a supplement to similar material. The more exposure you give your infographic, the harder it works for you.
Regardless of how you utilize infographics in your content marketing strategy, you’re bound to gain visibility and improve your brand recognition. Best of all, it’s a replicable process. You can create as many infographics as you want, which can multiply your success and create new ways to share content online.
