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Create an infographic: from brainstorm to broadcast

Published: July 23, 2013

Author: Kristi Kellogg

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In an ideal world, a brand dominates page 1 of the search engine results through strategic PPC and SEO campaigns. When you add a social media campaign to the mix, you create a traffic-driving trifecta.
At last month’s SMX Advanced conference, SearchEngineLand’s editor, Danny Sullivan, encouraged search marketers to “think social. Search has always been social. When we want an answer, we turn to the people we know. It’s not doing social, it’s living it.”
Creating and disseminating infographics is one way to generate social engagement. Quality infographics are link magnets and lead to manifold social engagement; infographics are 30 times more likely to be read than text articles, etc. Knowing that, it’s time to jump in and make one.
Here are some questions to help you kick-start your creative process and examples of data collected for a variety of business types to show you how to move from thought to action.

Infographic Brainstorm

The first step is determining what to make the infographic about, which means you need to brainstorm. Whatever your business, you can leverage strategic creativity and relevant data to create an infographic – about anything.
There’s an infographic to be made whether your biz is B2B or B2C, brick and mortar or online, enterprise or mom-and-pop.
As you begin brainstorming, consider the following:
– What is unique about your business, products, or customers? A good infographic illustrates something no one has yet said in a particular way.
What information will benefit your audience(s)? And how do they want it laid out (i.e. playfully, seriously)? Consider your customer personas.
– What information can you offer that isn’t already available online?
– What questions do your consumers ask you? What do they praise? What do they complain about? Thinking about these issues can point to data and/or solutions that might prove helpful to include in the infographic.
– What data is already swimming around the Internet that has been overly shared in infographics? Stay away from it.
– What useful data is out there that hasn’t been turned into an infographic? Consider including it.
– What data can you collect on your own by analyzing your business records or conducting a survey?

Infographic Example: Data from a Dance Studio

– A breakdown of how many students study each type of dance
– The average number of classes each student takes each week
– The average amount of money women spend on dancewear and dance shoes versus the average amount spent by men
– The average amount of years each student has been dancing
– The number of calories burned during a dance class
– A world map with pins indicating the country each ballroom dance hails from
– How many Google entries exist on each type of dance
– How many tweets exist on each type of dance

Infographic Example: Data from a Frozen Yogurt Shop

– Most popular flavors
– Most popular toppings
– Average number of toppings a customer adds to their creation
– Average weight in ounces of each creation
– Average time it takes customers to eat frozen yogurt
– Average amount of frozen yogurt a person eats in a year

Infographic Example: Data from a Hotel

– A map with pins showing where guests hail from
– Percentage of guests on business versus pleasure
– Average length of a stay
– Average time spent in hotel pool
– Average number of keys each guest requests
– Rate of returning guests
– Top attractions near hotel

Infographic Example: Data from a Pest Control Company

– Where pests are most prevalent throughout the country
– Statistics highlighting the company’s rate of success exterminating pests
– The (hopefully low) rate of return infestations
– List of things that attract pests
– Average time it takes to completely exterminate pests in a home
– Average life expectancy of most common pests

How to Create an Infographic

Now that some data has been gathered, it’s time for the infographic to be created. You have choices, with two of them being:
– Hire an agency to create your infographic. Some fantastic design companies have cropped up and are adept at turning numbers and lists into visually dazzling graphics
– Create an infographic yourself. If you have a small budget, don’t write this option off. Creating an infographic yourself is easier than you might think – and free!

Share the Infographic

After the infographic is complete, you’ve got more work to do. Now it’s time to share it across all your social networks and encourage your industry peers to do the same. Read more about how to increase your infographic’s reach in 10 Commandments of Infographic Virality.
What social media success have you seen through the use of infographics, via your own brand or others? Share in the comments!