Creating an infographic is a way to represent complex data and information in a simple and engaging way. If you have collected data and statistical information, it would be useful to create an infographic to convey your company's communication more effectively. Infographics can be used to communicate inside and outside the company, through traditional (print on paper) or digital channels (blogs, social networks and new media).
Steps
Part 1 of 4: Define Your Message
Step 1. Decide the budget to be allocated to the creation of your infographic
Even if you use free templates and programs, the man-hours to be devoted to data collection, coding, correction and processing can cost between 100 and 1000 euros. Nonetheless, an effective infographic can get you a better search engine ranking and thus ensure a high return on investment (ROI).
Step 2. Choose your message well
Think about what you want to communicate and build a story to tell, using graphs and statistics that reinforce its meaning.
- Avoid messages that are too direct and aimed at selling. “Buy our product” is not a good message to convey with an infographic. "How our product can improve the quality of your life" is a much better choice.
- Remember that, in addition to businesses, non-profit organizations, universities and individuals can also benefit from the communicative immediacy of infographics. For example, you may want to make students in a physical education class aware of the benefits of regular sporting activity. Showing with the statistics of an infographic that the most successful people also get a lot of exercise can be more effective than any speech.
Step 3. Collect data to support your message
You can choose to collect the data you need from yourself, or find other reliable statistical sources. If you cannot collect the data you need yourself, you can find interesting statistics on the following sites:
- Use the Google Public Data Crawler at https://www.google.com/publicdata/directory. Search for the data you need with the usual search bar.
- Visit Chartsbin.com. You can access data tables and themed maps with statistics from around the world, for example indicators and data on poverty, marriage, crime and disease.
- Try StatPlanet to access many more statistics on all countries of the world.
- On the websites of the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) and Eurostat you will find databases of official statistics on many topics.
- Consult specialized journals and scientific studies to find other empirical data collected on the basis of ad hoc studies.
- Always mention the source of your data at the bottom of each chart. Use the most reliable source you can find.
Step 4. Organize your data in an Excel sheet
Even if you collect your data from newspapers or online sources, it is necessary to create a dataset with at least 3-6 different statistical information. You can make your data work on your trust chart or process it yourself with a software and a predefined template.
Step 5. Develop a flowchart
Make a first sketch of your diagram and decide how to represent your information. You can get a better idea of how to organize the style and format, putting together images, statistics and titles on a test page.
Part 2 of 4: Choosing the Infographic Program
Step 1. Consider hiring a professional graphic designer
If you want a fully customized infographic, the best choice is to pay someone who knows how to do it. Hiring a graphic designer on the market can cost you from 50 to 100 euros per hour, so adjust your budget accordingly.
If you intend to use your infographic to increase the web traffic of your site or to make your communication on social networks more effective, then it would be advisable to hire a professional graphic designer. If the graphic designer is an expert in these marketing tools, you will be more likely to get an infographic capable of spreading virally on the net and multiplying your contacts
Step 2. Hire an infographic service company
Sign up on visual.ly and ask for advice. On the main visual.ly site you can see the best designs that infographic companies have produced in recent times.
Step 3. Choose an infographic program with predefined templates
For free and with a simple registration, some websites allow you to create views that can be downloaded or incorporated into the code of your web page. Try infoactive.co or piktochart.com.
- Piktochart.com can be activated at a cost of $ 29 per month. Infoactive.co and easel.ly are available for free in Beta (for software verification) and may require a monthly subscription in the future.
- If you have difficulty using the new programs, you can assign your marketing employee to upload the data and the company logo. Of the currently available infographic programs, easel.ly should be the easiest to use.
Step 4. Use vizualize.me if you want to create a personal infographic
You can thus increase the influence of your Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn profile on the net.
Step 1. To create an infographic that describes a timeline you can use Timeline JS or Dipity
These sites help you build an infographic based on a chronology of events. Upload your own photos to use as illustrations of the story you want to tell.
Step 2. Use Genial.ly to create an interactive and animated infographic
This tool is available for free but there are also premium accounts for more advanced users.
Part 3 of 4: Tuning the Information
Step 1. If you plan to address your infographic to a general and undifferentiated audience, use an infographic with only one level of information
This type of infographic conveys a single message with one or two informative subsections.
Step 2. Choose a two-level structure instead if you are building an infographic that can serve as an educational aid or if you want to reach an audience of experienced readers
Build information with detail subtitles or submessages.
Step 3. Develop your project vertically
Most websites and mobile connection devices process vertically oriented images better. For this reason, vertical infographics are tweeted and exchanged with up to 30% greater frequency.
Step 4. Start your infographic with a great headline
Do not try to save space by reducing the font size. Use large, easy-to-read fonts to capture the reader's attention.
Consider giving your titles a number. A search engine optimization site finds 36% of Twitter users prefer numbered headlines
Step 5. Choose a font that expresses your message in a highly legible and stylish way
Consult a printer or graphic designer if you can't decide which is the best choice.
Step 6. Review and correct the text dozens of times
It is necessary to have several people review the text and check the final draft before final publication. Since the infographic brings together different reading plans, it can be more difficult to spot errors.
Part 4 of 4: Inserting Images and Graphics
Step 1. Insert your logo
If you want everyone to find your website, then make sure your logo and website address stand out in your infographic. If your goal is to spread a general message that virally infects the network, you can skip this step.
Step 2. Use photographs
If you regularly use Instagram or photos for your business, favor photos over illustrations. Use one to six photos in your infographic.
Make sure you leave enough space to arrange the images and add text
Step 3. Find or prepare a graphical representation yourself for each statistic you use in your infographic
People are naturally drawn to images, so draw your own conclusions using graphics rather than text. To obtain a more advanced infographic, introduce a background capable of connecting the individual graphs together, such as a path traced with direction signs, a label or a tree.
