Twitter has done a pretty stellar job of illustrating the fact that the age of short, punchy and engaging content is here. Now more than ever, the global online community has become one obsessed with near-instant gratification, expecting to see, hear and find what they want, when they want with no delays, fluff or filler.
But along with Twitter, there’s another online marketing phenomenon that’s catering to this exact need better than almost anything else. Suffice to say, if you haven’t already included infographics in your marketing strategy, you’re missing out on something epic.
Why exactly? Well, quite simply because infographics go over and above almost every other type of static online content in a multitude of ways, including the following:
1. The Value of Visual
First up, consider the fact that 90% of all information that makes it to the human brain is visual. Which goes some way to explain why the average person responds so much more powerfully to visual content than to written content. With an infographic, you basically take the written content you want to say and convert it into visual media. Compare a list of facts to an infographic with the same content and you’ll immediate pick up on the immense value of the latter.
2. Viral Potential
Slideshare recently carried out a study on the subject, which found that Tweets featuring infographics were more than 800% more likely to be re-tweeted than those containing simple text. For content to go viral these days, it needs to be short, punchy, concise and have immediate visual appeal. All such boxes are ticked in spades by infographics, hence their unique value as marketing tools.
3. Boost Your Brand
If you have a brand logo, colour scheme or anything else that’s instantly recognisable as you, an infographic can be used to boost brand recognition. It’s as simple as customising the infographic in a manner that makes it obvious at first glance who it came from. Suffice to say, this isn’t something you can do with a piece of written content featuring the same information, unless you partake in a little spammy keyword-stuffing along the way.
4. Mobile Focus
For the average mobile consumer, reading an extensive block of text on a tiny Smartphone screen isn’t what they’d call a pleasure. In fact, it’s the kind of thing that’s often avoided at all costs. By contrast, a well-presented infographic can be a million times more attractive, digestible, engaging and indeed sharable. If you are looking for a marketing tool to win over desktop and mobile customers alike, infographics have the potential to do exactly that.
5. Increase Authority
Last but not least, it’s human nature to instantly buy into a brand with more respect and confidence, if and when they show you how much they know about the subject at-hand. Or better yet, they share with you a world of interesting facts, figures and findings. With an infographic, you get the opportunity to bombard your readers with all the useful and interesting information in the world, demonstrating just how and why you are a leader in your field. What’s more, you do so in a way that is interesting, engaging and sharable…as an added bonus!
