10 Reasons to Harness the Power of Infographics

Imagery and short text effectively convey important messages.

06 Jan 10 Reasons to Harness the Power of Infographics

Remember that one friend everyone made fun of because he was just a little slower on the uptake than the rest of the group? And how you’d tease him about needing books with lots of pictures so he could understand them?

Well, that friend is everyone on the internet.

OK… no, we’re not saying everyone online is slow. Just that they don’t have much of an attention span or interest in reading long chunks of text. And they like pretty pictures.

Televised news programs figured it out years ago, pairing soundbites with their visual equivalent—information graphics.

But infographics aren’t really about playing to the lowest common denominator. They work well across all different mediums, from TV to brochures to PowerPoint presentations, but they’re especially useful for spreading your message on the web.

Plenty of free and paid online tools are available for making them, but a talented graphic designer can create aesthetically pleasing, particularly powerful infographics. Here are ten good reasons to use them as part of your social media and content marketing strategy:

1. Way more people online will read through an information graphic than a block of text.

2. They’re attractive showcases for your knowledge and authority.

3. The short, concise format forces you to distill your message down to the most essential points.

4. Most people absorb and retain information faster and better through visuals than through reading text.

5. Infographics effectively walk the audience through a string of facts and ideas to lead them to a conclusion.

6. These visual data representations make complex concepts more understandable.

7. Search volume for infographic has increased more than 800 percent since 2010.

8. Infographics are highly sharable via social media, with good viral potential when well-done and interesting.

9. As they garner shares, likes, backlinks, and other engagements, information graphics drive traffic to your site and can benefit SEO.

10. Pictures are fun. And grab attention. Much more than a bunch of blah blah blah.