Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

If you’re anything like me, you learned how to use programs like Photoshop and Gimp out of necessity to do minor changes to photos. You might have even dabbled in some easier graphic design projects for your own website, but it takes you hours to get the image or the design looking just right and you’re left exhausted. You might even spend time looking up tutorials on how to achieve a certain effect and still have trouble re-creating it.

In short, while you do know your way around the programs like Photoshop to a certain extent, it takes you forever and there’s absolutely no way you’d call yourself a graphic designer. But then, you’re surfing around the web and you noticed some really cool infographics on things like fashion, music and food and you can’t help but wish that you could create something like that; even if it’d take you a week....

Infographics have become the design darling of visual marketing.

It’s no wonder organizations and individuals are taking advantage of them as a communication tool. We’ve scoured the web to compile a collection of 45 inspiring infographics that show what’s possible in this design category. Browse through them to get some ideas for your next project....

What are the current trends with infographics in 2014?

Infographics have always been around, but the emergence of “Big Data” has caused the display of trends and statistical correlations using “little men” and 3-D pie charts to become more popular than ever. Why? As a society we’ve become inundated with piles of alphanumeric data each day. 

Infographics takes this content and boils it down to essential, understandable visual elements. Additionally, as a content building/content marketing tactic, infographics can provide a break from “dry text,” causing users to  spend more time on the page. But as the novelty of infographics has faded, more and more bad infographics saturate the web landscape.

In order for infographics to be effective, they need to use multiple data points to tell a cohesive story or prove a theory. After some research, I found some interesting trends affecting the infographics space....

In my previous article I discussed the importance of ensuring that your data is clean and processed before attempting any form of data visualisation. Here I will share some really awesome tools that (once your data is clean and ready to use) you can have at your disposal to create mind-blowing representations of the facts and figures. Here is a list of tools, some more open and adjustable than others, that add value to your raw data and can be used as a source of inspiration and design when approaching the visualisation process....

Our goal as savvy email marketers is to look beyond the lure of the one-time conversion and strive to build an ongoing relationship between consumers and our brands. Why is this goal so important? Because it’s been proven through many a marketing study that engaged customers become loyal customers and loyal customers are the most valuable segment in any list or database.

This type of highly engaged, loyal customer typically has higher overall lifetime value than the casual consumer. They’re also more likely to be an evangelist, introducing new customers to your brand in a very personal way and building the next layer of loyal customers.

But, how can you help to build a stronger bond with your customer base? In my last article, I outlined ways to stimulate an unengaged audience by increasing the relevancy of your email creative by including more dynamic content. Sharing relevant content demonstrates to customers that we know them as individuals and are dedicated to providing them with useful information, products or services. Using historical and behavior data is a great way to present content that’s tailored to their individual needs and preferences, but you also need to engage with your audience on an emotional level in order to achieve the goal of creating a true brand-loyal customer....

Let’s explore four creative ways in which email marketers have used data as a platform to build creative that forms a bond between their customers and their brand....

What could be a better way to describe what infographics are than...

an infographic?

Really nicely done by the folks at Infographic Labs ~ Jeff

(Hat tip to Andy Bull for pointing this one out)

B2B marketing is becoming more competitive. Creating infographics is a great way to attract prospects to your website and build your inbound marketing program.

One of the great things about B2B marketing is there is endless potential for generating interesting content for your audience. Marketers have to constantly be aware of what the next big thing is and if that big thing is worth our time and money.

I think we can all agree that tools to help create cool and creative content is worth looking at, especially if that content format has proven successful time and time again.

Ok, Rookie, what’s your point? Infographics is that new, interesting style to create and display your content. Information graphic or infographics are graphic, visual representations of information, data or knowledge. These particular graphics are popular because they present complex information quickly and clearly. And given that 65% of the population are visual learners (including myself), infographics can easily be successful.

Here’s 6 reasons B2B marketers should use infographics:

1. People connect with visuals.

Visual consumption makes learning easier. In fact, the brain processes visual information 60,000x faster than text. Visuals allow quick interpretation. This would be great way for a client to convey a complex topic.

2. Easily shared.

Downloading and uploading is easier with a graphic than a blog post or white paper. Infographics are also highly favored in social media because of the ease of sharing between users and networks, causing it to go viral faster.

3. Attracts more attention.

Let’s face it, pictures are more appealing than something written. It’s content eye candy! The nature of an infographic is to instantly grab your attention with bold colors and creative imagery. These elements arouse the senses and encourage further reading of the text.

4. Great for link building.

Infographics are great ways to build links. Someone could publish your content and you could ask for a link back to your site with a particular keyword. Google will index your website higher and it will gain importance to search engines.

5. Shows an expert knowledge of a subject.

By creating content dedicated to a particular topic, you show the world you high level of understanding of that topic. You could be viewed as an expert in that topic.

6. Builds awareness and traffic.

Every marketer knows that content creation is important to build hype around your company. The better the content, the more likely it will be shared to others. Infographics are trendy and if done right, it can get people coming back for more!