How Do You Make an Infographic, Anyway?


You may not realize it, but you have seen many an infographic in your day. Think all the way back to high school, to math class. Do you remember the handouts that you got, the ones that had graphs on them explaining how an equation works? That handout was a data visualization. It was a pictorial representation of the information that your math teacher was explaining on the chalk board. That was an infographic. And it is even the definition of infographic.

You can find them everywhere you look. If you are lucky your boss uses them during board meetings. If he was smart, he would be using a free infographics creator to produce some marketing data infographics. This can be one of those line graphs showing growth in sales. It can be a pie chart showing the percentage of customers who chose organic or non organic produce this past quarter. Just like any other one, marketing data infographics are perfect for accentuating a point. They add a visual component to what would have otherwise been a lecture.

Studies show that by having a visual to accompany lectures, students retain knowledge significantly more than if they had just been droned at. The same concept is applied to your infographics. But now that you know how important and useful a marketing data infographic can be, how do you go about making one?

It all starts with the information that you want to impart. Make it relatively simple. Keep it limited to no more than a dozen facts. Then think about a theme in which to represent your data. Say you want to discuss pie eating across the nation. A great way to show it would all be pie themed. Particularly pies for pie charts. Maybe a picnic tablecloth for the background.

Make sure that the wording of each fact is precise and informative. It needs to be a perfect visual soundbite that they can consume in one look and be able to move on. The facts need to be almost subliminal. The reader will actually be more focused on the pictures than anything else. The absorption of the facts are just a convenient side effect.

When everything is perfectly worded and visually pleasing, all you need to do is publish it. Post it on your blog, your website, your Facebook and your Twitter. Get it out there and make sure everyone reads the infographic that you worked so hard on.