One of the most entertaining ways to package a large volume of information is through an infographic. Almost nobody would sit and wade through a text article full of statistics; but when it’s put in infographic format, people love it.
Infographics get passed around. On sites like Reddit, Digg and StumbleUpon, infographics do really well. Infographics get “upvoted” a lot and often end up on the front page.
They get passed around social media. Twitter and Facebook walls are full of infographics.
So, how do you create a winning infographic that generates buzz and traffic?
==> Start with a Strong Core Concept
Begin with a unique core concept. The core concept should involve providing information on a topic that people would be curious about. The information should be shocking or controversial.
Try to avoid sticking directly to your target market unless you have a very interesting target market. For example, don’t try to do an infographic on the different types of office furniture if you run an office furniture store.
Instead, maybe do an infographic on “The 12 Types of Office Jerks” or “9 Ways to Procrastinate without Getting Caught” to try to get your infographic to go viral among office workers.
==> Do In-Depth Research
The goal of an infographic is to provide as many shocking facts as possible.
Gather data from sources like Wikipedia, various government agencies including the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the IRS, books, newspaper articles, magazines and so on.
Gather as much data as you can in one place. You may or may not use the data in your infographic, but having as much data on hand as possible will help in the final graphic creation process.
==> Lay It Out in a Clean and Creative Manner
Infographics are best done in Adobe Illustrator, which does graphics in vectors rather than raster. It makes infographic creation much faster. That said, it can also be done in Photoshop and other image editing programs.
The infographics that tend to do well usually have a very simplistic, Web 2.0 kind of look and feel. Don’t go over the top with graphic design or with trying to do fancy effects.
Instead, just lay out all the data you have in a logical fashion. Make it seem like a story that’s unfolding – as if someone was finding out more and more about a surprising story as they scroll down your infographic.
If you aren’t a design wiz yourself, you can try just handing off your data to an infographic designer to have them put it together for you.
Once you’re ready, put the infographic up on various social bookmarking sites, on your own social media profiles and on your own website. If the graphic is shocking, funny and highly education, you can bet it’ll spread.