“Are infographics dead?” – this is a question that has cropped up now and then. The fact that infographics are about 30x more likely to be read than a full article proves that this content format is far from dead. If anything, it’s thriving. There are a lot of benefits of infographics.

So, what is an infographic?

It’s a collection of visuals and minimal text used to visually represent information or data. The use of striking visuals makes it captivating and easy to read. 

Infographics can be used to:

• Provide a quick overview of a topic
• Make a complex process easy to understand
• Present survey data
• Compare and contrast multiple scenarios
• Summarize lengthy content pieces

4 key benefits of infographics

Let’s take a look at the top four benefits of including infographics in your content marketing strategy. 

1. Keeps readers engaged

The human attention span is declining. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to get people to read your content. The only way to capture your audience’s attention and get them to consider your content is by making it engaging and easy to read.

The good news is that infographics can help you achieve that.

Being a combination of images, icons, illustrations, charts, and text, infographics make for a visually-appealing content format. They serve as an effective visual storytelling device, keeping people more engaged and invested in what you have to say. 

Blog writing 101 example

Here’s an example of a compelling infographic. The same information could be put into the form of a blog post. Which one would you rather read? Chances are the infographic.

2. Simplify complex information

Whether you’re explaining the steps of a sign-up process to your customers, presenting data-heavy information, or explaining your marketing workflow in a project plan, there are times when you might need to communicate a complex concept or process. 

It’s interesting to note that people following directions with text and illustrations do 323% better than people following directions without illustrations.

This is where infographics come into the picture. 

They break down the complicated information into smaller steps with the help of visuals, making the information easy-to-digest and more memorable.

So, the next time you need to communicate complex information, consider creating an infographic to drive your message across without overwhelming readers.

Customer journey map example

Here’s an example of a process infographic that illustrates the customer journey map. The S-shaped layout and icons make it easier to visualize the journey. 

3. Drives shares

Infographics are shared 3x more than any other visual content on social media. What makes them so shareable? The fact that they communicate valuable information in a visually-appealing manner.

With people being more drawn towards original graphics, infographics serve an as effective content type that appeals to a wide audience and compels them to share. Apart from incorporating interesting content, it’s also important to promote the infographic and make it easy for people to share it. 

You should enable social media sharing buttons and an embed code on the infographic page, helping people share it with a click of a button. You can also break down the infographic and create mini-infographics for social media. Make sure you extract a quote or statistic and focus on a single data point to put the message across. 

The idea is to evoke curiosity in your audience and encourage them to share the social media post or view the entire infographic on your website.

Venngage tweet with snipet of infographic

Here’s an example of Venngage’s tweet that features a snippet of an infographic with a link to the entire visual in the caption.

4. Improves SEO

Backlinks are valuable for SEO because they signify that the content on your website is valuable and credible. This means that the more backlinks you receive from authoritative websites, the higher are your chances to rank.

What role do infographics play here, you ask?

While guest blogging is one of the most common tactics to build backlinks, pitching guestographics is another way to achieve your link building goals. Guestographics are infographics that are pitched to another website as a guest post.

Start with doing keyword research, narrowing down on a topic, and creating an engaging infographic. The next step is to find influencers and websites in your niche that might be interested in publishing the infographic. 

You can then send them a personalized pitch, highlighting the value the infographic provides. You should also offer to write a unique introduction along with a link to your website.

Chewie Says infographic example

Perrin used this technique to drive organic traffic to his website, Chewie Says. He designed an infographic, ‘22 Ways Dogs Make Humans Healthier’ which was published on several websites. This led to a 963% increase in organic traffic in just 6 weeks.

The takeaway: reap the benefits of infographics

Infographics are extremely beneficial when done well. It’s important to first establish the goal behind creating the infographic. Whether you want to give an overview of a topic, raise awareness, or generate leads, what’s important is creating an infographic that is designed well and packed with valuable information. That’s the only way you can reap the benefits of infographics and communicate effectively with your audience.

This guest blog articles was written by Simki Dutta. She is a content marketer at Venngage, a free infographic maker and design platform. Simki writes about all things marketing and communications. Find her on Twitter and LinkedIn.