It wasn’t long ago that marketers were declaring that infographics were dead—but that prediction couldn’t have been more incorrect.

There are numerous types of infographics that marketers can now use to tell diverse brand stories and grow their audience. 

We look at the five reasons you should be using infographics in your content marketing.

1. Infographics Make Information Easy to Absorb

If there is one thing we can learn from the way people use the internet it is that patience is running thin for everyone, everywhere.

Users simply do not have the time—or the inclination—to read through long blog posts. There are a number of reasons for this.

For one, there is so much content available online that people don’t know what they should be focusing their efforts on. 

There is a constant feeling of FOMO—fear of missing out—that people suffer from. What if, by reading this one long piece, they miss out on some better content?

Plus, we only have 24 hours in a day, and the constant news cycle makes it appear like there’s more information to absorb than an individual can possibly take in.

These are major challenges for marketers, who are attempting to reach through the crowd of content to influence their audience.

While you could do that by creating a ton of content, quality needs to trump quantity in the content marketing arena. That’s where infographics come in.

Infographics have the power to share information in simple and succinct ways, while also being engaging.

Have a long read that you think can turn readers into customers? Consider making an infographic version that will be able to share the required information in a quarter of the time.

Because infographics incorporate visuals and text, they are much easier to absorb than blocks of text, thus making them more engaging for the audience.

If you aren’t already using infographics to boost your content marketing ROI, now is the time to do so.

2. Infographics are Visual

We have touched on the visual elements of infographics, but it’s important to note just how important great visuals can be in a content-saturated world.

There is an overload of textual content already available—the inclusion of a visual element immediately makes your content stand out from the crowd.

But it’s also the kind of visuals that infographics incorporate—not just images and illustrations, that are definitely attractive, but also charts and graphs.

This is what sets infographics apart from other graphics—they combine a great deal of data into one visual.

And the importance of data cannot be discounted. Graphs and charts are everywhere on social media, but an infographic gives them context and makes them more attractive.

The visual appeal of an infographic on a social feed, in email marketing, or a blog, which is inundated with text-based content, cannot be discounted.

3. Infographics Tell Stories

Most marketers would have realized over the last few years that storytelling is the best way to get through to your audience.

There has been a push towards more authenticity from brands—especially as a result of recent revelations from Facebook and Google. 

Authenticity is best conveyed through relevant and believable storytelling—which isn’t always easy to accomplish for brands whose primary aim is selling their products or services.

And the reason stories work is because of their high engagement value—from fairytales to superhero films, stories have always been a core part of human life.

Marketers have been able to leverage the power of stories to attract online users and convert them into satisfied customers, but the way they tell stories has slowly been changing.

While storytelling through advertising and blogs is common, people are becoming a bit more wary of advertising, and text-heavy blogs are more likely to be overlooked.

But by using lead generation tools like infographics, brands put themselves in a much better position to tell real and engaging stories.

Infographics are not only attractive but they have the ability to tell your story in a visual style—the images, charts, and icons tell a cohesive tale that will keep your audience engaged.

Content needs context and relevance if it is to resonate with audiences—infographics can tell your stories in a more powerful and memorable way.

4. Shareability and Potential to Go Viral

As we have reiterated, infographics are far more attractive than most other visuals, and they also tell stories in a succinct manner.

Because of these reasons, the potential for a single infographic to be shared widely beyond its initial placement is huge.

A well-made and relevant infographic, that has had its alt-text optimized for SEO, can easily be re-posted and shared by other marketers and readers.

Depending on the quality of your infographic, it could even go viral—earning you a large amount of attention and increased traffic to your original content and website.

Plus, you can leverage your infographic to earn links—offer your infographic, alongside a short blog post, to other marketing sites in exchange for links or a collaboration.

Infographics have excellent linkbuilding potential, which will help you reach new and more diverse audiences that you may not have been able to tap into without such content. 

5. Infographic Templates

Finally, we come to the creation of infographics themselves. One of the primary reasons why you should be using infographics in your content marketing is because they are easy to make.

There are numerous online resources available to marketers now—which aren’t very expensive—to create customized and branded infographics.

These websites offer a variety of infographic templates that can convey your brand story effectively.

And a number of these resources also allow you to add your branding elements—such as logos, colors, and fonts—to templates to make the infographics truly your own.

Due to the sudden rise, and equally sudden decline, of infographics in marketing, not as many businesses are taking the time to create them now.

Many don’t want the additional hassle of hiring a designer to do the work for them—mainly because they don’t know how easy it is to use and adapt templates to their needs.

With so few quality infographics out there, the chances of your visuals being seen are much higher—if you have a great story to tell, your infographics will do well for your marketing plan.

Conclusion

Infographics are making a comeback in a big way, and are going to have a massive impact on content marketing in 2020.

Since many companies aren’t using infographics, we have outlined exactly why you should be breaking the mold and making infographics to share with your audience and fellow marketers.

As a tool for sharing stories, growing your audience, and linkbuilding, infographics have no equal. Now is the time to create infographics and tell your stories.

All images sourced from Venngage.

Guest article written by: Ronita Mohan is a content marketer at Venngage, an infographic and design platform. She enjoys writing about digital marketing, sharing productivity tips, examining pop culture, and championing the need for representation.
Twitter: @Venngage