Originally published by our MD, Rishabh Dev, on Mapplinks.
If there’s one thing about social media users every marketer agrees upon, it is that they have really small attention spans. It is a test of every brand’s content strategy to come up with shareable content that can make users stop and stare while they scroll down their media feed. One quick and easy way of doing this by adding fun and interactive content like infographics to your marketing plan.
Why every brand should be creating infographics
As a brand there is a lot of information that you need to disseminate, and infographics help you do that in a creatively fulfilling and engaging manner. By transforming the blandest of topics into a visually appealing and easily remembered piece of content, a brand can share a lot of important information through a single creative.
Research shows that over 65% people are visual learners i.e. it is easier for them to pick up clues from images than it is to pore through tons of text. By using infographics, you stand to leverage the virtual clout of these users in the form of likes and shares. Data and statistics that would otherwise make for very boring reading can be creatively put together in an infographic. Also, the very nature of the infographic reflects your brand’s subject matter expertise – distilling huge numbers and data points into easily understandable formats sans unnecessary words is no easy feat!
The science behind infographics
Here’s an interesting nugget for you: we know the occipital lobe of the brain is involved in visual processing, while the frontal lobe is connected to memory keeping. An infographic thus connects the right and left half of our brains thus making it easier for us to remember the data presented and creating stronger recall value for your brand. No wonder then that even Google trends show a steep increase in search interest for the term ‘infographics’ in the last five years.
Types of content that make for good infographics
From social media posts to business presentations, a lot of relevant content can be easily and imaginatively showcased via infographics:
- Infographics can be used as teasers for case studies, and project showcases with a clear CTA button that encourages readers to download the main content
- Long copy articles, old blogs, DIY and how-to pieces are good fodder for infographics and have the potential to generate buzz on social media
- Product companies can use infographics to highlight the distinguishing features and USPs of their products in a relatable manner
- Educational content like industry statistics and facts can also be transformed into an infographic thus establishing your brand’s position as an expert in your field
Using infographics on various social media platforms
Now that you understand the significance of infographics as a marketing collateral, it would be wise to use them correctly on various social media platforms.
- On Twitter, use a shortlink with a small preview of the infographic and tweet it out in different time zones to maximise page views
- On Pinterest, pin the infographic and link it to the page with the rest of the content and a clearly seen CTA button
- On Facebook, post the link with a featured image or create “mini” versions of the infographic and use as a Facebook album
Now, for an example of how we at Mapplinks generated traction by repurposing a blog into an infographic and promoting it through social media posting. Here’s a detailed article on our company blog on the commandments to follow for social media marketing.
We then created an infographic version of the same highlighting the main principles. Then we decided to turn each of the ten principles into separate images to be used as a Facebook album, thus deconstructing the main blog into bite sized pieces of content. And then we used Twitter to create a series of social media wisdom and used relevant hashtags to reach the right audience.
When they said a picture speaks more than words, we are sure they were talking of infographics, and now you know why! So if you haven’t used these storytelling pieces in your content and social media marketing yet, get started right away and reap the benefits, we say. And if you have been utilising them like a pro and have learnings of your own to share, please do mail us on connect@mapplinks.com with your story.