Content, content, content. The ever so tedious but necessary element in social media marketing. A good way to create content, generate interest or turn non – visual content into visual content is to use infographics in your social media marketing. Infographics are a great way to compile information and present it in an easy, visually digest-able format to your audience. Infographics can be used to tease content from white papers, reports, survey results – just about anything quantifiable. They are also a great way to tell a story about a brand’s journey, present industry facts, etc. In a nutshell, you can put a lot of useful information that adds value to your network in one post.
Use infographics to:- Tease content: To promote content like a report, white paper or video download you could compile facts from your content and create a branded infographic to promote the piece or landing page. Urge followers to download the main piece of to receive more information.
- Repurpose evergreen content: If you have an old blog post or other evergreen content an infographic may be a good way to breathe new life (and clicks) to it.
- Industry facts/How-to/Education: Content that adds value is the kind of content that your audience will connect with the most. Present facts or educate your audience on your industry or cause. For example a clothing brand could create an infographic on how to dress for different dress codes. Giving your network a little more insight into the bigger picture could be what turns a follower into a customer. Fun facts are great for infographics too! Part entertainment, part value is a great content combination.
- Accompanying content: Sometimes creating accompanying content like a checklist is a good way to promote your main piece. Infographics can include a checklist or other activity to support your goal.
I always suggest using a graphic designer for tasks like these. But if you don’t have a budget here are 5 tools to create your own (free) infographics with:
- Picktochart
- Visualize.me
- Canva
- infogr.am
- Venngage
Some networks like Instagram can be a little trickier to post infographics to because of their format (long and narrow). The workaround? Section off a part of the infographic to use, or use a part of it to create a network specific post. Here’s how Buffer did it:
A few infographic tips to keep in mind:
- Infographics are usually long and narrow images, but you can play with the size.
- Choose statistics or facts that will be interesting to your audience.
- If you are comparing figures make sure to use (what I am calling) tangible terms. In other words compare stats to things people can relate to and not just another number.
- Think visually! Choose numbers that can be easily represented in images or charts.
- Give references to sources used for facts or statistics (if any) on the bottom of your graphic.
- Have fun! Use fun colors, graphics, and charts. This is a chance for you to show off your brand’s personality.
- Don’t forget to include your brand’s info
And lastly, check out Buffer’s list of the 11 best infographics of 2015 to get some ideas for 2016 flowing in your head.
