Does Your Infographic Stink? The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

If you have created or paid for an infographic to be made to represent your business and it has not had a good ROI then it may be down to a number of different reasons.

You may like it but your infographic may stink! Or maybe it just didn’t get enough eye balls on it, but how do you know? Here’s a look at the good, the bad and the ugly of infographics and a few tips for creating them.

Which category does yours fall into?

[more]

The Good

(full infographic and embed code)

For an irresistible infographic you first need an original idea that is current and relates to your business. For example, this snippet from a Folly Farm Adventure Park and Zoo infographic relating to their new Lion enclosure which arrived in summer 2014.

And once you have the idea you need a creative eye. You can’t just shove a few pictures into a blog post and call it an infographic. An infographic makes information interesting and easy to digest in small chunks. The most important information should be larger to draw attention to it and the whole thing should have a natural flow, so use bright colours and size sensibly to create something eye catching.

The Bad

(full infographic source)

You may have the most beautiful infographic in the world but that doesn’t necessarily mean it is good – it may not have the right impact or translate the information correctly!

Originality is key when creating infographics. You should learn from others’ successes and failures but don’t copy, develop a unique style. At the same time however don’t go too out-there or make it too complex. It should be easily understood with you being able to describe the topic in one sentence.

Many people don’t think about their target audience before making an infographic. You would for a blog post so why not for these? An infographic is not just there to build links. A bad infographic will look bad on your business.

Also be careful not to be too self-indulgent! Yes you are talking about your own product or services but you don’t want to throw it in people’s faces. There is no need to be a sleazy salesman, instead use humour and interesting facts to engage your audience and they’re sure to look up the creators of the infographic (that’s you!).

The Ugly

(image source)

The same goes for an infographic that has the content but is ugly. Yes, they say that true beauty is within, but how will anyone know if they don’t click to open it up. You want your infographic to have it all.

To make yours look ‘pretty’ limit your design to no more than 2 fonts and think about how readable it is. Do you have subheadings? Do you have to strain your eyes in order to read the small print? And is there coherence throughout? (That last one is very important)

Limit your colour palette too – you don’t want it to look like a rainbow has thrown up over your computer screen. The finishing touch is a headline that grabs attention. Keep it short and make people curious about the content so that they read on.

Before you start clicking and publishing make sure to do some essential checks first. Is everything spelt right? And are all your facts correct? Just because they sound interesting doesn’t mean they are true. Quote your reputable sources for credibility.

So does your infographic stink? Or could you just improve your outreach? Get in contact for more top tips on infographics from us here at Liberty Marketing.

(main image: DFS Report)