Wouldn’t it be great if creating an infographic was an easy as waving a magic wand at your computer screen? Of course it would. Unfortunately, that’s not the case (although, I know you’re imagining it right now). But do not fret! Here at SEER, we have compiled a few helpful tips and techniques that will hopefully add a little fairy dust to your next infographic endeavor.
Infographics are great way to display information and data in an interactive manner, but only when it’s presented well. In an era of information overload, any guidance through the clutter is welcome relief. So, pair that data with some great design, and voila! You’ve got our attention.
To begin, infographics are visual designs that help in the presentation of data sets (a how to guide on SEO, anyone?). But how about the creation process? The cost? And what does it take to truly hit the ground running with your ideas? Well ... you’re about to find out.
1) Establish the cost, how much are you willing to spend on the Infographic?
When establishing a cost for the infographic you’ll want to make sure you consider a few specific points. First and foremost you’ll want to establish if this infographic is for in-house or client purposes, because this can affect the pricing tremendously.
- The budget: how much you have and are willing to spend
- What will the content creation cost?
- Will this infographic need placement on specific websites? If so, what’s the budget?
- Promotional plan costs
- What type of infographic it’ll be? (static, interactive, etc.)
2) Decide on a date: When the Infographic is to be completed & go-live date
Coming up with a clear consecutive launch date will help you layout a timeline for the infographic. Establishing an end goal date allows you and your colleagues to schedule out a calendar of when each item should be completed. Typically you’ll want to allow up to 10 weeks to see the process from start to finish.
When setting a go-live date you’ll want to mainly consider a few items as well.
- When is the process going to begin?
- Set a date for approval to begin the work
- Set a date in which the needed data is due by
- Set a date the first draft will be sent out by
- Set a date and time frame for your promotional plan (lay out dates for needed posts, we will get to that later in the post as well)
- Finally, set your estimated ‘go-live’ date
3) Choosing a specific topic or category
- Identify what kinds of infographics you’re interested in or ones you've completed in the past
- Analyze your target demographic
- Age
- Sex
- What this target demographic will find useful within your infographic
- What are the top publications, blogs, etc. your target demographic are reading
- Anything else you’d find useful
- Perform keyword research
- Analyze Google’s keyword planner
- Don’t hit enter Google Search’s (type in a search query, DO NOT press enter)
- Ubersuggest - a great tool for additional keyword suggestions
- Twitter, look in to followerwonk and see who your ‘followers’ are following
- Review comments with your blog
4) Gathering and organizing the data for your infographic
Next, you’ll want to gather and organize your data in which will be the items that’ll populate your infographic. There are roughly two ways to go about this, you can collect outside data or gather your own, it’s simply up to you.
If you’re outsourcing data, just be sure to always cite your sources within your infographic. When collecting your own data, you’ll want to begin the process with outlining questions and organizing them into sections as needed.
Collecting your own data points can come from many realms, such as surveys, polls and discussion groups. By simply creating a form or questionnaire, will assist in collecting the infographic data in an organized manner. You can then choose to send those out via email blast or whichever way you feel would best reach your demographic. Collecting and sorting this data will allow whoever is creating the infographic to have all the needed data laid out in front of them.
Next, decide on the direction you’ll want to organize that now given data (timeline, bar graph, pie chart, etc.) and then decide how you’ll illustrate the data layout as well. Organizing your data, alongside your text content (title, headings, etc.) will give the infographic creator a process to follow.
5) Implementing the design process
Now that you’ve have your data, figuring out the design layout can be a daunting process. The first milestone to check off your list should be, are you creating this infographic in-house or outsourcing it. Listed below are a few helpful sites to consider when implementing your design process:
6) Creating the marketing and promotional plan for your infographic
Now that your infographic has been tactfully thought out, you’ll want to plan out detailed steps on how to properly promote your infographic.
- Create a specific page or post to place your infographic
- Schedule out tweets, Facebook post, etc. around your infographic
- Coordinate press release or articles to promote the asset launch date
- Create an email blast (letting users know of the infographic)
- Share the infographic with industry bloggers and media
- Submit the infographic to social related sites
7) Final approval and launch
You’re now in the home stretch… you’ve conquered all that goes into creating an eye-catching, data driven infographic. You’re last and final steps are to get the final approval on all the above items. Whether it is an in-house or client item, getting the final go-ahead is a must before launching anything, right?
You’re now thinking, what if this does not get approved and I put all this time and effort into this? Well not too worry … although creating an infographic can be daunting, enlisting these above steps can make the process a much easier one.
- Send the infographic out to a coworker to review. Having another set of eyes do a once over is always a great thing, as when you look at something long enough you may tend to miss something imperative.
- Launch the asset on a test website. This will put into perspective what the infographic will look online and to the public eye.
FINALLY … the infographic has the thumbs up; you’re now ready for it to go-live! I hope you’ve found this information helpful and be sure to comment with any questions you may have. Also, keep an eye out and be sure to track your infographics progress through its external links, views, etc. Oh, can’t forget to thank SEER’s own Kristen Bigness for providing all this useful information for the post.
