How meta, right? Truth is, the infographic about infographics isn't exactly a new concept. There's a whole slew of them out there, and quite a few them actually poke fun at these highly shareable visuals. And it's hard to blame 'em. With so many people jumping on the infographic bandwagon, there is certainly no shortage of downright awful infographics floating around the web, all pretty deserving of ridicule.
But despite all the flack infographics have gotten, there's still no question about it -- people are drawn to those stimulating, informational visuals, and they can do wonders for your marketing. So while I came across my fair share of infographics making fun of infographics, we'll share those for another day. The infographic below, from Infographic Labs, will actually help you understand the what, why, and how of infographics -- what they are, why they can benefit your marketing, and the basics behind creating one of your own. So while infographics may be the subject of some criticism from time to time, that doesn't mean you should write off their awesome marketing potential. After all, haters gonna hate, right?
Have you ever created -- or worked with a designer to create -- an infographic of your own? What were the results?
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Brandon Nolte 9:21 AM on August 09, 2012
There must be some great tools for creating info graphics too, besides Illustrator/InDesign/Etc., right?
nancy fox 9:33 AM on August 09, 2012
These steps are great if you are good at breaking things down into steps and then adding artistic elements. Most will find this a challenge or time consuming. We need a plug and play tool like email marketing platforms or hire designers. I'm using my own designer now, but am sure it will be easier in months to come.
Denyse 9:47 AM on August 09, 2012
I agree Brandon; I'd love to publish my own Infographics instead of sharing everyone else's.
Nancy, let's hope your "prediction" is right, because I for one am more than ready! Who are you currently using?
nancy fox 9:49 AM on August 09, 2012
Denyse - we should probably take this offline. Where can I reach you- fb, twitter? Linked In? I am NancyFox on all
E. M. 10:58 AM on August 09, 2012
Hmm...I'm still not sure how this helps your SEO marketing. Aren't these pict files? And as such, the information on them aren't readable by search engine spiders, right?
Some explanation into this would be very much appreciated!
Pamela Vaughan 11:02 AM on August 09, 2012
E.M. -- It's because infographics get a lot of traffic and inbound links. In a nutshell, that's how they help you with SEO.
Tracy 11:23 AM on August 09, 2012
check out Piktochart In my opinion it is the best free app in the market to date.
Dave 11:50 AM on August 09, 2012
I think the most amusing thing about this article is that the "infographic" that tells you how to make infographics isn't actually one. It's just an image of some text and colourful pictures, which isn't the same thing.
nancy fox 11:54 AM on August 09, 2012
Tracy, thanks. I did check out Piktochart and it looks like it would be a perfect way to start inexpensively to do a simple infographic. Frankly the simpler the better, because it's easier to follow and accomplish or learn something. Thanks
Denyse Drummond-Dunn 11:58 AM on August 09, 2012
Thanks Tracy,
I just checked out Piktochart and I agree with Nancy, it certainly looks an easy way to try to develop a few before getting serious.
Thanks for sharing.
Michael 12:03 PM on August 09, 2012
This is great! Our agency just made a very similar one. It's the Evolution of Inforgraphics: http://gannettlocal.com/infographics/Evolution-of-Infographics.pdf
Andrew Macarthy 12:24 PM on August 09, 2012
Great article, Hubspot! To those asking, here's an overview of a great online tool for creating professional-looking infographics for free: http://youtu.be/kgSLxgtbZKA
Andrew.
JR 2:51 PM on August 09, 2012
And there goes website accessibility...
Kathy Broniecki 4:51 PM on August 09, 2012
We have used Prezi - was awesome in keeping my audience's attention!
joe 8:59 PM on August 09, 2012
Creating really well done infographics can be a great way to drive buzz to your site.
Charlene 9:01 PM on August 09, 2012
Wow, thanks! This is very helpful and I am checking out Picktochart right now!
Nazmul Alam 12:01 AM on August 10, 2012
nice and simple infographic for how to create an infographic!!! This is how it should be. weak planning, contents and preparation may ruin your hard works in the end. But after reading this one, i think everyone should be very inspired and enhance their creativity to attract more readers. engaging and interesting inforgraphic is always a challenge for any online marketers to gain more traffic and lead generation. But thanks for this nice post. it's surely an eye opener!!
AKallevig 1:11 AM on August 10, 2012
I usually love all your content and insights, but this one infographic breaks it's own rule for infographics, and becomes one of the bad examples. Where are the statistics? One easy fix f.ex: Saying that people love infographics in an infographic seems superficial - show me the numbers. Because an infographic without stats is just a vertical cartoon. Albeit an educational one :)
Izabella 3:02 AM on August 10, 2012
I agree with everyone else apart from the one above me - ha - I love your article, it opens the world of infographics to the people who read them and may then wish to create one - we are not looking for the figures cos we actually like it nice and simple!!
Adeline 12:06 AM on August 11, 2012
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Using infographics is one way to help you get the message across in a way that your readers can easily understand. These tips will really help everyone planning to use infographics.
Amanda Risius 2:07 PM on August 13, 2012
I have used Piktochart for creating a few infographics and it was easy to use. However, I have not found a way to easily upload the infographic from Piktochart straight to Facebook, Twitter, etc. What are you doing to upload your infographic once its created?