Why infographics?

• Visuals are known to improve learning and retention by 400%
• 37% of marketers say that visual content is the most important form of content for their business
• Visuals make content 40 times more shareable
• 84% who’ve used infographics consider the medium effective
• Infographic production increases by 1% every day

These numbers clearly show that visual is the key to successful content marketing and infographics make up a huge portion of it. And if the infographic is such an important format for brands to communicate with their users, every content creator- from freelancer writers to journalists to bloggers- must attempt to master the art of writing compelling infographic text. Here is what we’ve learned from creating over 12,000 pieces of content with an approval rating of 80%

Write a clear and impactful headline

90% of people are drawn to infographics because of catchy titles and headers. Rather than long-form content which is very often to educate at length or opine on an issue, an infographic gives a snapshot and/or summarises the important points. So, the headline needs to be direct and tell the user exactly what to expect. For more info, check out 5 Ways to make this headline better.

Think visual

The text is only one half of an infographic- design being the other- so write content such that it creates uniformity in design.

Segment your content into some pre-defined sections (dos and don’ts, pros and cons or simply different aspects of your topic) and ensure that each infographic has :

• A sub-header so that the reader is empowered to choose what to read and what not to
• The same number of points in each section
• The same format (for instance., 2 lines of followed plus an icon, or 3 lines of text plus an illustrated scene, etc.)
• Sentences that are of the same length

It’s also essential to consider the platform on which your users are viewing data. When it comes to viewing infographics, the desktop still leads the way (63% desktop vs. 53 mobile), which may very well be because infographics are driven by messages that target people at work.

Don’t lose the plot; just get to the point!

The key to creating effective infographics is using time and space effectively. Your user has a limited attention span, so don’t lose it! After all, infographics work better than articles for a reason, so don’t defeat the purpose by adding too much text.

As a writer, feel free to expand your horizon beyond words and suggest how you would like a certain point to be illustrated or depicted, rather than simply lengthening your sentences

Do not add text if a visual can be used to send the same message; imagery should replace and not supplement the text. Do not add a needlessly long sentence if short 2-3 words would suffice.

Remember that data is king!

Unlike an article, repetition for emphasis should be avoided- add data instead. An infographic is a GRAPHIC way of displaying INFORMATION, not opinion, thoughts or conversation. It is a data-driven piece of content and facts and figures are the primary way of presenting this. Everything you state must be backed up with relevant and current from reputable sources. Being the foundation of an infographic, this data needs to be strong, accurate and consumer-friendly.

Tell a story

Do you remember how, as students, we often created fictitious stories out of the chapters in our textbooks, just so we could remember it better? Well, apply the same logic here. Even though data is the foundation of any infographic text, users shouldn’t feel as if they’re being fed raw statistics. This makes for a boring and tiresome read. Constructing a narrative around the same data can help you grab users’ attention by making your content interesting and dynamic. Consider the following:

• Rather than listing out historical events, create a timeline
• In place of listing out the 5 factors that cause a certain event, create a process flow that shows exactly how each contributes to the event being caused
• Instead of presenting numbers to show increased adoption of a product/service, map it against numbers from the same time last year, and show a comparison

These were a few tips on creating powerful infographics. Let us know if you have some more in the comments below!