Interest in using infographics for content marketing started to take off in early 2012 and has continued to grow ever since. While there are unquestionably some topics that really aren’t right for infographics, this format remains an entertaining and effective way to communicate statistical or quantitative information.
Infographics are in some cases the first choice for presenting research findings. But more often, blog posts, reports, and presentations that are heavy on numbers (provided the underlying information is actually interesting and informative) become prime candidates for repurposing as infographics.
The problem, when infographics first started to become popular, was that they had to be designed from scratch. That meant either a) paying a not-insignificant sum to have a professional designer create your inforgraphic, or 2) paying less to have an amateur create it (and ending up with an infographic that looked…amateurish).
Fortunately, there are now tools that allow even the design-challenged to produce professional-looking infographics. Here are four of the best such tools…plus services to call on if you have the budget and really want to make sure your infographics look original and great.
Infographic Creation Tools
1) Piktochart
Google Review Count: 3,600,000
Pick a template, edit the fonts and colors, and add your content. Optionally include charts and maps, your own photos and images, and icons.
Sample review: You don’t “have to go to great expense to create (an) infographic. There are some very good low price tools such as Piktochart which allow you to easily build infographics using a pre-defined templates.” — RazorSocial
Pricing: free to $29 per month
Showcase reviews: Online Marketing Institute, Small Business Trends, BuzzBlogger, Programming Graphics Resources & Reviews, RazorSocial, QuickSprout
2) Infogram
Google Review Count: 142,000
Choose a template and visualize your data with charts, maps, videos, images, and/or icons, then generate an embed code to post on your blog or website. Also enables creation of interactive visualizations.
Sample review: “Infogram is a visual content tool that focuses on helping you create infographics, charts, and data visualization. If you like to create charts using Microsoft Excel, you’re in luck — it also offers compatibility with Excel through Infogram Charts. Also, their infographics are responsive with mobile devices.” — HubSpot
Pricing: free to $67 per month plus enterprise pricing by quote
Showcase reviews: Small Business Trends, HubSpot, Programming Graphics Resources & Reviews, Cent Muruganandam, QuickSprout
3) easel.ly
Google Review Count: 112,000
Choose a template (or start with a blank one), add and customize elements and objects, input your data, and share the output.
Sample review: “Easel.ly is a really easy (no pun intended) to use tool that allows you to create infographics from a huge selection of templates.” — Marketing Insider Group
Pricing: free or $3 per month
Showcase reviews: Small Business Trends, BuzzBlogger, Programming Graphics Resources & Reviews, Marketing Insider Group
4) Venngage
Google Review Count: 19,700
Select a template from hundreds available, add charts, maps and icons, and customize fonts and colors—all for free. Venngage also offers a free infographic idea generator tool and a free chart maker. And for designers who need more options than what the free plan provides, Venngage offers a business plan with more templates, more prebuilt graphics, and customized branding.
Sample review: “Vennage is a social analytics and marketing company that offers infographics and other designs as part of its service package. The tool for creating infographics allows you to upload your own images and backgrounds, or choose from a selection of customizable themes.” — Small Business Trends
Pricing: free, premium ($19 per month), or business ($49 per month)
Showcase reviews: Small Business Trends, Programming Graphics Resources & Reviews
Infographic Creation Services
Visual.ly
Google Review Count: 7,030,000
Prefer to let someone else do the driving? Visual.ly connects marketers with freelance designers, writers, and developers to develop infographics or other types of visual content.
Sample review: “Why tell when you can show? Visually provides custom-made infographics that make your statistics pop. This is a great option for marketing teams strapped for graphic design resources. ” — SnapApp
Pricing: based on project quote; infographics start at $3,000
Showcase reviews: Online Marketing Institute, Small Business Trends, Cent Muruganandam, SnapApp
Showcase Reviews
BuzzBlogger
Cent Muruganandam
HubSpot
Marketing Insider Group
Online Marketing Institute
Programming Graphics Resources & Reviews
Quick Sprout
RazorSocial
Small Business Trends
SnapApp
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