5 Reasons to Use Infographics

As our attention spans dwindle even further on a daily basis due to our consistently plugged-in lifestyle, media and businesses must come up with faster, brighter and better ways to grab the attention of consumers. There are of course many ways to do this via social media, the internet and those other archaic media like TV and print. Another way to get information out to an audience quickly and efficiently is through infographics – graphic or visual representations of information. To graph or not to graph; that is the question. If you need some convincing, just remember that infographics are:

Easy To Make

You don’t need to hire a graphic designer or a data analyzer just to create an infographic for your company. One option is to use the graphing devices on Microsoft Word or Excel. Or you could get fancy and use sites like www.Daytum.com for everyday info analysis. You can also get ideas from sites like http://www.dailyinfographic.comfor some inspiration. Just remember the formula: info + eye-catching design = successful infographic.

Fun

Who doesn’t enjoy turning some boring black-and-white words on a page into a colorful, useful infographic? There is a real ability to get creative here. Representing your company’s stats and data in innovative ways will impress your consumers and your employees. They’re also a funny way to see some information. Check out blogs like www.ilovecharts.tumblr.com for fun graphs!

Easy to Read

For many it is just plain easier to understand a picture than it is to comprehend a speaker or lecture. Turning this type of mass-information into an easy-to-read graph allows for efficient learning. Graphics are also more interesting. By interacting with more of the brain than just straight reading or listening, graphics activate our whole minds, allowing us to be more interested and soak up information.

Versatile

Any type of information can be put into a chart. No, seriously, anything. The number of dishes you wash  per day? Easy. The number of times you shower in a year? Piece of cake. With creative wording and the working of verb tenses, literally any quantitative information can be displayed in a graph accurately and concisely. They also can be applied to a variety of media including web, interactive tools and print.

Everywhere

Like everything else, social media and mobile devices have also attached on to infographics as well. Sites like TouchGraph.com have applications with Facebook and other social networking sites. They allow you to see connections between networks that you may not know exist. Your ex-best-friend’s high school boyfriend’s boss knows the HR rep at the firm you want to transfer to? Who knew? Now you do. Go have coffee, get on his good side.

In our ever-changing business landscape, we need a way to keep up through efficient and interactive information sharing. What fits this description better than a pretty pie chart? Start graphing, you won’t be sorry.