The only way it’s possible that you’ve missed the explosion of infographic popularity is if you have an aversion to using the Internet. You’re reading this post, though, so I’m guessing that’s probably not the case.

Infographics have been gaining tremendous popularity as of late, and it seems you can’t go anywhere without seeing more of them. We haven’t reached the point of over-saturation with them yet, so you can bet that they’re going to be a valuable piece of your content strategy for a good while to come.

So why are people going so crazy over them? Well…

  • They’re [typically] visually appealing.
  • They cover a broad range of topics across all industries (in other words, they’re not just for business and technology), and can be entertaining, informative, and even educational (as in a teaching tool).
  • They take potentially complex information and make it easily digestible.

That last point is particularly important. As we spend more time online, our attention spans continue to shrink. While this might not be the greatest side effect of Internet use, infographics are great for the person who just can’t make it through longer pieces of content. They’re also wonderful for the person-on-the-go and help us to learn a lot without having to flip through pages and pages of reports. In short, we get the highlights.

Also, when utilized as part of a content strategy, infographics can help you to achieve maximum impact. They get you noticed. And as TabJuice found out, it only takes one influential person to notice you before you’ve got something viral on your hands.

Search for infographics on Pinterest once. You may be overwhelmed with the plethora of results that come back to you, but you’ll get a good feel almost immediately for what separates the truly great from the so-so (and even from the downright awful).

So what’s a content marketer and graphic design team to do? You might have a great idea, but how do you get yourself noticed?

That’s a question that so many content marketing strategists are asking themselves. Approach it like you would any other piece of website content. Consider what people are searching for and what they want to know about it. Create your content to meet those needs, then discuss the design. People like fun with infographics, so discuss with your designer how you can create such a feel while maintaining the integrity of your content.

When you have that skeleton of an idea in mind, you can begin focusing a bit more on each step and fleshing it out. Start with creativity: you need to be creative when choosing your topic. Yes, there is a group of people who want to read about the entire history of Facebook from inception up through this morning, but the reality is that this graphic has been done. Numerous times.

Ask yourself what you can bring to the table that isn’t already there.

Once you’ve nailed the content down and your designer has rocked the look, it’s time to start promoting it! Use your social channels and your blog. If you plan to create a lot of infographics in the future, this is definitely a call for Pinterest. Like I said before, infographics spread like wildfire there, and they will hopefully help to drive traffic back to your site in the process.

While not every infographic is going to get a shout from Brian Solis, others within your industry can help you to pass it around and start some conversation in order to really make the graphic work for you. This is all the more reason to really bring your A Game to infographic creation and design: quite frankly, no one is going to share something if they think it’s tired, overdone, or crap. Give them something to talk about and share with each other.

If you’re overwhelmed by the possibilities of infographics but aren’t quite sure where to start, there are plenty of excellent resources available online. Visual.ly is a great place to start, but if you’re looking for a more comprehensive collection of resources that will guide you through the entire infographic process, check out the Daily Tekk’s post, “Over 100 Incredibly Infographic Tools and Resources (Categorized).” They leave no stone unturned.

Finally, the best thing you can do when incorporating your own infographics into your content marketing strategy is to make them shareable. You want people to recognize the super job you’ve done and post your work elsewhere (make sure you include attribution within/on the infographic!) Include a box containing the code below the graphic for easy copy-and-pasting. Not only does that make it easy for your visitors to share your content, but it’s a call-to-action in and of itself to do just that.

What are some of the best, most creative or clever infographics you’ve seen? Let us know!