The Easiest Way For Your Message To Be Remembered

You might forget that we told you this, but apparently people only remember 20% of what they read. This is a fact that makes some of those who work in advertising and marketing lie awake at night, wondering how to best get a message across. In the digital age, the art of communication and particularly the conveyance of information has evolved. You’ve probably heard of the infographic, where information is presented in a striking way, usually with both text and visuals, allowing the information to be quickly absorbed and retained. But what can an infographic do for your small business?

The Most Commonly Used Infographics

The chances are that you’ve already made use of an infographic. If you’ve navigated any kind of map, particularly the unique, often not to scale map of a particular city’s public transport system, then you’ve used an infographic. Maps are among the most common types of infographics, and the visualization of data has taken on new meaning with the rise of Internet and mobile mapping applications, such as Google Maps and Nokia’s OVI system. A digital map, whether on a computer screen or mobile device, allows for information to be displayed in a variety of ways, with points of interest displayed as you near them. Not so long ago, we would have to manually print out a map that had been generated by Google or a comparable provider, but the rapid rise of smart phones and tablet devices have certainly saved a few trees. Digital maps that depict your company’s physical location are a web-based infographic that will benefit your business. Just how complex your map should be depends on your budget and whether a complex map fits in with your existing web presence, but you might want to consider various options for your map, such as clickable options, showing the best way to visit your company’s physical location by car, using public transport, or even on foot.

Why Use an Infographic?

Data visualization is perhaps the most effective way to retain information, and many companies have begun to use infographics accordingly. A huge amount of information, advertising and marketing now takes place online, where huge amounts of information can be targeted at and then presented to a consumer. However, it’s just as easy for a consumer to exit a website if they are not immediately grabbed by the information- the Internet has perhaps contributed to our ever decreasing information spans. Information has devalued, since we know there’s so much of it out there that can be easily accessed.

Infographics- The Easy Way to Get Your Message Across

Infographics have the remarkable ability to compress complex information and present it in a simple, often fun kind of way that could potentially go viral, courtesy of Facebook shares and retweeting (which are invaluable marketing tools that simply didn’t exist just a few short years ago). It’s possible (and advisable) to present infographics on your company website with an automatic link allowing it to be shared or tweeted with the click of a button which automatically logs a user into their social media. Facebook shares only really occur when the infographic has mass appeal and is presented in an amusing way, such as the vast numbers of celebrity and cute animal themed infographics that appear daily on the increasingly popular website Buzzfeed.

Infographics are an amazing medium for getting a message across to consumers, but remember- if you have any kind of visual representation on your website or marketing material that combines images with text, then you’re already using them. They don’t have to be cute and funny in an attempt to gain excessive shares on social media- this often is not appropriate for many companies. All they have to do is get your message across!

 

This is a guest-post by Ashley Williamson. Ashley is a part time guest blogger currently representing Infographic World which is an award-winning infographic design company.