Ways to use infographics: storytelling, data, timelines, and more

Have you ever struggled to understand complicated information or data buried in a mountain of text?

Infographics can be a game-changer, making data, procedures, and brand features not only easier to grasp but also more interesting.

At Deer Designer, we’ve seen the impact firsthand.

Our mascot, Buckley, has become the friendly guide through complex content, adding personality to what could be dull information.

In this article, we’ll explore how infographics can enhance your content marketing strategy and when it’s best to avoid them.

Let’s uncover the potential of infographics together.

What are infographics, though?

Infographics are visual aids that allow your audience to understand complex information or data better.

Whether you are sharing data and statistics, procedures and timelines, or talking about brand features, infographics make them more interesting and engaging for your audience.

If you’re a loyal follower of Deer Designer, you might have seen us use infographics and illustrations on our social media and client work.

Having our mascot, Buckley, explain complicated procedures in infographics adds character to what should be boring data.

Likewise, your audience would pay more attention and remember visually appealing characters, varying text colors and fonts, and pictures compared to just reading boring text in Times New Roman with no visual elements.

Ways to use infographics in your content marketing strategy

Infographics can be a powerful tool to spread important information.

Whether you are putting out social media content online, publishing a blog on your website, or printing a flyer, these uses are not just limited to spreading information.

Here are some ways infographics can help with your content marketing strategy:

Effective Infographics for Visual Storytelling

Marketers don’t always talk about this, but the key to an engaged audience is effective storytelling. As we mentioned in our article about the power of storytelling, you can create an emotional bond with your customers through storytelling.

Customers are likely to remember and stay loyal to a brand’s story instead of just a brand’s statistics and track record.

Instead of just presenting your data in plain text, you can create infographics with characters, conflicts, and a narrative revolving around this data.

This will help readers not only see your data in a visual way but also make it easier for them to see how your data relates to them as people.

Simplifying complex data with visual elements

Infographics present complex information quickly and clearly.

Effective infographics simplify information and make it easier to share with others.

Statistics are easier to understand when presented as visual content such as colorful graphs, charts, and illustrations instead of just a long list of numbers.

Concepts are easier to remember when attached to a cute icon or character.

Places and locations are better represented using maps.

Other than appealingly presenting the information, infographics also allow for better presentation and comparison, as you can see patterns, trends, and contrasts better.

You can even use visual hierarchies to highlight certain data better and draw your audience’s attention to specific important information.

Instead of just bombarding your readers with complicated data they might be too bored to read, you can create visually engaging infographics they will likely spend more time interacting with.

Using visuals for step-by-step guides and timelines

People are visual creatures.

You can easily talk about your company’s timeline for each quarter of the year, but people are less likely to remember it without a visual representation of that timeline.

Infographics can simplify overwhelming timelines and procedures in any field.

At first glance, your audience is given an overview of what the infographic is about and what the key steps are. Then they can zoom in and focus on the specific details of each procedure or date on the timeline.

Using icons and colorful visuals lets your audience understand and remember key takeaways from each step.

Arrows can also guide people through the steps, especially if specific parts have to return to some steps for review or revision processes.

Highlighting key takeaways in case studies

Presenting a case study is a great use for infographics, as it combines the three previous uses. You will need the visual storytelling of an infographic to make the case study more interesting and engaging.

You may want to present your research timelines and testing procedures in a way that lets your audience visualize your method and why you chose this process.

You must present your data and findings through charts and graphs that allow for better comprehension and comparison.

Putting the details of your case study in infographics lets your audience engage with it and understand it for themselves instead of having to explain every step and statistic that you have.

Improving brand retention in content marketing

As infographics are highly visual, having specific colors, fonts, and recurring characters in your infographics can help audiences associate them with your brand.

For example, when you see infographics from Deer Designer and Buckley along with our signature white and green content, you immediately know it’s our brand.

When not to use infographics:

While infographics are useful for communicating complicated or otherwise boring information, there are times when you should avoid using infographics. This includes:

Enforcing misleading information

Certain statistics can look correlated when compared to a chart without context.

Statisticians know to include context to explain why certain things happen and to clarify that things may not be correlated.

Avoid putting unrelated data that promotes misleading information in infographics.

When visuals distract from the information

While infographics and visuals are supposed to facilitate storytelling, they can also distract from key insights and messages instead.

Only use infographics to highlight important information.

For example, if you are talking about how a specific flavor (let’s say chocolate) is a best-seller in your ice cream shop, you shouldn’t add a survey statistic infographic showing how another flavor (strawberry) is a best-seller in the rest of the state.

The story is of a sensitive nature

Certain topics, such as violence, can be distressing when visualized for an audience instead of being educational.

It’s best to leave this as a statistic instead of an infographic.

Infographics are practical tools to share information, engage with your audience, and leave a lasting impression.

They are not hard to make either, as there are various templates now available online.

Knowing its uses allows you to convey information more effectively, one well-crafted visual at a time.