In a world flooded with information, how can you stop people in their tracks? One word: Data.
Data can educate and persuade audiences by providing factual information and evidence that support a specific argument or desired action.
A report by Forbes found that companies using data-driven marketing are six times more likely to experience higher conversion rates.
Why? It lends credibility to your message. When you present data-backed information, it demonstrates that your claims are based on evidence rather than mere opinions or assumptions.
It also has the power to simplify complex concepts or information. It can be used to break down intricate ideas into digestible and relatable forms. This clarity means your audience can get their heads around a concept and helps them make more informed decisions.
Data can even be used to evoke emotions and create empathy. By presenting data that highlights the impact or consequences of a particular issue or action, you can appeal to the audience’s emotions and generate a sense of urgency.
But we’re not talking about mind-numbing spreadsheets and endless charts. The power and persuasiveness of data lies in the presentation.
Leveraging data through presentation
If you don’t present data effectively, it will fall flat or, worse, confuse the audience. Data in isolation is dry, no matter how strong it is. It’s on you to make it compelling.
Effective data presentation maximises the impact and understanding of the information you are conveying, ultimately leading to more informed decisions and successful outcomes.
Here are some tips on how to present data:
Keep it simple and focused: Avoid overwhelming your audience with too much information. Present only the most relevant data that directly supports your message or key findings.
Provide context: Help your audience understand the significance of the data by providing context and background information. Explain any relevant trends, patterns or comparisons that can assist in interpreting the data correctly.
Use storytelling techniques: Frame your data within a compelling narrative to engage your audience. Present the data in a logical sequence, highlighting the problem or question, introducing the data, analysing key findings and concluding with actionable insights or recommendations.
Incorporate visuals with textual explanations: Balance the use of visuals with clear and concise textual explanations. This helps provide additional context, clarify complex concepts and ensure that the audience understands the data correctly.
Engage with interactivity: When appropriate, incorporate interactive elements into your data presentation. This could include live demos, clickable charts or maps, or interactive data visualisations that allow the audience to explore the data on their own.
Use real-life examples and anecdotes: Relate the data to real-life situations or use case studies to make it more relatable and memorable. Stories and examples can help create an emotional connection and reinforce the impact of the data.
If only there was a format which could be utilised to present data in an aesthetically pleasing and engaging manner…
Introducing infographics
Well, it should really read: reintroducing infographics.
We’re all familiar with the infographic format, but it’s been kicked to the curb a little recently with brands favouring video. But the humble infographic should still retain its place in any content marketing strategy.
In a fast-paced digital world, where people have limited attention spans, infographics continue to offer a compelling way to convey information quickly and effectively.
By combining text with visual elements such as charts, graphs, icons and illustrations, they make information more memorable. The visual nature of infographics aids in cognitive processing and facilitates the understanding and retention of key messages and data points.
According to Nielsen, data visualisation and infographics can improve comprehension by up to 400% compared to text-only presentations.
Our infographics service page explains more about their benefits, but here are some of the key reasons that infographics retain their appeal:
Enabling storytelling and narrative building: They allow marketers to present information in a structured and logical sequence, guiding the audience through a story or a problem-solution framework. By incorporating storytelling techniques, infographics create an emotional connection, making the message more impactful and memorable.
Simplifying complex information: Infographics break down complex concepts, data or processes into bite-sized visual chunks, making them more accessible to the audience.
Visualising data and statistics: Infographics can transform raw data into visually appealing charts, graphs or diagrams, making it easier for the audience to comprehend and interpret the information.
Branding and differentiation: By incorporating brand colours, typography and design elements, infographics contribute to brand recognition and differentiation. Then, when they’re shared on social media and elsewhere, they continue to carry your colours.
Demonstrating expertise and thought leadership: By presenting valuable insights, research findings or industry trends in an engaging and visually appealing format, infographics position your brand as knowledgeable and credible.
However, it’s important to note that simply creating an infographic is not enough. To get the most out of your visual content, you should have SEO in mind when you’re creating and sharing it.
Optimising for SEO
You might not have considered how infographics can play into your SEO efforts, assuming that because search engines can’t crawl keywords in an image (true) they can’t boost your online presence (false).
Infographics can indeed be optimised for SEO – here’s how:
- Compelling content: Create an infographic that tells a story and captivates viewers, increasing the likelihood of shares and backlinks. Also, when users spend more time engaging with your content, it sends positive signals to search engines, potentially improving your search rankings.
- Broaden reach: Share your infographic on popular infographic sharing sites like Visual.ly, Flickr, and Reddit to expand its visibility and gain SEO benefits such as backlinks and social signals.
- Backend optimisation: Optimise your infographic’s metadata by including keywords in the title tag, meta description, alt text, canonical tag and header tags when uploading it to your website.
- Boost social signals: Encourage engagement on social media by placing social sharing buttons below the infographic, making it easy for people to share. Additionally, promote it on your own social media channels.
- Optimal size: Avoid overwhelming visitors by keeping your infographic concise, limiting it to 5-6 blocks maximum. This approach improves load time and increases the likelihood of people reaching the end and sharing it.
- Introduction text: Provide a brief introduction to your infographic to incorporate relevant keywords in a natural way that search engines can understand. Keep the introduction concise and engaging.
Are you looking to convert industry research into a graphic? Or perhaps it is your own survey that you want to promote?
When it comes to infographics, we’re an old hand. We’ve been creating compelling infographics for more than a decade now. Yes, that does make us feel old… but experience does have its benefits. Drop me a message to see some of the recent infographics we’ve created for our clients.
Contact
Telephone +44(0)1225720099 | Email: info@qcontent.co.uk