We’re still seeing plenty of requests for infographics. There was a suggestion a while back that they would die out, but we can attest to them still very much thriving. Our in-house designer, Dan, has even started dreaming about infographics – somewhat inevitable given that our dreams are invariably a reflection of our reality. Poor Dan.

Dream

More and more of our clients are requesting an infographic series, what with visual content booming.

Marketers have very much come round to the idea of using graphics, in addition to words, to get their message across – most likely after seeing how well their customers are responding to this sort of content.

According to John Medina, author of the book ‘Brain Rules’, when people hear information, they’re likely to remember only 10% of that information three days later. However, if a relevant image is paired with that same information, people retain 65% of the information three days later.

It’s not hard to see the sense in infographics, then. But how to go about creating a series of them without losing the will to live?

You can outsource, of course, or you can follow this handy guide from the Content Marketing Institute:

1. Choose your theme

Just to warn you, you’re going to need to do some serious research and data gathering before you even think about how your infographics are going to look.

If you’re going to turn back, then, now’s the time to do it.

Regret

Arguably the most important decision to make about your infographic series is what the hell it’s going to be about. Like any series, TV or otherwise, it’s got to have enough legs to sustain people’s attention. However, it’s also got to be in-keeping with your content strategy, otherwise you’re left with a series that sits awkwardly among your other content.

So, go deep into what themes are important to your audience and whether your brand is well placed to get involved in the conversation.

2. Crunch the data

How are you with data? Quite frankly, if you’re going to take on creating an infographic series, you’re going to have to be a dab hand at sifting through data and pulling out the most relevant facts and figures.

That means being able to look at statistics and identify which ones reinforce what it is that you’re trying to illustrate. Then you can set about creating a visual representation of the key facts, stats and messages you want to include – knowing where one infographic should stop and the next one should start is crucial for a series.

3. Think about the creative

You would have done a fair bit of heavy lifting before you get the chance to indulge your creative juices; it’s downhill from here.

Downhill

However, getting the creative right is crucial. If you know your brand’s creative identity like the back of your hand, it shouldn’t be too much like hard work. The key with an infographic series, like any visual content really, is to make the whole thing feel fresh and appealing while maintaining your brand identity. There’s little point in creating something eye-catching if your customers struggle to identify it as the work of your brand.

Also, when thinking about the creative, look to build a template that allows for consistency – the design shouldn’t change a great deal at all from infographic to infographic.

Plus, if you plan to reuse the infographics across channels – such as in print – remember to consider what that means from a creative standpoint.

4. Wireframe your infographics

Now for some payoff for all your efforts up to this point: creating the wireframes, or the “skeleton” designs that show the elements and structure of each infographic.

It will finally feel like you’re getting somewhere; bringing together the theme, data and the creative that have already been worked through.

When creating your mobile-friendly wireframes, you’ll need to consider the intended user journey stage for each infographic – each infographic should lead onto the next in an orderly fashion.

Consider the atomised content, too – how the infographics can be cut down to act as teasers on the respective social channels. A series teaser on Instagram, for instance, will look different from a snippet posted on Snapchat.

5. Put the infographics into production

What a relief – this stage will probably have felt like a long time coming.

Relief

However, the benefit of having already agreed the theme, collated the data, sketched the creative and drawn your wireframes is that there’s no reason why a designer can’t rattle through the production stage.

There’s still a bit to be agreed in order to bring the wireframes to life, of course, such as the tone, styling, colour and visual motifs, but that shouldn’t slow things down too much now – you’ve likely already discussed these aspects anyway.

6. Get your content seen

It’s time to set your infographic series free. With organic reach on social channels plummeting, consider using paid social to achieve a healthy return on your time and investment.

However, there are a number of different routes you could take with your series – the right one depends on the brand and their audience. Sorry to be vague, but it’s true. We promise to be more specific if you were to choose us to produce your infographic series.

Smug