Millions, if not billions, of dollars are spent every year on search engine optimization and as Google has shown us in recent months, the entire industry is heading towards a paradigm shift towards content rather than back-end coding. Among the tools to have been espoused by businesses that are looking to rank on google search terms is the use of content rich materials like video and pictures. More specifically, more and more companies are looking to infographics as a means to disseminate messaging and content. While it is important to note that not every company can find a way to employ infographics, the creation, execution and dissemination of this content is very easy and is constantly changing.
For our efforts internally in building the social media presence of our merchant cash advance company in the private business lending space, creating in-house content was essential. Using simple do-it-yourself vector files isn't very hard or time-consuming and can help anyone--from lean startup to a Fortune 500. Furthermore, our engagement rates on social media are much higher when an infographic is employed versus a static image. We have seen posts, for example with similar content, trigger completely different responses from our consumer base. A simple post wth an infographic about the electrical industry triggered a social media response that our team certainly didn't anticipate. Similar efforts in other industries without infographic content have fallen on deaf ears.
What is remarkable is that for marketers this is incredibly inexpensive form of advertising and engagement and can create the exact brand resonance that Matt Cutts and the Google folks have stressed in recent months.
For those marketers and even simple business professionals who are looking to use infographics to try and increase their engagement rates, I would suggest the three following techniques:
- Familiarize yourself with vector files and download Adobe Illustrator (or something comparable) to be able to manipulate images. GIMP, is of course, a free version that can be employed.
- Create content with clear numeric value. Whether it is dates, percentages or something close, this is vital for creating graphical content.
- Share, share, share. With Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Google+, whatever-the more visual the medium, the better this stuff plays.
Most importantly, I would recommend that you look back at your graphics and recognize if you would read it yourself if you saw it served in your newsfeed!