Written by: Vickie Sullivan | March 10, 2016
Two Ways Infographics Are Evolving
For years, I have touted the power of infographics. That hasn’t changed—I still love them. But a recent Fast Company article, “What Killed the Infographic,” makes great points about what we need to know about them now. Move past the emphasis on animation and general consumers, and consider these key findings:
• Mobile is changing the demand. If your infographic can’t be seen on a phone, don’t bother. That said, the demand for infographics vs. “just the facts please” is swinging to the latter due to mobile. So, remember mobile when getting your content out there.
Related: Don’t Make These Infographics
• Readers want insight. As part of their maturation, infographics can’t just be cool anymore. They have to be useful, too. And if they aren’t useful, they are gone. Does that mean thought leaders should stop using visuals? Of course not. Just be aware that the cool factor has worn off. Focus on making your insights more useful.
Articles like these are a great heads-up. But always go one more step: how does this impact your content marketing? Have your buyers’ expectations changed as a result of infographics being used in their offices all the time? The real value of this article lies in asking questions like those.
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Author : Vickie Sullivan
Published: 2016-03-12 14:55:26
Great points Lori. Infographics are just tools to help us understand data better. Fewer people are reading nowadays and reams of data isn't on a lot of short lists for bedtime reading. So yes, stories make the data come alive. That's why we need both tools -- the infographic to gather folks and the stories to engage them.
Author : Lori Silverman
Published: 2016-03-10 08:48:46
Data on its own, even in an info graphic, doesn't provide insight. Data, which is what most info graphics provide, must be transformed into information, then into knowledge ... from their into understanding and finally wisdom. What we fail to realize is that meaning only comes through story. It's why we wrote about the need to storify data in Business Storytelling for Dummies. Merely creating great visualizations doesn't provide insight. Thanks for the link to the Fast Company article. This is such a key subject.