Infographic ads are the newest trend in advertising. They’re gaining popularity because they engage your audience and convert more visitors to customers than other types of ads. But not all infographics are created equal, so it’s important to know what you need to do to make them work for you.
If you want to make your infographics work for you, avoid these common pitfalls:
1. Not using a clear call to action.
Nobody is going to click on an infographic just because it’s there; it has to have a purpose — and that purpose should be right upfront. Use a clear call-to-action to tell people why you’re sharing the infographic with them.
2. Skipping outreach.
The best infographics are typically shared on social media, so it’s critical to make sure that your target market is following you there. If they aren’t, skip outreach and go directly to paid advertising. Otherwise, you’re missing out on an opportunity to get more eyeballs on your message.
3. Using ineffective headlines.
The title of your infographic will likely be the deciding factor in whether or not someone decides to click on it, so make sure that you pick a headline that really grabs people’s attention. You want to tell them what the infographic is going to be about, but you also want them to be curious enough to click through.
4. Creating a giant file.
If your infographic is too large, you’re not going to be able to share it on most social media channels — and if you can, your audience may have difficulty viewing it. Make sure that your file is as small as possible without losing image quality.
5. Not considering the design of the infographic itself.
If you’re going to make a great first impression, it’s important to put a lot of thought into the layout and design of your infographic — especially if you want people to read it at all.
Use contrasting colors. If some of your elements are red and others are blue, people immediately will know which is which. And if you have a lot of text on a page, it can be hard to read — consider putting a border around important words or phrases to draw attention.
6. Not being consistent with fonts and styles.
One of the worst things you can do is mix fonts and styles during your infographic. Even if it’s done on purpose (for instance, using one font for page titles and another for subtitles), make sure that everything looks good together. Or better yet, create a custom look-and-feel for your infographics by combining these elements from the start.
7. Not proofreading it before you publish it.
Even if you have a great editor, it’s important to proofread your infographic for any misspellings or grammatical errors — then ask a friend with a fresh perspective to look over it as well.
8. Not considering how people will share it.
If you make your cool infographic available on your website, what will people do with it? If there’s nothing to encourage them to share the infographic within the design itself, they won’t know how to do so. Make sure that you include sharing buttons and an embed code at the bottom of your infographics so that people can share it with their own audiences.
9. Focusing on quantity.
Sometimes, less is more — especially when it comes to marketing your business. If you’re so obsessed with producing a lot of content that you don’t pay attention to the quality of each piece, your efforts will yield poor results. Don’t try to produce a huge amount of infographics in a month. If you can do one piece of quality content each week, you’ll get much better results.
10. Not considering the size of your infographic (in pixels, not length).
Infographics are typically published on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter — but depending on the pixel dimensions that you use for the file, it may end up looking differently than intended. Make sure that you’re choosing infographics with high enough resolution to avoid distortion (and be sure to optimize it for mobile viewing if necessary).
11. Not providing a brief introduction along with the infographic.
People may not fully understand what your infographic is about just by looking at it — so make sure that you include an overview of its key points as well as relevant statistics at the top of the page. This way, they’ll have a quick reference to refer back to while reading the rest of the infographic.
12. Using boring or inappropriate images.
The right visuals can do more than just enhance an infographic — they can actually make people want to read it. Use relevant and high-quality images that are interesting enough so people will want to click through and read about that topic.
13. Using too many statistics or numbers.
Now that you’ve got the attention of your audience, don’t go overboard by using so many statistics and data points in your infographic that it overwhelms people. Use key facts to enhance your design without burying them in excessive information.
Special Bonus: Use Venngage!
Venngage is an online infographic maker that provides a wide range of unique and creative infographic templates for everyone to use. All you need to do is create your free Venngage account, browse through their template page, choose the best layout for your ad, customize it to your liking, and download. To give you a better idea, here are some infographic examples from their website.
Infographics can be a great way to communicate information. But if you want your message heard, it’s important that you take the time and effort to make sure it looks good as well as reads easily (especially on social media).
If all of this sounds overwhelming, don’t forget to use Venngage infographics. From providing the best infographics to helping you personalize them, Venngage is ready to be at your service. So what are you waiting for? Remember to avoid these mistakes and create the best infographic for your ads today!
