Creating infographics for cross-platform advertising involves a blend of design principles, strategic messaging, and technical considerations to ensure your content is both visually engaging and optimized for different platforms. In this guide, we’ll break down the essential steps involved in creating effective infographics that work across various platforms, including social media, websites, and email marketing.
1. Understanding Cross-Platform Advertising
Before diving into the specifics of infographic design, it’s crucial to understand the concept of cross-platform advertising. Cross-platform advertising refers to running campaigns that reach audiences across various digital channels—social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn), websites, apps, and even offline media. For infographics to perform well across these different environments, they must be adaptable and optimized for each platform’s unique requirements.
Each platform has specific image dimensions, content limitations, and audience expectations. Your infographics should be designed to fit seamlessly across these platforms while maintaining consistency in branding, messaging, and engagement.
2. Define Your Target Audience and Goals
Before designing your infographic, you must clearly define your target audience and the goals of the campaign. Understanding your audience helps determine the tone, style, and complexity of the infographic.
- Target Audience: Are you targeting business professionals, consumers, students, or a niche group? This influences the type of data and visual storytelling style you’ll use.
- Campaign Goals: Is the infographic meant to drive brand awareness, generate leads, educate, or promote a specific product or service? Your goal will shape the messaging and design elements.
By identifying these elements, you can tailor the infographic’s design and messaging to meet the audience’s needs and platform preferences.
3. Choose the Right Data and Story
An infographic should tell a compelling, easy-to-understand story using data. The type of data you choose will depend on your campaign’s goals, but it must be both relevant and valuable to your target audience.
- Data Collection: Gather statistics, facts, or research that back your claims and resonate with your target audience. Sources could include industry reports, case studies, surveys, or internal analytics.
- Storytelling: Structure the infographic around a central narrative. For example, if you’re promoting a product, you might highlight the benefits with supporting statistics or customer testimonials. A step-by-step guide or process flow can be another effective storytelling method.
Once you have your data, simplify it. Infographics are meant to present complex information in a digestible format. Avoid overloading the infographic with too much data or technical jargon. Focus on the key takeaways that will resonate most with your audience.
4. Design Principles for Cross-Platform Infographics
Effective infographic design involves multiple principles, from layout to color scheme. Here are key design elements to consider when creating infographics for cross-platform advertising:
i. Keep It Simple and Clear
Your infographic should be easy to read and navigate. Use a clean, uncluttered design with enough white space to avoid overwhelming the viewer. Complex data should be broken into digestible sections or blocks. Use icons and visuals to help explain complex concepts.
ii. Consistency in Branding
Whether your infographic is displayed on Facebook, Instagram, or your website, it must reflect your brand’s identity. Consistent branding includes:
- Logo placement: Make sure your logo is visible but not obtrusive.
- Typography: Use the same fonts as your other marketing materials.
- Colors: Stick to your brand’s color palette to ensure your infographic is instantly recognizable as part of your brand.
iii. Mobile-First Design
Since many users will view your infographic on mobile devices, ensure that your design is mobile-friendly. The visual hierarchy should be clear, and text should be legible on smaller screens. Avoid using small font sizes or overly complicated designs that might not display well on mobile.
iv. Visual Appeal
Your infographic should be eye-catching. Use images, illustrations, and icons to break up the text and create a visual flow. However, it’s important to maintain balance. Too many visuals can distract from the message. Keep visuals relevant to the content and use them sparingly to emphasize key points.
v. Hierarchy and Flow
An infographic should follow a logical flow that guides the viewer’s eye. This can be done using visual cues like arrows, color contrasts, or numbered sections. The most important information should be placed at the top or in the center, with supporting data following in the next sections.
vi. Optimize for Different Formats
As different platforms have different image requirements, the infographic must be designed in various sizes to suit those formats. Below are a few common sizes to consider:
- Instagram: Square (1080×1080 px), Stories (1080×1920 px)
- Facebook: Shared image (1200×628 px), Stories (1080×1920 px)
- Twitter: Shared image (1200×675 px)
- Pinterest: Vertical (1000×1500 px)
- Website or Blog: Standard banner (1200×800 px)
Design tools like Canva, Adobe Spark, and Piktochart often have templates that help ensure your infographic will fit the required dimensions for multiple platforms.
5. Use Interactive Elements (Optional)
If your infographic is going to be used in digital ads or on your website, consider adding interactive elements. Interactive infographics engage users more deeply and encourage them to share. These can include:
- Hover effects: When users hover over a section of the infographic, additional information or animations are triggered.
- Clickable sections: Elements that users can click to learn more, such as in a flowchart or step-by-step guide.
Interactive elements, however, should be used sparingly and only when appropriate for the platform and the message.
6. Writing Compelling Copy
The text in your infographic should be concise but informative. While the visuals should convey most of the message, the copy should:
- Support the visuals: Use text to provide context, data points, or explanations that the visuals alone cannot convey.
- Be scannable: People scan infographics rather than reading them word-for-word. Use bullet points, short phrases, and clear headings to improve readability.
- Call to Action (CTA): Don’t forget to include a CTA if your goal is to drive user action, such as visiting a website, downloading a resource, or purchasing a product. The CTA should be bold and easy to find.
7. Platform-Specific Considerations
While the principles outlined above are generally applicable, each platform has unique characteristics and limitations. Let’s look at how to tailor your infographics to specific platforms:
Instagram favors visually striking, bold infographics. The focus should be on simplicity, as most users view the platform on their mobile devices. For Stories, ensure your infographic fits within the vertical format, with text large enough to be legible on small screens. Use the carousel feature for a multi-slide infographic if you need more space to convey your message.
Facebook allows for longer, more detailed infographics. The shared image format typically works best when it includes both a clear visual element and concise messaging. However, keep in mind that Facebook has a younger audience, so ensure that your infographic is designed with that demographic in mind.
Due to Twitter’s character limit, your infographic must be concise and easy to interpret at a glance. Avoid excessive text and focus on impactful visuals and brief data points.
Pinterest thrives on long, vertical infographics, making it ideal for detailed step-by-step guides, lists, or processes. This platform’s users tend to be more willing to engage with longer content, so feel free to use a detailed, information-rich infographic.
LinkedIn is a professional platform, so the style and tone of your infographic should reflect that. Focus on data-driven, informative infographics with a polished design. Infographics that present industry insights, case studies, or thought leadership work best here.
Website/Blog
When posting infographics on your website or blog, you have more flexibility in terms of size and content. However, the design must still prioritize mobile-friendliness, as many users will view it on their phones. Consider embedding interactive elements if possible, or using infographics in blog posts to supplement your written content.
8. Tools for Creating Infographics
There are several tools available to help you design infographics, even if you don’t have advanced graphic design skills:
- Canva: User-friendly with drag-and-drop functionality, perfect for beginners.
- Adobe Illustrator: Advanced tool for professional designers, offering greater customization and design flexibility.
- Piktochart: Specialized infographic tool with templates for different platforms.
- Venngage: Another great tool with templates designed for social media and business infographics.
9. Testing and Iteration
After creating your infographic, test it across different platforms to ensure it displays properly. Make adjustments based on feedback and performance metrics like engagement rates, click-through rates (CTR), and social shares. Monitor analytics to understand which design elements are working and refine your future infographics accordingly.
Conclusion
Creating infographics for cross-platform advertising requires a careful balance of design, messaging, and technical specifications. By understanding your target audience, optimizing for each platform, and using compelling visuals and copy, you can create effective infographics that drive engagement and achieve your marketing goals. Always remember to test, iterate, and refine your approach to stay ahead of the competition and maximize your campaign’s effectiveness.