The power of the infographic: How to harness your data and make it work
Your company’s data is gold. It can validate your work, indicate success and failure, and help predict future trends. But it doesn’t just have to live in Excel spread sheets. In fact, it can work for you in more ways than one if it’s harnessed in the right way.
Enter infographics—they come in all different shapes and sizes and can accommodate numerical and textual data in visually entertaining ways.
Sitting on a pile of data? Skim these tips—an infographic may be just the trick to make it shine:
- Use them wisely. What are you trying to say with your data? Consider the type of data and quantity with which you have to work. If data is too complex or overwhelming to display in list or chart form, an infographic may make it easier to digest. They work especially well to show trends, explain relationships, and break down complicated processes.
- Make the right choice. Not all infographics are created equal. A word cloud is an engaging tool to track textual trends on social media or throughout a speech (like the President’s State of the Union speech) but doesn’t lend itself well to numeric data.
- Consider your resources. You don’t have to be a graphic designer to put together an effective infographic. Skim the web for inspiration to create your own from scratch (Daily Infographic is a gold mine) or turn to an infographic builder like infogr.am or visual.ly.
- Use it! Data paired with visuals is powerful, memorable, and easy to digest. Let it shine on your website, social media channels, in emails or in print pieces. The possibilities are endless.
Bill Kiefaber • March 5, 2015
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