Staring at page after page of data in an Excel spreadsheet is a shore-fire way to get a headache. But if you’ve spent so much time, effort and money gathering this data, you want people to see it! 

Instead of working your statistics into a written report or blog post, consider using powerful visuals to create an infographic. Infographics allow you to convey complex information in a visually appealing and easily digestible format. When done correctly, they can enhance content marketing strategies, boost engagement, and drive traffic to your website. 

However, creating the perfect infographic isn’t always as easy as you might think. From illegible fonts and random colours to data visualisation choices which are just plain weird, keep reading to learn about these common mistakes - and how to avoid them!

Unclear Objectives

Before you start creating your beautiful infographic, you need to figure out your objectives. What do you want to achieve with your design? Are you aiming to educate, entertain, or persuade your audience? Is your audience made up of your customers, internal employees, or perhaps your investors? 

One of the most significant mistakes businesses make is creating infographics without a clear purpose. Understanding your goals will guide your content and design choices, allowing you to create a cohesive, impactful infographic.

Poor Data Visualisation

It’s important to choose the correct chart to efficiently display different types of data. Pie charts, for example, are best to use if you’re comparing parts of a whole - such as the percentage of people who visit your website on a desktop, mobile, or tablet. Bar charts are better for simply displaying the numerical value of each category, rather than the percentage. Both options can often be used for many types of data - it’s up to you to decide which will be most impactful. Will your audience benefit more from seeing the proportion of people who access your website on a mobile, or will they find it more useful to see the actual number?

Use a mix of different data visualisation methods to keep your audience engaged. Examples include bar charts, pie charts, Venn diagrams, tables, pictograms, and maps.

Information Overload

At the end of the day, the whole point of an infographic is to simplify otherwise complex information. When you’ve spent time and money obtaining this important data, it can be tempting to try and fit it all into your infographic. However, overloading your design with too much data, text or imagery can detract from your objective and cause your message to become muddled. It can overwhelm your audience, defeating the purpose of designing an infographic in the first place. 

Focus on the most important points you want to make, and use your data to back those up. Less is more in the world of infographics!

Straying From Your Brand Identity

The most effective infographics are the most visually appealing. But beauty isn’t everything: as a business, it’s important to choose colour schemes, fonts and layouts which align with your brand identity. You’ll have already done the hard work of figuring out which styles resonate the most with your target audience, so stick to those guidelines - otherwise, you risk confusing your audience.

Poor Design Choices

As well as keeping your design elements consistent with your brand, make sure you’re using the colours and fonts in a way which enhances readability. For example, your logo’s colours may be blue and green, which look fabulous next to each other - however, a green font on a blue background might be difficult to read. 

You should also consider your font’s readability, including your font choices, size, and weight. Smaller font sizes are harder to read, even if they may look good. This is even more important when you consider how much of your audience may be viewing your infographic on a mobile - ensure your design is responsive and legible on a range of devices.

Neglecting SEO Optimisation

Contrary to popular belief, infographics can be a valuable asset for SEO. However, SEO doesn’t automatically include the text in images - including infographics. To optimise your infographic for search engines, use descriptive alt text, incorporate relevant keywords, and provide a transcript or additional textual content for accessibility and searchability.

No Call-to-Action

A call-to-action (CTA) is essential for guiding your audience to take the desired next step. What do you want people to do once they’ve finished looking at your infographic? Do you want them to share it? Visit your website? Sign up for your newsletter? If you’re not sure which CTA to choose, consider how you’ll be measuring the success of the infographic. This can be anything from the number of social media impressions or reactions it gathers or how many website visits you get. 

Whatever your goal, you should include a clear and compelling CTA within your infographic design to maximise your infographic’s impact!

UNBXD is a Creative Digital Agency which specialises in social media marketing to create exciting, innovative solutions for breakthrough brands. We are experts in supporting brands to outline clear objectives, develop strong communication strategies and create unique content which truly engages their audience. Come and see what we can do for you!