Infographics have been used for a long time in online marketing, and here we’re going to discuss why they are still an invaluable tool when it comes to online marketing.

A question that crops up quite a lot with regards to infographics is: Can you explain infographics and do I really need them?

To give the answer an easy to understand context I’ll explain it as follows. They’re a visual format of ideas, which try to relay difficult to digest information to the audience in a way that can be digested, took on board and retained, instead of trying to decipher graphs and charts.

The statistics speak for themselves, and back up the relevance and use of info graphics; here are a few examples to back up those claims.

• In an average day a person is exposed to the equivalent of 174 full newspapers worth of information.
• 99% of all information we come across is expelled by the brain almost instantly, this means that only 1% passes through our filters and seeps into the brain as information that is retained, and infographics falls into this 1%.
• With 65% of us classed as visual learners you can see the power contained in using infographics to get your primary source of information across to your audience, especially if you want the information to not only get across but stay embedded in the brain.

There are differences in the way we process visual and text based information. Text tends to be a more laborious process that requires a build up of layers, where as visual information is pretty much instant as soon as you look at it all the components are there in view.

Recent statistics show that people only retain 20% of what they read, combine this with the fact that we process visuals 60,000 faster than we do with text and it really does show the power of infographics as a marketing tool.

The growth of infographic searches cannot be ignored with an 800% increase in search volumes. Marketers are making the best of this as those who use infographics experience on a average a 12% growth in traffic towards their websites. So the power of this type of marketing is there for all to see in the statistics and results that are created from using this strategy.

In conclusion, it’s fair to say that with engaging imagery, and neatly packaged visual design, infographics ruled and lead the way for the marketing populous to reach new people in 2012. Pictures and images have never been so relevant in engaging the public’s imagination, along with the explosion in social media the sheer amount of people that can be reached is mind blowing. And the best way to take advantage of the marketing opportunities presented by all those people gathered in one place is a well presented, smart and eye catching infographic.