Interested To Use Infographics For Internal Communications? Follow These Steps.

Have an important announcement to make? Need to get your employees aligned on your company’s message? Have lots of information to share? Don’t have funds to engage an agency or an in-house designer?

Make it easier for your audiences to digest your messages and engage directly by turning to ‘infographics’.

Infographics are increasingly becoming a tool to simplify information and share stories not just on social media vehicles but also internally within organizations.  However, very often infographics are considered a task which only designers can help with and I do know a lot of organizations who prefer to outsource such crucial work to agencies.

Consider your goal: Before you get started think of what you want to achieve with the Infographic.

Do you want to –

–          Share information lucidly?

–          Reduce the time your readers spend on assimilating information?

–          Seek feedback?

–          Gain more views for your offering?

Craft your story: Every good Infographic begins with a story. This part usually can’t be ‘outsourced’ since you know what your audiences need most. As an internal communicator you are expected to think deeply about the value and impact the information you plan to share will add to your readers. The story needs to address the benefit or pain point or share information that readers can use. It needs to talk to the ‘skimmers’ and the ‘skeptics’ – the model used while writing clear communication.

Select a good website: It took me a while to arrive at a site which allows flexibility yet makes life easier for the communicator to ‘plug and play’. I tried many sites and my preference is Piktochart.  It is easy to manage, provides simple templates and allows for downloads in web and print versions.

Choose a template that suits your need: For example, If it is a journey then a timeline might be best suited. If you want to highlight one big impact your campaign has made then use a chart format. If there are comments and feedback you want to share then include a template that allows quotes. If the template permits customization then review the icons that will represent your infographic best.

Visualize your Infographic:  As an internal communicator you need to find patterns and be able to frame a convincing argument using your Infographic. Think intently on how you plan to represent the information you have.

In my case I wanted to share:

–          my blog’s journey and thinking. See sample Infographic.

–          Also how it evolved over the years and the value and impact it created

Therefore I looked up page views, information on visitors, the various stages of the blog and the underlying philosophy as a framework.

Content is king: While the design does make the Infographic appealing and simple to read your content is what will determine the value and impact. Think of the critical information you need included in your Infographic. Write and edit your content till you feel it merits publishing. Invite feedback from friends and peers before you publish.

Save you work:  Very important tip – even if you are mid-way through your creation ensure that you keep saving your work! You would hate to lose all the effort you put in, right? Why take a chance! Piktochart has the option to save your work as you move along.

Company logo comes free: If you are using a free website and template then be prepared to live with the logo of the company lending you the service that comes along with it. If your organization has some legal issue with such logos getting placed in internal communications it helps to run it past the legal department.

How much time does it take to create an infographic? I always thought it takes hours to prepare one and was pleasantly surprised when I made one in about 40 minutes. If you have your story and content in place it will take you less than 15 minutes or even shorter to put your own Infographic together.

Go ahead and try it out. Keen to hear your experience.