4 Steps to Repurpose a Blog Post into a Compelling Infographic
If everyone could, there would be as many infographics as there are blog posts but that’s not the case, is it?
We’ve all thought of creating infographics at some point and changed our minds on realizing how much of an effort it is. From doing research and finding an interesting angle to planning the content and designing — there’s a lot that goes into creating an engaging infographic.
What if you could create an infographic in half that time?
Think about it: you’re probably sitting on a heap of blog posts. Instead of creating an infographic from scratch, you can repurpose one of those posts and turn it into an infographic.
Infographics are a great way to present information in a visually appealing manner. What’s more, they help you reach 54% more readers than blog posts.
In this article, I will tell you how you can repurpose a blog post into a compelling infographic in four simple steps.
Choose an angle
You’ve written a 2,000-word blog post on a topic but if you want to turn it into an infographic, a lot of it needs to go.
Being visual representations of information or data, infographics can’t be text-heavy. What’s important is using a combination of succinct copy and enticing visuals to weave a story that’s direct, easy-to-understand, and focused on a coherent message.
The first step is to re-read your blog post to find an interesting angle. You can create an infographic to:
- Summarize the blog post
- Highlight and focus on key statistics
- Visualize survey data or research findings in the blog post
- Present all quotes featured in the blog post
Once you’ve established the direction you want to take, create an outline for your infographic by including the information you want to retain along with how you want it to flow.
Here’s an example of how online commercial lease review company, Lease Ref summarized a blog post about bad office lease renewals into an informational infographic. They used headings and icons to break up the text and make the information stand out.
Source: Venngage
Pick the right infographic layout
Now that you know what your infographic is going to be about, you need to pick the right layout that helps you present that information in the best way possible.
There are several types of infographic templates out there and each of them has a different purpose:
- Statistical infographics: to visualize survey results or present data
- Informational infographics: to provide a quick overview of a topic
- Timeline infographics: to give an overview of events
- Process infographics: to provide an overview of steps in a process
- Geographic infographics: to visualize location-based information
- Comparison infographics: to compare options or concepts
- List infographics: to share a list of resources or collection of tips
Choose a layout that complements the story you want to tell and helps you convey it effectively.
Speaking of designing infographics, you might think of using Canva. You should also consider Canva alternatives that are more suited to create beautiful and professional-looking infographics.
Add images, icons, and charts
If you think you can copy-paste the content from your blog post into the infographic layout, you’re mistaken. Remember: an infographic is a collection of imagery, illustrations, graphs, charts, and minimal text.
You must use visuals to reinforce the key takeaways and make the information more engaging.
So, trim down the sentences and see how you can use visuals to strengthen the infographic. For instance, if you’re calling out a statistic, pair it with a chart. Not only will this draw more attention but it will also help you convey the information more clearly and quickly.
These are the different types of visuals you can use in your infographic:
- Icons
- Illustrations
- Charts and graphs
- Stock photos
- Symbols
Take a look at this simple list infographic. It pairs an icon with every header, making the key takeaways more memorable.
Source: Venngage
Follow design principles
The design of your infographic plays a huge role in storytelling. If you repurpose your blog post into a bad infographic that’s cluttered and confusing, it is a missed opportunity.
Abiding by design principles not only helps you create aesthetically pleasing infographics but also effective ones that make the information stand out.
Here are some key infographic design best practices you must keep in mind:
- Use 2-3 types of simple and legible fonts to create a text hierarchy
- Pair 2-3 contrasting color combinations to make the information pop
- Group related information using lines, borders, and shapes
- Make sure there is consistent spacing between design elements
The takeaway: Repurpose blog posts into infographics
One of the biggest benefits of repurposing blog posts into infographics is that it helps you reach a wider audience and amplify your content marketing efforts.
From submitting it to infographic directories and pitching guestographics to creating mini-infographics for social media and sharing it on forums — there are many ways to promote your repurposed infographic and drive organic traffic to your website.
So the next time you want to create an infographic and don’t know where to begin, how about looking into your repository of blog posts for inspiration?
About the author
Simki Dutta is a content marketer at Venngage, a free infographic maker and design platform. She writes about all things marketing and communications. Find her on Twitter and LinkedIn.