How to Create an Infographic in Under an Hour [+ Free Templates]

Wouldn’t it be great if creating infographics were as easy as writing regular old text-based blog posts? Unfortunately, creating visual content like this usually takes a lot more time and effort, and let’s face it – Skill – than the written word. Mostly.

However, given the popularity and effectiveness of visual content in marketing today, one cannot afford to throw in the towel.

That is why we made a decision to remove the pain and suffering of infographic creation. Seriously – don’t give up just yet. You too can create infographics that look professional, are of high quality, and can be completed in under an hour. I will prove it. The important things first:

Then all you have to do is provide the content to be used in them. It’s that simple. In fact, I’m going to show you how easy it is to make your own infographic by demonstrating with one of our 15 infographic templates in PowerPoint (pictured above). Then I’ll explain exactly what I did so you can get a feel for how easy it really is.

1. Identify the audience for your infographic.

Infographics don’t just sell with design. You need to provide “information” that is as compelling as the “graphic” and to do that you need to know the audience your infographic is trying to reach.

According to Harvard Business Review, there are five possible audiences who can change your selection and visualization of your data: Beginner, Generalist, Manager, Expert, and Executive. First, compare the ideal reader of your infographic with one of these five target groups – which one applies to your reader?

As you think about the data you want to visualize, let the five audiences above determine how far your data has progressed. For example, a “novice” audience may need data whose meaning becomes more obvious at first glance. An “expert” might be more interested in digging into the weeds of your numbers and theories around them. A “leader” has more to do with an inexperienced audience, as they only have time for the simplest or most critical information and business impact.

2. Gather your content and relevant data.

Using the audience you selected above, your next step is to organize all of the content and data that you will be using in the infographic. You can either collect third party data or use your own original data. When using third-party data, make sure you cite your sources correctly – just like any other good content.

• Selection of your data: Compelling data needs to be “comprehensive” enough to provide your readers with appropriate context for the data you are presenting. For example, an increase in website traffic from one month to the next doesn’t mean much – until, for example, you notice that traffic has steadily decreased over the past three months. All of a sudden you have a story about how you reversed a downtrend.
• Organization of your data: As you collect your data, make sure that you use this information to understand what story you want to tell. Data for the purpose of data will not add any value to your infographic at all.
• Cite your sources: The best way to keep your infographic cluttered is to cite your sources by adding a simple URL at the end of your infographic that points to a page on your website. You can also list the individual statistics used in your infographic and their sources – ex. B. The landing page of the full listing that you are basing this free infographic on.

That way, your infographic will look clean and professional, and still users will be able to access the sources no matter where the infographic is shared or embedded. It can also bring visitors back to your website.

3. Select the infographic template you want.

The next step is to choose an infographic template that is suitable for presenting this data. The important thing is that you choose a template that is specific to the type of record / content you want to present. As you saw pictured above, you can Download our 15 infographic templates in PowerPoint and choose the template you want.

Some of your template options in the offering linked above include a timeline, flowchart, side-by-side comparison, and data-driven infographic. Here are some basic ideas for choosing an infographic template that fits the story you want your data to tell:

• Infographic for direct comparison: This infographic design can help prove the advantage of one concept over another, or simply explain the differences between two competing entities.
• Flowchart Infographic: This design is perfect for showcasing a new workflow for your company, or for how a linear or cyclical process works in your industry.
• Timeline Infographic: This design can tell a chronological story or story of a business, industry, product, or concept.
• Graphic-based infographic: This design is suitable for content creators who publish a lot of data and statistical information, so it works well for experts audience, also.
• Image-heavy infographic: This design is for content creators trying to reveal trends and information from shapes, designs, or photographs – and not just numbers and numbers.

4. Download your template in PowerPoint.

For time constraints (remember, our mission is to make an infographic in less than an hour), I’m going to create an infographic based on a compilation of steps and best practices that we found in our guide, How To Do An Inbound from “marketing campaign in 2018. For this purpose, I have selected the infographic template” The world’s greatest timeline “from our collection of infographic templates. This is helpful for my dataset as it allows me to outline each step of the campaign creation process in turn.

5. Customize your infographic

This is of course the most time-consuming part – but it’s also the most fun. Just come up with a catchy title, insert your data / content and adjust your font sizes and formatting. You can also change the graphics and colors so they are relevant to your brand and the data you provide. To further customize the look of the infographic, you can add or change the colors or font styles.

In this example, you’ll notice that I’ve entered my text and changed the font colors to HubSpot’s signature orange and dark blue:

You are also not limited to what the template contains. You can use the tools in the PowerPoint software to create bar charts, pie charts, and other visual elements to aid your data. (Note: Download our free infographic templates for a cheat sheet on using the various features and tools in PowerPoint.)

6. Add a footer to your sources and logo.

Finally, I included a link to my source (which can be found here) as well as the HubSpot logo so people know who created the infographic when it is shared on social media or embedded on other websites – which is definitely something you want because one of the main advantages of creating infographics is that it is divisible.

7. Add and post embed code and a Pinterest button.

All you have to do is publish and promote your amazing new infographic. As mentioned earlier, we recommend using your blog for publishing (including your source list), including a Pinterest button that allows visitors to easily “pin” your infographic to Pinterest, and creating and adding an embed code to which the visitor will view it can share their own websites and blogs like we did above.

Share this picture on your website

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That’s it! This whole thing took less than an hour to put together – a lot shorter than I should have done if I had started from scratch (not to mention a more professional look … and cheaper than hiring a designer).

That’s it! This whole thing took less than an hour to put together – much less time (not to mention a more professional look) than it would have taken if I had started from scratch. Plus, it’s cheaper than hiring a designer and using whatever resources you might want to save on larger campaigns.

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in May 2020 and has been updated for completeness.