Ever wished you could just use a picture to explain a process instead of words (or your hands)?
A process infographic can be exactly what you need to show your audience how something is to be done or how a process works. A well-designed one can establish you as an authority on any topic you want to cover – whether you want to show how your company’s coffee is sourced or whether you want to remotely train the new employee.
Even better, they can be easily created from a template or from scratch so you can start with a template today.
What is a process infographic?
A process infographic simplifies and explains the steps of a process primarily visually. Generally, an intuitive layout that the viewer can easily follow from start to finish is used to illustrate what happens during each step or stage. A well-designed process infographic will make the concept you want to share more accessible and save you and the audience time.
Chances are that you come across process infographics of some form on a fairly regular basis in your daily life. Imagine how much (more complicated) it would be to build your new Ikea desk if the instructions were only for words and no graphics. Pretty daunting, isn’t it?
With the help of process infographics, we can visualize how a process works faster and more clearly. This makes them excellent training and education tools – but also an intelligent marketing strategy.
Here is an example of a process infographic explaining mechanical recycling:
Image source: bluevision
For marketers – especially those of us trying to market products or services that need explanation – process infographics are extremely helpful in reaching potential leads and communicating the value of your business. Using visuals to explain how your company’s offerings can add value to customers will make your marketing materials more memorable and impactful than just using copies.
Where can I find process infographic templates?
If you’d like to create your own process infographic from a template, here are some options to suit every budget.
Venngage
Venngage offers a variety of process-specific infographic templates for a variety of purposes. If you want to essentially cram your process into a final design and get started, you will likely find what you want on Venngage. Monthly and yearly subscriptions are available that give you full access to the template library and create and download your own process infographics.
Template available on Venngage
Canva
Canva has pre-made infographic process templates that are ideal for fun activities, recipes, and the occasional life hack. You can also create a blank infographic process template on the site if you can’t find one that fits your project. Canva has a free and paid version that will suit your needs.
Template available on Canva
Visme
Visme’s library of process-specific templates includes a variety of different options, including more flowchart-style process templates than other infographic builder websites. If you want to translate a particularly complex process into a visual medium, Visme is a smart place to look for the perfect template. You can set up an account for free or access the entire library as a premium member.
Template available on Visme
HubSpot
We’d love not to mention that HubSpot offers free infographic templates, including a number of process-specific templates that are easy to customize. All of our templates are free and compatible with PowerPoint. So you don’t have to download any new programs or apps to use them.
Template available from HubSpot
DesignCap
DesignCap is an online graphic design tool with a curated selection of process infographic templates that you can customize to suit your needs. While their choices are technically smaller than the other template tools on this list, each template has been created by a professional designer. They offer many templates for free and have paid plans starting at $ 4.99 / month.
How to create a process infographic without a template
If you can’t find a process infographic template that fits the process you want to visualize, you can always create your own.
For information on conceiving, structuring and creating a cohesive design for your infographic, see our step-by-step blog post here, where you can develop your own infographic design in PowerPoint. Below are some infographic processing tips that you can apply to any design.
Choose one Explain process.
Process infographics are good at breaking down complex topics, but you still want to narrow the scope of your design to a single topic that can be explained in a linear fashion – things that have a beginning and an end. Trying to explain too much in a picture can confuse your design. Stick to one central idea per infographic.
Talk to your audience, not yourself.
This is true of most marketing strategies, but it’s always important to remember that – most of the time – you Not Your target audience. You probably know a lot more about the subject of your infographic than you do about your audience. Hence, you can easily refer to this knowledge when planning your design.
Since your audience knows less about this topic than you do, it’s important to approach each complexity from their perspective and to take the time to explain more elements than you would need yourself.
Plan each step with a clear beginning and ending.
At the beginning of your infographic, identify where your audience will start (what they will likely know about the process before you read the infographic) and where you should end (what they should know in the end). With these specifics in mind, plan the steps of
Experiment with the layout.
How can you best structure the information in your process infographic? This ultimately depends on the “shape” of your information.
For example, a supply chain infographic is likely to benefit from a simple, linear way of displaying information, but a process of how your company recommends certain products for different needs would be more like a flowchart design. Experiment with different methods to represent each step of the process you describe until you find one that makes sense.
Edit for the sake of clarity.
When you have completed a draft of your process infographic, read it again and look for areas that may be unclear or confusing. Or better yet, ask someone to review your work with fresh eyes.
Don’t skip this final review – the goal of your infographic is to make something more complex, more accessible, and not everyone learns new information the same way. Taking a different look can help refine your infographic to suit a wider audience.
Visuals succeed where words can fail.
We avoided using that particularly relevant cliché for this entire article, but here it comes: an image is really says more than a thousand words. Using graphics to aid in your explanation of complex topics or processes can help make your marketing materials more accessible and human.
The next time it’s your job to break down a topic that seems to resist clear explanation, consider making a process infographic instead.
