With thousands of infographics posted on a daily basis, it can take a lot of work to get your latest creation the online attention it deserves. This can be problematic if you've invested the time, money and resources and the infographic fails in promotion. As the owner of both an infographic design agency and an infographic submission website, I've seen my share of promotion wins and promotion flops. While not all infographics have what it takes to make it in even the best of promotion circumstances, here are some tips for success:
1. Choose a Topic that Makes an Impact
It may sound trite, but a headline can make or break your infographic. Salesy topics will get you nowhere, because webmasters will rarely publish someone else's advertisement for free. Bloggers want to post infographics that will get their readers talking, and even better, commenting on their site. They want topics that provide that "A-ha" moment, make people laugh, incite debate, or shed light on something nobody knew about. Some of the most widely shared infographics online have topics that impacted their audience:
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Geek vs. Nerd, followed by Geek vs. Hipster
2. Design Makes a BIG Difference
A topic can be amazing, but if the design is not properly executed, your infographic will have a hard time getting shared online. Infographics are meant to tell a story visually, so people don't want a reading assignment: they want eye candy. Additionally, the design should be well-organized and original. There are too many infographics released today using stock photos, stock icons, or templates. Most blogs won't post them because it's obvious that the design was done quickly and only for links. Bloggers and webmasters care about what they post to their sites, and those that will provide quality backlinks or social shares expect quality content. If you're unwilling to spend time on creating something eye-catching and amazing, it's an insult to ask webmasters of any caliber to post it to their site.
3. Identify an Outreach List
Once you have an amazing infographic, the next step is to identify a list of blogs and websites that you think will post your design. This list should include sites that your core audience often visits as well as blogs that have posted similar infographics in the past. Be sure to identify sites in which you think your infographic would be of genuine interest to their readers. The list should include a minimum of 100 webmasters, as well as contacts for all of the infographic submission sites that exist.
If you're promoting multiple infographics, be sure to create a unique outreach list for each one. Getting backlinks from the same sites over and over again will create a subpar backlink profile and devalue your infographics.
4. Mondays Are the Best Days
Once you have your outreach list ready, it's time to promote your infographic. After promoting over 1,000 viral infographics, we've learned that Mondays are the best days to launch a new design. These are the days that many webmasters are planning their content for the week and are more apt to read a pitch email. On the other hand, don't post during a holiday week. The odds of your pitch email being read during a holiday week go way down as many bloggers have day jobs keeping them busy during a short workweek, or they may take long vacations during holidays.
5. Don't Spam Anyone
This is another tip that may sound trite, but it's amazing how few people take it to heart. SubmitInfographics.com receives over 25 infographic submissions every day. Of those, only one or two emails seem like the sender actually took their time to speak to our reviewers directly. Most send canned emails, some just include a link to an infographic, and even others include a salutation like "Hello INSERT NAME HERE" - to be clear, they are actually leaving the words "INSERT NAME HERE" instead of filling in the blanks of their own form letter.
In a world where email has become the main form of communication, recognizing spam is now second nature for most. So, rather than cutting a few corners and trying to reach out to all of your contacts in one email, take the time to write up something unique to stand out. Based on our own experience, less than 4% of people are actually doing this, so you have a far better chance of getting your infographic posted if you just take the time to write a personal email to each webmaster on your contact list.
6. Follow Up
Since you're already taking the time to write a personal email, it's also good to follow up. Wait a week from when you first sent an email and reach out to those who didn't respond. It's possible they were out of the office or maybe they still flagged your email as spam. A personal follow up shows them that you are a real person, who feels that their readers would be genuinely interested in the infographic you are promoting.
In the end, running an infographic promotion is similar to most content marketing: there's a great deal of things you can do to set it up for success, but there are a variety of factors outside of your control that may lead to less than ideal results. Still, integrating these best practices into your infographic promotion strategy can increase your chances at a more successful campaign. Start today and watch the results!