6 Inspiring New Ways to Create and Share Data

Published on November 2, 2016

Thinking visually is key to the art of content creation. Just consider the facts! Most humans only remember about 20% of what they read, but 90% of what they see. People on Facebook and Twitter much prefer posts with visual content: engagement on tweets with images is well over 100% higher than on tweets without, while Facebook posts with images see twice the engagement as posts without.

And this knowledge hasn’t been lost on marketers; more and more digital marketers have been shifting their attention to image, video, and infographic creation. Indeed, according to stats from the Content Marketing Institute, 55% of content creators planned to prioritize creating visual content in 2016, and a full 73% of content creators are aiming to create “more engaging content” in the months ahead.

Don’t let your marketing efforts get left behind! Drive up engagement and increase your brand loyalty with these six creative ways to package and share your content:

Infographics

We haven’t made any secrets of our deep love for infographics here at Geek. They’re bright, visually dynamic ways to convey a lot of complex information in an accessible (and intensely shareable) package, and they’re the perfect fit for information of all sorts. Don’t believe us? We’ve seen them do wonders driving in social traffic for brands ranging from law firms to real estate agents; why not try putting one to work for you?

Interactive Charts

According to research from Demand Gen Report, 86% of buyers want access to interactive/visual content on demand. Why not fulfill their wish – and drive up your engagement, lower your bounce rate, and promote a positive web experience – by repackaging some of your most important stats, facts, and results as an interactive graph or chart?

Never underestimate the power of freedom; giving your audience a sense of control over their journey will actually encourage more to follow you all the way through your conversion funnel.

GIFs

Here at Geek Chicago, we love GIFs. We share ‘em on Twitter and even make our own. You should give it a try – even for the Photoshop-averse, it’s surprisingly easy to create a charming file that gives lots of life to your content. Even better? GIFs aren’t just good for eye candy or punchlines – they’re practical ways of showing lots of diverse information in just a few frames. Want to show your readers where to click on a webpage? How long they may need to wait for a file to upload? How dramatically a bar graph has changed over a given period? Showcase it all with a GIF!

Slideshows

Remember what we said about users loving the chance to control the speed and route they take along a webpage? Slideshows are another easy way to turn control over to your audience – without sacrificing any of your high quality writing or graphic design.

Even better? There are plenty of slideshow options available for users looking to get started. Try Prezi for visually dynamic data dumps, or turn your Powerpoint or Apple presentations into embeddable click-catchers with SlideShare, by LinkedIn.

Videos

Daily video consumption on Facebook has doubled in less than a year, and that number isn’t unique; in fact, some prognosticators expect video to account for roughly 75% of all internet traffic by 2017.

And while we’re not as sold on the idea of the all-video future as some others in our field, we do think it’s vital to keep up. Fortunately, the explosion of video has made it easier than ever to get started, thanks to channels like Facebook Live, Periscope, Instagram, and Snapchat. [R.I.P. Vine - please watch this!]

Quizzes

You’ve got a ton of information, and you’ve shared it every way you know how. Now what? Well, why not test your audience’s know-how. Users love quizzes, tests, and anything that turns stuffy old content into an engaging new game. And if you have a rich reserve of data or information, you don’t need to create new content to stuff your quizzes; instead, simply mine and repackage your existing work and still get all of the engagement and SEO benefits of brand new content.

Have any other ideas to diversify your content marketing? Want to see some of our visuals in action? Be sure to keep the conversation going on Twitter or Facebook!