In case you're just joining me, this is just one post in a series on the power of Visual Marketing for your wedding business. Earlier this week, we met a bridal business who used Infographics, currently one of the hottest visual medium trends, to gain 100 new Facebook fans and 2,000 new blog visitors. Today, we'll explore what you need to know about infographics before you dive in. Plus, as my Thank You Gift to you for sticking with me in this series, I'm giving away my own infographic to help you remember the basics of visual marketing for your wedding business.

1. Don't Rush It

Elle McCann mentioned this in her interview and I have to concur. Having designed my first infographic recently...and taking 2 full business days to do it...I can confirm that the process does take time.

It's not just the designing, which of course is time-consuming in and of itself. It's also the planning. In my next tips, you'll see that you can't just toss something together and expect it to be a big hit. Before you take on the info graphic challenge, make sure you have at least 1-2 months to plan it out and work with your designer on it. I did it in a month, but that's because I was designing it myself.

To minimize the time it takes to design, provide your designer with the all of the content of your graphic up front, including all text, stats and other details. The more specific you are, the less back-and-forth editing there will be.

2. Make It Meaningful

If you want your infographic to have value to your audience, it needs to provide a useful takeaway that actually means something to them. You want them to think "Wow, that's really helpful. I better hang on to this one for future reference" or "I'm so glad I saw this, I would never have thought of it that way. Duly noted!"

One of the best ways to accomplish this is by including real numbers and statistics. (Just be sure they are true and accurate first!)

Want to share this infographic? 

3. Target Your Ideal Client

If you're a wedding planner specializing in gay marriages, you'll appeal to your ideal audience better if you share stats and tips related to same-sex weddings than those pertaining to the general market as a whole. To really stand out in your niche, be as specific to your target market as possible...give them what they specifically want. 

4. Let the Images Tell the Story

This is kind of a design tip, but its good for you to share with your designer if they've never done an infographic before (and, yes, if you don't have a designer, Bride Appeal can create one for you.) Infographics are meant to tell a story through images, not text. Naturally, some text may be necessary, but you want the graphic to make sense somewhat through pictures even if all the text were removed.

Elements like icons, pie charts and graphs will demonstrate a concept without words.

5. Keep it Simple

Focus on one single topic and don't overcomplicate it with wild, busy graphics. You'll notice that our infographic is clean, spacious and easy to scan. To avoid confusion, it also only covers only one single topic.

6. Brand It

Naturally, you'll want to include your logo and website address in the graphic. However, I also suggest you align the look and feel with your own branding. You can see that our infographic includes the chartreuse-ish yellow from our own logo and gray from our website, along with our standard fonts. You'll see that Elle also stayed true to her branding in her own infographics.

This is how you put your unique signature on your infographic and create visual memory with your brand for those that view it.

7. Optimize It

Optimize it for both search engines and sharing. If you're hosting the image on your own website or blog, be sure to optimize the file so that it can get found in search engines. When creating the graphic, make sure your designer knows the correct file size, format and dimensions that will allow for easy sharing online, based on the standard spacing in blogs and the file size that will load quickly in a browser.

8. Give Credit Where Credit Is Due

In addition to referencing your own website and logo, you want to make sure to credit the source for any stats you use and keep a record of where you obtained the numbers. (I'm not a lawyer, so consult your own attorney for what you can legally cite.)

Don't use any images you don't own or don't have a license or legal permission to use...ever! Putting someone else's image in a new image is still copyright infringement. (Again, seek counsel from your attorney if you're unsure of your rights.)

What Other Questions Do You Have?

Have other questions about using infographics in your wedding business marketing? Let me know below...