Infographics as a Marketing Service:
At DiscoverTec, we take our Infographics very seriously – it may sound weird but the process of researching topics, scripting the content for our designers and getting approval from clients is a long process with truly amazing outcomes. Because we see such value in Infographics, we decided to make it part of our content process and have been redefining those steps for years and years. One of those steps that we’ve held onto is where we distribute our Infographics once they are designed and approved.
Infographic Distribution Research:
When we first started distributing content, our content team researched and reviewed different distribution channels for Infographics. We defined the “better” ones based on specific criteria including:
- Domain Authority
- Cost of Infographic Submission
- Ease of Upload (gotta be efficient)
- Trust of the Website
- And as time went on, resources that pull from the websites
Once we nailed down that list, we started running tests and adding notes to decide which ones were worth using for our main distribution or not really worth the energy. This is what that looked like.
Within this list, we also made a checklist. So, if we are distributing several Infographics at a time, we could determine where, how much we spent, and if it was uploaded – this comes back to Ease of Upload in the bullets above. After all is said and done, here is our list and direct URL’s of where to submit your masterpiece. These are in no particular order but are recommended based on our criteria.
Top 5 Infographic Distribution Channels
The original cost is $19.99 (as of 2017) but there are easy add-ons that we find very useful and moreover effective. We like to add a social promotion +$12.97 and a feature on homepage +16.99. With 14,300 Facebook Likes, 13,800 Twitter Followers and 14,300 Pinterest Followers, the additional cost gives us and our clients that extra boost of social power.
Only one backlink per profile (not Infographic) and thrown in a huge bucket of other Infographics (possible competitors), why use Visual.ly? Well it’s absolutely the most popular channel on the internet. With a DA of 86 and a strong following, Visual.ly is a no-brainer. It is very easy to register and also has a great visual appeal for client meetings. If your Infographic is good enough, watch out, it’s going to be a traffic generator – oh, and it’s free.
Infographic Journal comes with a cost but we find it nominal for what you actually get per upload. At $25.00, it’s a distribution channel that connects with other distribution websites and gets them all over the internet quickly. There is a Free version as well, but if you’re going to get it done, get it done right and go for the paid, so you know it’s been distributed ASAP.
Aniart Design:
This one is an inexpensive distribution channel at $9.99, but the process is a little strange having to go through PayPal first and then going through the process of uploading your Infographic. It does work though, so don’t get nervous. Once you pay, it’s a good channel for distribution and relatively easy.
Web 2.0 channels:
This is technically the fifth spot to upload Infographics. We love different Web 2.0 channels for backlink opportunities, ease of use and a great place to showcase your work. Here are a few we use:
Connected to LinkedIn. If you don’t have one yet, get some slide decks and Infographics together and start sharing.
Medium has an email newsletter that goes out with great content uploaded by its users and offers great backlinking opportunities. Also very easy to upload content and share across a large network.
You know Tumblr, use Tumblr.
Hailed as a fantastic article writing service, Contently also has a direct link back to your posts and Infographics. It’s very easy to use, has a followed link and takes very little time to set up. A real winner, this Contently.
How do you know it’s Working?
We run a search in Google Image and run the original .jpg to see where the Infographic has been picked up online. No surprise that Pinterest is a major way people distribute your content but what we found very interesting is that Infographics are also redesigned in foreign languages and distributed. Whether this is a big win for your marketing distribution strategy is to be determined by you, but regardless, it is pretty cool to see your work as a viable piece of content globally.
Next Steps to distribute Infographics
Set aside a budget after you’ve designed the Infographic. It takes around $200 per distribution and of course a couple of hours to send out and follow up on. First, build out the Web 2.0 channels and understand how they work and then once you have your Infographic, do to the links above and follow the directions. It’ll take some time your first go but after long, you’ll have it down to a distribution science.