Before I dive in too deep, let’s first discuss the point of infographics.  Infographics have become very popular as of late.  There are a large number of infographics posted online every single day, most of which are so-so and a special few that are amazing.  Infographics are a great tool for online marketing, but they also provide an easy way to get large amounts of information across to your end user in a fun and easy way.  Companies that have adopted infographics do so to better connect with their target audience, build their brand, drive traffic to their website, and gain inbound links.  In the end, the ROI of any infographic is measured through traffic gained, shares on social sites, and inbound links.  That said, not all infographics have large amounts of all 3.  Some infographics may only result in 2 inbound links while still getting thousands of shares on Facebook.  Other infographics might drive thousands of visitors to your site, but will be so niche that other webmasters will not re-post the design, leaving you with zero inbound links.  Any company wanting to enter the infographic space for their online marketing should accept these facts and know that a proper infographic campaign has its ups and downs and should therefor not be measured by infographic, but instead measured by overall traffic, links, social shares, and brand recognition once the campaign is completed.

To run a thorough infographic campaign, a company should commit to producing at least 1 infographic every 2 weeks over the course of a quarter.  This is our advice, but not something we require of our clients.  This is because the founders of Killer Infographics have been on marketing teams for large companies.  We know that in most companies, there are many stake holders to convince when investing in any marketing campaign.  And sometimes this means that a marketing campaign might be a little slow to take off at first.

Now that I’ve explained infographics and their ROI, let’s dive into what this post is all about: finding the best infographic design agency.

There are a some key factors that one should consider when looking for an infographic design firm:

1. Price & Value for the Money
2. Design Quality/Aesthetic
3. Turn Around Time, Process & Track Record
4. Clients, Service, and Accountability
5. Hidden Costs?

Let’s dive into these one by one.

How Much Do Infographics Cost?

Very few companies (especially in this economy) can say that price is no option.  The fact is, price is a very important factor of any new marketing campaign, especially with so many companies keeping strict budgets.  Infographics fall into the realm of SEO in many ways since they are a tool for link building.  The problem here is that SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is an ever changing space where up means down one day and down may mean up another.  I should know, I’ve been in the SEO business for many, many years now.  Of course, the problem here is that at most companies, SEO is the hardest thing to get any money for.  This is why price is definitely an important factor in infographic designs.

Still, good designers aren’t cheap, especially those based in the U.S.  Luckily, there are a few infographic design firms out there that are able to produce very high quality designs for very reasonable prices.  In my opinion, an infographic should not cost over $1000 (which is much higher than we have every charged a client).  That said, there are infographic design firms out there that charge this high price tag, and sometimes the price is reasonable given what they offer.

So with that, you have to ask yourself:  What am I getting for the money?

The answer is different with every design firm.  If the design firm is offering to market your infographics for you, then they might be worth that $1000 price tag (provided their designs and service are good).  The fact is, not all companies can do this on their own.  To keep our costs low, we supply our clients with a guide to marketing their own infographics with a list of steps that are easy enough for any intern to take on.  That said, some clients want their infographic campaign to be as turnkey as possible.  When we get clients requesting that we market their infographics as well, we connect them with a trusted SEO firm that will take on the marketing side of things.  Of course, this will double (if not triple) prices pretty fast, so it’s never our first suggestion.  Other infographic design agencies offer the entire package with marketing infographics just one of the many perks you may get if you sign up for a retainer with them.

Some key things that will impact the price of any infographic design include the following:

• Research – will you supply research, or do you want the agency to do that for you?
• Brainstorming – will you supply ideas for your infographics, or do you want the agency to do that for you?
• Wire Framing – do you want to sign off on a wire frame before getting your first draft?
• Source Files – do you want the layered source file with your infographic (the PSD/AI files)?
• Edits – what kind of edits do you want for your infographics?
• Promotion – do you want the agency to also market your infographic online?
• Reporting – do you want the agency to create detailed reports regarding the success of your infographic?

I’m not going to give away our special sauce, but will say that with each bullet point any firm will likely add more costs to the final product, and other firms only provide you with the all or nothing option.  To really find a great agency, start doing some price comparisons.  Ask each agency what they cost for all the features above, or pick out the features you must have from an agency, and ask them to setup pricing just based on those.

Value for the money is also very important to consider.  For instance, how much is the firm charging to research the topic?  Is this something you can do yourself?  The answer to this is maybe.  Researching for an infographic takes a certain mindset, because you have to be sure to find enough data to drive an entire design.  That said, if you’re a data company, this shouldn’t be hard at all, so why pay for it?

If the company offers to market your infographic, what are they promising with that marketing?  Are they guaranteeing a certain number of tweets, stumbles, and Facebook shares?  Are they promising a certain number of inbound links?  And if they are promising links, what is the quality of those links?  Will those links be from social media sites, or high PageRank blogs?  These are all very important things to ask.  The fact is, these are also very hard things to promise so be weary of agencies the make promises that are too good to be true, because they likely are.

Make sure you’re not paying too much for a sub-par service.  If the design agency makes mediocre designs, but markets them so well that you end up with hundreds of high quality inbound links, is it worth it?  Or would you prefer a company that makes amazing designs and markets them wonderfully?

In the end, you get what you pay for.  If the infographic costs you $200, it’s not going to look that great, but this leads to the next point:

What is the Design Quality/Aesthetic of Infographics Produced?

Every infographic company you reach out to should be able to supply you with a portfolio of their work.  Be weary of those that say they can’t provide a portfolio because their clients won’t let them.  At Killer Infographics, we are mainly a white-label design firm.  This means that the majority of our designs are ones that we don’t take credit for because our clients are larger agencies, selling our designs to their clients as their own.  That said, we were still able to get client approval to compile a number of infographics that showcase our work while maintaining client confidence.  All agencies should be able to do this, and those that can’t, should have designs of their own (non-client) infographics to showcase their work.

When looking at infographics produced by an agency, make sure they follow the guidelines of a quality infographic. Check to see if every infographic in their portfolio is unique.  This ensures that they aren’t just reusing the same elements over and over again to cut time and costs.  Most importantly, we all have our own definition of “eye candy.”  Make sure the infographics supplied by the agency fit your definition of “eye candy,” otherwise you won’t be happy with the final outcome.

What’s the Infographic Design Firm’s Turn Around Time, Process & Track Record?

Some infographic design agencies take up to a month to turn around one infographic, while others can complete your infographic in just a few days.  This all depends on their process of course, and their track record will tell you whether or not their projections are accurate.

Pretty much any agency can do a rush order, though they will likely charge you extra for that rush.  Similarly, any agency can take their time with an order, depending on what the client needs.  With all the variables impacting turn around time, what you should ask every agency is simple: What’s your average turn around time for an infographic?  After they’ve told you that turn around time, ask them what’s included in that time frame.  Are they suggesting that they will get you an infographic in 5 days with the research, wire frame, and all edits included in that time frame?  Or, are they suggesting that the first draft will get to you in 5 days?  This will help you set your expectations and your marketing plan.

Get details about the full process that each agency follows.  For instance, how long will it take them to send you research and a wire frame, and how long do you have to approve that research and wire frame?  How long will it take them to complete edits if requested?  Will they charge you for those edits?  The answer to each question will likely lead to a new one, but in the end you will have a very clear idea of their process and you will need to make sure it fits with your schedule.

Finally, ask about their track record.  How many orders have they had that they never completed?  How many orders have they had to completely redo because they missed the mark when producing the infographic?  Did they charge for that? What parts of their process help to ensure exhaustive edits won’t be necessary?  Finally, how many infographics have they completed for clients since they began designing infographics?

Who Are the Clients of Each Infographic Design Agency and What do They Think?

Not all infographic design firms are at liberty to disclose their clients, and many might be weary about providing this information out of fear their clients will be stolen from them.  While these are valid concerns, every agency should have a handful of very loyal clients, and if they don’t, then you might be taking a risk working with them.  Ask the infographic design firm about the clients they work with.  They should be able to provide a few names, hopefully some of which you recognize.  Ask them where the clients are located, since you’ll want to see whether the infographic design firm works with local clients, national clients, or even international.

Next, ask about regular clients.  A lot of companies are just starting to test out infographics, and because of this they may not order more than one or two up front.  Because of this, some agencies might have a lot of clients, but few ever come back for a second order.  Try to get a list of regular clients and then don’t hesitate to reach out to those clients and get their take on the infographic design firm.  This will help you determine whether the firm is actually everything they make themselves out to be.

When you talk with these clients, ask them about the customer service they receive, but be sure to also ask the infographic design agency if you hear about some poor service.  There are 2 sides to every story and some clients may not voice their issues with the agency, making it hard for the agency to right any wrongs.

When you talk with other clients, you’ll also have the opportunity to determine how accountable the infographic design firm holds themselves for their designs.  Some firms might bend over backwards to make a customer happy, while others might leave customers high and dry with poor work if the customer gets too hard to work with.  Make sure you do your homework and find out what other client experiences were before choosing an infographic design agency.

Are There Any Hidden Costs?

We live in a world where, when the price seems too good to be true, there is often a bait and switch waiting for us around the corner.  This is something everyone wants to avoid, but sometimes we can’t help but get lured in by an agency that under bids another.  Because of this, it’s important to lay out your expectations up front and make sure that the infographic design agency is as open with you as possible about any hidden costs.

Some common hidden costs to look out for include:

• Minimum order commitments – Some design agencies won’t take on a client unless they agree to a minimum number of infographics per order.  Costs might be cut when you agree to this, but if you aren’t happy with the designs produced, this might cost more.  Make sure you’re confident with the company before making a commitment like this.
• Editing costs – It’s very rare that an infographic will be produced without needing at least one edit.  Not all edits can be free, because sometimes you might approve a project and then your CEO asks for too many out of scope edits that were not requested in the original order.  This just happens.  All that said, there are a variety of simple edits that should just come standard with any infographic, so make sure you know what edits will cost money and what edits will be free.  Next, find out how the infographic design firm charges for edits, because this is also a very important price tag to consider if you anticipate many edits.
• Retainers – Retainers are similar to minimum order requirements, but they mainly focus on how much money you have to spend with the infographic agency before your commitment is over.  If you are going to sign up for a retainer, make sure there’s an easy out if you’re unhappy with the designs.
• Bulk Orders – While bulk orders should mean cheaper infographics, some design agencies charge more because it means that they might be at capacity with your orders and won’t be able to take orders from other clients.  Ask about bulk orders up front so that you can determine whether there is an opportunity for money savings, or a possibility of extra costs should you decide to order a large amount of infographics up front.

With so many infographics living around the world wide web, how do we differentiate the good from the bad? And as a business owner, how do you find the right designer for your infographic? Luckily, there are some distinguishing factors of a good infographic that will help both designers and their clients hit the high bar that has been set by some top infographic design agencies.

Factors of a Good Infographic

When looking at an infographic, check to see if it has the following factors:

1. Data Visualization

While this may sound obvious, too many “infographics” that are submitted to this site do not follow this very simple MUST of any infographic.  Infographics should be data driven designs.  There’s a simple rule of thumb to follow for any design to be considered an infographic: If all of the text can be taken out of the design and it still makes sense, then it is an infographic.  Likewise, if you can take all the images out of the design and it does not make sense, then it is an infographic.  In other words, the designer should not rely on text to tell the story; the images should tell the story.  More often than not, designs are submitted to us that rely on typography to make the infographic visually stimulating and use too much text to tell the story.  Look at this excerpt from a recent infographic that we posted:

If you take all the text out of this portion, you are left with a blank off-white box.  This is data that could easily be shown in a pie chart instead.  Displaying this information in a pie chart would help to make it far easier to take in for the average viewer, and allow the viewer to quickly compare the emissions side by side.  As such, this section is a lost opportunity where data visualization would be so easy to incorporate, yet it wasn’t included.

2. A Clean Color Pallet

Again, this sounds obvious, but even the best designers have issues when it comes to entering the mindset required to design an infographic.  Designing an infographic presents a very large challenge to any designer, because too many designers are used to creating images that compliment text, rather than creating images that will tell the entire story.  Because of this, they tend to get tripped up when determining a color pallet that will allow them to showcase vast amounts of information while also separating sections properly.  If the infographic has a color pallet that clashes with the website it was produced for, has colors that don’t compliment each other, or is too dark, it will deter people from even viewing or sharing it.  Infographic designers have risen the bar when it comes to the look and feel of today’s data visualizations.  They are creating eye candy to compete with the mass amounts of infographics being produced.  In other words, the best infographics have a great color pallet that is easy on the eyes, while also drawing in the viewer.

3. A clear story

An infographic should tell a story.  If it doesn’t, then what’s the point in publishing the infographic in the first place?  Infographics should have relevant, topical, and interesting information, and in the end they should leave the viewer feeling as if they have a far better understanding of the topic at hand.  This is why infographics are so long these days.  Traditional infographics used to be one chart/graph that was well designed and made a clear point.  Today’s infographics are very long and include many charts and graphs to get across an entire concept or idea.  More importantly, an infographic needs to keep the story or concept consistent all the way through.  A list of random stats, or stats repeated and just shown in different ways, won’t make sense to the viewer and won’t get much love online.

The infographic on the left is a good example of not telling a full story.  While this matches the traditional view of an infographic (just showcasing one element), it doesn’t cut it when compared to the best infographic designs of today.  The fact is, this design doesn’t tell a full story at all.  While it shows the best and worst college dorms, it doesn’t visualize where they are located, why they are best/worst, how much they cost (so we can see if they are awful and still cost an arm and a leg), etc.  There isn’t a story here, instead it is just one piece of information.  The other issue is that this infographic doesn’t include sources.  This is problematic because it makes it impossible for us to determine whether or not these ratings are rooted in fact or opinion.

4. Proper Dimensions

Placing a very large amount of information onto a small space that is made for viewing on any computer screen can be tricky.  Because of this, some designers tend to create infographics that are way too big, and therefore very hard to read.  Infographics are made to be shared, but they won’t be easily shared if they can’t fit onto a blog properly or can’t be read easily.  A simple rule of thumb when designing infographics is as follows: If the infographic will be a vertical design, make it no wider than 1000px and try to constrain it’s length to under 10,000px if possible.  If the infographic will be a horizontal design, make it no taller than 700px.  This ensures that the viewer will be able to scroll in just one direction when viewing the infographic, rather than scrolling in both directions like this infographic.

5. Not Too Text Heavy

Some designers may visualize a lot of elements, but still want to explain them with a lot of text.  This can be very intimidating for the viewer, since one of the benefits of infographics is the fact that the viewer can take in a large amount of complex information quickly and with ease.  Overstock.com did an infographic about Valentine’s Day that was very well designed, but way too text heavy and way too large (breaking rule 4 as well), to take in all the information in any easy way.

6. Simple Branding – The Infographic Should Not Be an Advertisement for You

There are many culprits that break this rule, which is unfortunate to say the least.  An infographic should accomplish the following goals (in this order):

1. Cover a relevant and interesting topic related to the website that produced it
2. Provide concise and clear information that is helpful to the viewer
3. Accomplish a specific goal: educate the website’s primary audience or provide a humorous topic relevant to the audience
4. Accomplish a secondary goal: educate the audience of target blogs and niche sites
5. Build a website’s brand as a thought leader in the space
6. Build a website’s brand as a hip and thoughtful company

As you can see, building your brand is on there, but it is the lowest goal.  Accomplishing numbers 1-4 will do a far better job of promoting your brand than plastering the infographic with your logo.  It’s important to place your logo on any infographic you create, but don’t make it stand out and don’t make it take up too much space.  If your logo is too large on an infographic, the infographic no longer becomes about the end user, it becomes about you.

7. Subject Matter Matching the Website that Produced the Infographic

This might also be an obvious one, but the fact remains that there are a variety of websites out there creating infographics just to build inbound links to their site.  While link building is a huge reason anyone creates an infographic, it should never be the end all be all.

For example, there is one website that links prospective students to online colleges.  This means that their infographics should be about education in some way right?  One would think, yet this same site has produced infographics about breasts, social gaming, the government, and a variety of other off-topic pieces that do not build their brand or spread their message at all.  Good infographics, on the other hand, are topical and relate to the website producing them.  This helps to eliminate spam from the infographic business.

8. An “AHA!” Moment

While not all infographics need this, a sharable infographic with the potential of going viral definitely needs an “Aha!” moment.  These days, there are hundreds of infographics about SEO.  What makes one different than the other, besides design?  The answer is, for some, an “Aha” moment.  This is when the infographic tells you something you never would have learned otherwise, OR it tells you something we may all know but the design makes this complex bit of data far easier to understand.  Here’s an SEO infographic that relies on high impact data and statistics to supply a few “Aha” moments.  When looking at infographics, ask whether or not they supply that “Aha” moment.  If they don’t, then were they worth looking through in the first place?