If you’re like me, you may have a temptation to shudder at the word, “statistics.” When I found out I had to take statistics in graduate school, I almost didn’t go. The thought of algebra turned my stomach.
I know, you might find math to be fun and do math problems as a hobby. Not me.
However, statistics have come a long way. Designers have made them easy to absorb by embedding them in infographics in all different ways. You’ve seen infographics – images that convey facts and numbers in interesting ways.
Infographics are usually designed to share. But there may be a fee to buy the infographics. For example, I just did a search for weight loss infographics and found a site that charges a fee for using an infographic.
This one on weight loss is free. You can see the code, which is usually at the bottom of the infographics and can paste into a blog post. I used that code to add the infographic to this blog.
If an infographic is copyrighted material, though, that should be clear by the absence of code. If you can’t figure out where the code is, chances are the designer does not want you to use the work. Don’t go to the trouble of making a screenshot of the image.
Note: Make sure you can legally use an infographic. Just because an infographic shows up in a Google search doesn’t make it free or uncopyrighted. Google makes no representations about the legality of copying any image and in fact, warns you that what you are looking at might be copyrighted material.
Take this seriously. Google’s image search feature makes it easy to spot thieves.
Summarize the Most Important Information
If you find that an infographic isn’t available for reproduction, you can still use the statistics. For example, if you are writing a blog about the most popular social media platforms for Generation Z, include the data from an infographic.
Give It Your Spin
Whatever method you use to provide the statistics, you can offer your take on that information. To continue with the Generation Z example, their favorite social media are YouTube, Instagram, and SnapChat. This is valuable information if your company provides consulting for companies who want to sell to that demographic group.
Include in your blog either an infographic or relevant statistics. The more dramatic they are, the better. As a bonus, you could put together a cheat sheet that describes best practices for getting visible on these media. Describe the benefits of this download to your readers so they are willing to share their name and email address.
Either search for infographics and then write a blog around that topic, or find infographics that match the content of your blog. For example, if you want to highlight customer service, search for an infographic on the subject of customer service that could be embedded in a blog post.
It might talk about the kinds of things that commonly drive customers up the wall, like being put on hold for long periods of time or being shuffled to five different people within a company while trying to solve a problem.
As the business owner or the business employee, explain why that doesn’t happen in your company. You could say, “We take customer satisfaction seriously. We’ve taken the following measures to make sure our customers don’t have to experience these problems.”
Statistics don’t have to be dry. They can engage and quicken the imagination. Best of all, even though you didn’t do the research to create them, your use of statistics helps to position you as an expert in your field.
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Pat Iyer is an editor, author, book coach and ghostwriter who helps individuals create books that encourages their expertise to shine and advances their businesses. She has written or edited 48 of her own books.
Pat began blogging in 2009. Since then, she has written over a thousand blog posts for entrepreneurs, attorneys, legal nurse consultants and patients.
She passed Statistics with a B in graduate school, and was thrilled with her B. It could have been much worse.
