There are many excuses for not creating solar infographics. Some excuses are more legitimate than others.
Let's start with the lamest excuse of them all: "We don't have enough data to create a solar infographic." We're not buying it. We just did a Google News search on "residential solar statistics" and the first page alone yielded at least four solid results. Of course, infographics are a lot more than just statistics. It takes some design know-how, which brings us to the second most common excuse: "We don't have the in-house expertise to make them."
This is legitimate. Marketers, of course, aren't graphic designers. Fortunately, design novices can nonetheless create pretty cool infographics using free software like PowerPoint as well as other platforms like thinglink.com. How you'll tackle this solar content creation will depend on which platform you choose. Since many companies run Windows, we'll look at creating solar infographics on good ol' PowerPoint.
First off, get your data together. As per our aforementioned Google News search, we came across this cool article, entitled "State of the Solar Industry: 10 Stats to Know." For example, the US "is now installing one photovoltaic system every four minutes. If the market continues to grow at this pace, by 2016 there will be a system installed every 20 seconds. This is huge growth since 2006, when one was installed every 80 minutes." That's good stuff.
Ultimately, before you commit to a piece of data, refer to our handy piece on what constitutes a good infographic. Ask yourself if the data will resonate with readers, provide a useful and applicable message, and act as a possible pathway to customer engagement. Above all, keep top-of-the-funnel customers in mind: All solar infographics should exude your brand's expertise.
Next up? Pick your template. Our pals at HubSpot have graciously provided five infographic templates in PowerPoint. Use them early and often.
Once you pick your template you can then customize it. The templates make it easy to see your infographic evolve in real-time — this is solar content creation in action. Obviously pay special attention to things like selecting a compelling headline and using visually-pleasing fonts. If you're looking for shapes, charts, and images, simply import them from Powerpoint. Experiment with colors and make sure to include the source article.
Now that you're satisfied with your infographic, publish it far and wide. To that end, check out this embed code generator, courtesy of Siege Media. It will convert your infographic into embed code, which in turn makes it easy for visitors to share your infographic.
What do you think? Can solar content creation really be this easy? What has been your biggest obstacle to creating solar infographics?
