Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

Infographics, an effective form of content marketing, are everywhere on the Web, but it isn't always easy to come up with good designs when you want to create one yourself, especially if you're not skilled in design and visual content.

Fortunately, you have plenty of options. Many blogs and other publications offer tips and tricks to help improve your visual content, and sites like online infographic maker Visme (which I founded) and applications such as PowerPoint offer templates to help you get started.

Templates help you get a general feel about what works for an infographic and what doesn't, which can then allow you to branch out with your own designs. Often, though, in the business world, a lot of templates are simply tweaked to create an infographic; the basic template remains intact. After all, if it isn't broke, why fix it?

So here are five of the most popular templates, the reasons they work so well, and a few tips and tricks to help you make them your own....

Visuals have a huge impact in marketing. Not only do they make content more sharable -- 40 times as much -- but they help us retain information.  

When details are paired with an image, we remember 55% more of it.

That can be pulled off with infographics -- the nifty images that visually break down complex statistics. They're customizable, sharable, and they're easier to create than you might think.

Sure, you could hire a professional to create the infographics for you. But if you're restricted by budgets or time, there are some great DIY resources out there for making compelling visuals. 

We scouted the web for some of them -- check them out below. (And for more on how to create an infographic, check out these tips.)...