EXCLUSIVE POST - Infographics are valuable tools for healthcare providers to present complex information, educate patients, and brand and market a healthcare service in a creative and visually attractive way.  

What is an infographic?  

Information graphics or infographics are stand alone graphic visual representations of information, data or knowledge. They are universally understandable and can illustrate information that may be too technical to communicate in text.  They can also be a fun way to promote brand awareness. In terms of social media marketing, they are an effective way of spreading information (the “viral” process) across multiple social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and blogs.   

11 content ideas for a healthcare infographic  

There are so many possibilities when it comes to creating a healthcare infographic. Below are some suggestions to get you started.

  1. Technological breakthrough
  2. Latest research
  3. Medical conditions 
  4. The human body 
  5. First aid advice 
  6. Drug information 
  7. Statistics 
  8. Diseases 
  9. Health care reform 
  10. Surgical procedures 
  11. Nutrition 

 7 tips for designing a healthcare infographic 

  1. Be concise
  2. Be visually appealing
  3. Be of value and interest to your readers
  4. Be accurate
  5. Be creative
  6. Be transaparent (always cite your data sources )
  7. Be mindful of copyright 

How to create a healthcare infographic

These tools will make it easy for even the novice designer to create interesting infographics.

1. Visual.ly

2. Many Eyes

3. infogr.am

4. vizify

5. creately

6. wordle

7. hohli

If you are serious about using infographics to inform and educate your patients or market your brand, it's best to hire a specialist infographic designer. But, if you just want to have some fun and test your design skills, then using the tools listed above, get creating. And if you need some further inspiration to get you started, click on this link for a gallery of eye-catching health-related infographics.

Diabetes Infographic:http://www.socks4life.com/resources/diabetes-resource-guide/diabetes-facts/