Your customers would rather see something visual on social media – not just text – and Canva might be a great option instead of a hiring a graphic designer.
Ever since Pinterest and Instagram became major players in the social media world, there’s been a much bigger emphasis on local business doing visual updates.
It could be a photo or it could an image with nicely designed text on a background. Either way, a visual makes your message more attractive, more memorable, more sharable, and can drive more business . Visual content is 40 times more likely to be shared on social media than content without visuals.
And visuals are just as important on Facebook and Twitter:
- Twitter posts with photos or other visual elements get 313% better engagement than tweets without.
- Facebook posts with visuals also get 3 times more engagement.
But how do you make good social media images if you don’t have the money to spend on a graphic designer?
Use Canva for Social Media Images
It turns out you don’t need a graphic designer in order to make striking, memorable social media images. Canva is an easy-to-use website where you can make images quickly. Think of it like as a simplied Photoshop or Illustrator that’s still incredibly powerful! The best part is that Canva is free to use with tons of different elements. Of course, there are also some premium design elements that you can add on for $1 per use.
Here’s how you can use it:
- Create an image for your blog posts
This is fun and easy. Start with the title. You can put it on a simple colored background, or you can place it over a photograph or other image (Canva has a huge, searchable database of stock images). Even a very simple image will make your post more memorable. Each time you post it to social media, include the image. And include the image on the original blog post, of course!
- Brand your photos
It’s fun to take photos. You can use your phone and take images of your product, of your store or office, of events that take place, of your smiling employees, or of your happy customers. Get creative. Don’t worry if they aren’t professional – it’s better to have some images than none at all.Then upload them to Canva and put your brand image in the bottom corner of the photo. If you don’t have a logo, then just choose a font and a color and stick with it! You can post the results on all your social media channels.
- Create a unique Facebook cover
Take a photo of your office, or of the outside of your building, or of your product, or of your smiling team. Then make a Facebook cover on Canva using the aptly-titled “Facebook cover” layout. It couldn’t be easier. You could include some text like your logo, your coordinates, or other important information over top of the image. But you don’t have to. Here are 50 great examples of Facebook cover images to inspire you.
- Make a striking image for a memorable quote
Find a quote or quote yourself. Maybe it’s a memorable quote from your last blog entry. Or just something that you said the other day. Or a joke. Or maybe you want to find a quote that has to do with your business. Make a memorable social media post by designing the quote on a background or a photo. It’s easy and fun, and it shouldn’t take you more than 30 minutes.We turned this quote into an image and it got three times the retweets and favorites on twitter. These quotes are a great way for people to get to know you on social media.
There’s no need to wait. Canva is effortlessly easy to use and it’s absolutely free to start. We would love to hear about your success on Canva and see your designs! Be sure to tweet your images to @lmidaily or post them to our Facebook wall.
