When it comes to content marketing, having a strong visual toolbox can be extremely helpful to a marketer. Since we as people are drawn to visual content, great visuals can generate higher engagement on social media. But let’s face it, not all marketers have the resources or the time to create this sort of content.

This is where a tool like Canva is extremely useful. Canva describes itself as an online design platform that brings together a simple drag-and-drop design tool and a library of photographs, graphics, and fonts, allowing anyone to take an idea and present it beautifully in print or online. It makes it remarkably simple for marketers to create professional quality graphic designs. Let’s take a look into getting started with Canva.

Starting Your Design

Depending on what you want to create Canva offers pre-sized templates for a variety of different content including covers for your social media pages, sizing for your Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest posts, flyers, and invitations. Don’t see what you are looking for? You can use custom dimensions to get the right fit. The only disadvantage to using your own dimensions is that it does not include predesigned layouts.

Choosing Your Layout

Once you have your design chosen, now it’s time to choose a layout. This is the fun part and can really set the tone for the rest of your design. Choose one that best suits your need and get ready to make this design your own!

If you don’t like the first template you chose, you do have the option to switch your layout and try another. However, you will want to be cautious since you lose any text or imagery that you had on the original layout.

Make it Your Own

Now is the time to get your message across and make this design your own. You have the ability to change the background, add icons, move around the text, upload your own images, and much more. Have fun with it!  You can make your design as simple or complex as you would like.

Just like any tool you use, the more you use it the easier creating designs will become. eMagine recommends going in and having some fun with it and exploring the imagery, icons, and different fonts. There is also a series of tutorials if you are interested in learning more about design and making more complex images.

Imagine the possibilities of what you can do. If you have a tip you can make it visual and easy to share, you can update your social headers, if you have an inspirational quote you can share it as an image, and the list goes on. Canva can be a great tool to aid with production of visual assets. Happy designing!