Have you been spending a ton of time writing and scheduling your social media content but are not seeing the engagement you want? Perhaps you're forgetting one crucial element that could really grab your audience's attention: graphics. Great graphics can be the difference between a great design and a “meh” design.
Graphics work when it comes to social media content:
- Tweets that include a photo receive 18% more clicks and 89% more retweets than those that do not
- Facebook posts that have a graphic see 2.3x more engagement than those that are text-only
- Posts on LinkedIn with an image receive 200% more engagement than text-only posts
"But wait," you say. "I don't know how to use that fancy Adobe software." No worries, tech friend. You can DIY beautiful social media graphics with the help of these four online tools.
Canva
Canva is a web and iOS software on a mission to make great design more accessible to brands and marketers. With Canva you can easily create graphics using their ready-made templates for social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram (plus more). If you’re a little bit more adventurous you can even create designs from scratch with the tool by importing photos, graphics and fonts directly from your device and using the software as a replacement for other design editors like Illustrator or Photoshop. Canva has recently added GIF and video creation as well as a few super fancy tools previously only used by Photoshop advanced users such as the background knockout tool. You can updgrade to a pro account for access to more images and templates.
Unsplash.com
We realize that stock photography can be a four-letter word to some marketers, but if you’re not a photographer—or not in the position to hire one—where else can you turn? One of our favorite stock image sites is Unsplash.
Unsplash.com has tons of high quality FREE (for commercial use!) photos that are submitted from photographers around the world. The photos in their gallery are searchable and come in a variety of styles so there is a great chance you’ll find something that matches your brand image.
Flaticon
Flaticon is a website with high quality vector icons (as well as a variety of other formats). Icons are a great way to add some extra interest to your graphics as well as create a brandable element you can use across your marketing channels.
Adobe Color CC
One of the most challenging aspects of design, especially for non designers, is creating a color palette that is complementary and on brand. That’s where Adobe Color CC comes in!
The free website is an extension of the Adobe Creative Suite software and an absolute savior for anyone who is not a master at color theory. With this site you can create beautiful color combinations using one, two, three or even five colors. It is easy to start with one of your brand colors and find complementary colors that can spice up your social media profile. This means in the end your graphics will still feel like your brand but won’t all look exactly the same.
