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When I started my career in corporate marketing some 20 years in the past, digital marketing was still in an embryonic stage. Fast forward to today, effective marketing strategies are incomplete without a digital arm. In fact, a strategic digital approach is crucial not only for achieving and sustaining the success of any brand or startup. This is the reason why, with the rise of social media, content marketing, and online advertising, established businesses as well as startups alike need to consistently create compelling visuals and graphics to engage their audience.
In addition to this, remote workers like me are always on the lookout for a one-stop shop for all their marketing tools. In fact, in my case the desire to illustrate my words in pictures goes as far back as 2 decades; when I first stepped into designing corporate communications content.
Back then, I had to write elaborate briefs and spend hours with designers to make sure that their beloved visuals could gel in with my words and together we could create some sort of magic for a happily ever after while going through just another day in corporate communications.
Today, there is Canva, a versatile and user-friendly graphic design platform, that plays a pivotal role in simplifying the design process and enhancing marketing efforts.
While the writing prompter compels me to say something like “In this article, we will explore how Canva helps with marketing, along with real-life case studies of well-established brands and startups that have leveraged the platform to boost their marketing strategies”, to be honest, this one is very close to my heart as I pen down some of the ways Canva helped me create visuals that my words would dream of.
How Do Non Designers Create With Canva
Visual content has become an integral part of marketing strategies. Whether it's social media posts, blog banners, infographics, or email newsletters, visually appealing content grabs the audience's attention and leaves a lasting impression.
However, not everyone has the design skills or resources to create professional-looking visuals from scratch. This is where Canva comes into play.
Canva is a graphic design platform that allows anyone to create professional-looking designs, even without any design experience. This makes it a valuable tool for marketers, who can use it to create a variety of marketing materials, such as:
Social media posts
Email marketing campaigns
Website banners and graphics
Print materials, such as flyers and brochures
Presentations
Infographics
Logos
And who better than I to share that someone with a marketing major, experience in corporate communications and strategic marketing who went on to teach high school economics and then jumped into the deep end of content creation as a full-time remote worker cannot imagine a day without Canva.
Canva: A Game-Changer in Graphic Design
Canva is more than an online graphic design tool; it empowers individuals and businesses to create stunning visuals with ease, even if they have no prior design experience. It offers a wide range of templates, design elements, and customization options, making it accessible and user-friendly for people of all skill levels.
Canva offers a wide range of features that make it easy for marketers to create effective designs. These features include:
Templates: Canva provides a vast library of templates for various marketing materials, including social media posts, posters, flyers, business cards, and more.
Drag-and-Drop Interface: Users can easily customize templates by dragging and dropping elements, such as text, images, icons, and backgrounds, onto their designs.
Photo Library: Canva offers a collection of stock photos and illustrations that users can incorporate into their designs.
Brand Kit: Businesses can create and store their brand's colours, fonts, and logos within Canva, ensuring consistent branding across all marketing materials.
Collaboration Tools: Canva allows teams to collaborate on designs in real time, making it a valuable tool for marketing departments and agencies.
Export and Share: Designs can be easily exported in various formats or shared directly on social media platforms.
Canva also offers a variety of tools to help you with your marketing campaigns. These tools include:
A content planner that helps you schedule your social media posts.
A social media analytics tool that tracks the performance of your campaigns.
A collaboration tool that allows you to work with others on your designs.
How to Use Canva for Marketing
Here are some tips on how to use Canva for marketing:
Start with a template. Canva offers a wide range of templates that can be customized to fit your needs. This is a great way to save time and get started quickly.
Use high-quality images. Images are a powerful way to capture attention and communicate your message. Use high-quality images that are relevant to your target audience.
Choose the right colours. Colours can have a big impact on the overall feel of your design. Choose colours that are consistent with your brand identity.
Use clear and concise text. Your text should be easy to read and understand. Use clear and concise language that will get your message across.
Proofread your work (ideally finalise the content before placing it into a design template to enable quick edits).
Before you publish your design, be sure to proofread it carefully for any errors.
In my experience of developing the content and design for a corporate newsletter on health and wellness, I was quite overwhelmed by the range of templates, design elements and graphics that Canva has to offer.
Some examples of how brands and startups have used Canva to improve their marketing include the following:
HubSpot is a marketing software company that uses Canva to create social media graphics, email marketing templates, and other marketing materials. HubSpot has said that Canva has helped them save time and money on their marketing efforts through the Canva HubSpot Integration features.
Glossier is a cosmetics company that uses Canva to create product images, packaging designs, and other marketing collateral. Glossier has said that Canva has helped them create a cohesive and consistent brand identity.
The Startup Grind is a global community of entrepreneurs that uses Canva to create marketing materials for their events and conferences. The Startup Grind has said that Canva has helped them create visually appealing and professional-looking materials that have helped them attract more attendees.
For more tips on creating a brand identity as part of your marketing plan, that too directly from Canva itself, read this piece on Creating a brand identity that resonates with your audience — and grows your business.
How Airbnb Uses Canva
Airbnb, a global leader in the travel and hospitality industry, understands the importance of visually captivating marketing materials to attract both hosts and travellers. With Canva, Airbnb's marketing team streamlined their design process and created consistent and visually stunning content.
Social Media Posts: Airbnb uses Canva's templates to design engaging social media posts showcasing beautiful destinations and unique accommodations. These visuals resonate with their target audience and entice them to explore new travel experiences.
Email Newsletters: The company designs eye-catching email newsletters to update subscribers about new listings, travel tips, and promotions. Canva's user-friendly interface allows Airbnb's marketing team to create these newsletters quickly and efficiently.
Host Guides: Airbnb creates host guides and resources to help hosts improve their listings as Canva's design capabilities make it easy to create informative and visually appealing guides that empower hosts and enhance their properties.
How Glossier Uses Canva
Glossier, a disruptive beauty brand, has taken the cosmetics industry by storm with its minimalist approach to beauty products. Their marketing strategy heavily relies on aesthetics, and Canva has been an invaluable tool in achieving their branding goals.
Instagram Stories: Glossier leverages Canva to create on-brand Instagram Stories that feature user-generated content, product promotions, and makeup tutorials. The platform's templates and design elements help maintain a consistent look and feel across its social media presence.
Product Launch Graphics: When launching new products, Glossier uses Canva to design attention-grabbing graphics for their website, social media channels, and email campaigns. This ensures that their audience is well-informed and excited about each new release.
Customer Engagement: Glossier fosters a strong sense of community among its customers. Canva allows them to design shareable templates for customers to use, such as Instagram story templates featuring Glossier products. This encourages user-generated content and community engagement.
How Trello Uses Canva
Trello, a popular project management and productivity tool, targets businesses and teams looking to streamline their work processes. While their focus is on functionality, Trello recognizes the importance of effective marketing to attract new users and this is the primary reason behind the Trello-Canva integration.
Educational Content: Trello uses Canva to design informative infographics and guides that help users understand how to use their platform effectively. These visuals simplify complex concepts and serve as valuable resources for their audience.
Blog Graphics: Blog posts are essential to Trello's content marketing strategy. Canva enables its marketing team to create visually appealing blog banners and featured images that enhance the overall reading experience and encourage social sharing.
Social Media Ads: To promote their platform, Trello designs eye-catching social media ads that highlight key features and benefits. Canva's customizable ad templates make it easy to create variations for different platforms and audiences.
Watch this YouTube tutorial on Creating Custom Canva Trello Covers or read this piece titled Can You Link Trello to Canva to learn more.
SEO Strategies and Canva
In addition to its design capabilities, Canva can also be a valuable tool for improving SEO and online visibility. Here are some SEO strategies that can be implemented using Canva:
Image Optimization
Images play a crucial role in SEO, especially for blog posts and websites. Canva allows users to optimize images by adding alt text, resizing for faster loading times, and ensuring they are of high quality. Optimized images can improve a website's ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs).
Infographics for Link Building
Creating informative and shareable infographics using Canva can attract backlinks from other websites and improve your site's authority in the eyes of search engines. Include data and statistics relevant to your industry to make your infographics more valuable.
Social Media Sharing for Engagement
Engaging visuals created in Canva are more likely to be shared on social media. Increased social sharing can lead to more traffic to your website, which can positively impact your search engine rankings.
Visual Content for Featured Snippets
Creating visual content, such as step-by-step guides or how-to tutorials, using Canva can help your content appear in featured snippets on search engine results pages, increasing your visibility and authority.
Consistent Branding for Recognition
Using Canva's brand kit features to maintain consistent branding across all marketing materials can help build brand recognition. When people recognize your brand, they are more likely to click
on your content in search results.
Conclusion
Canva has proven to be an invaluable tool for brands and startups looking to enhance their marketing efforts.
Its user-friendly interface, extensive library of templates, and design customization options empower users to create stunning visuals that engage and captivate their audience.
Furthermore, Canva's capabilities extend beyond design, as it can be leveraged for SEO optimization strategies.
Whether it's image optimization, infographic creation, or consistent branding, Canva provides marketers with the tools needed to improve online visibility and drive organic traffic.
In today's competitive digital landscape, Canva is more than just a graphic design platform - it's a powerful ally in the world of marketing, helping brands and startups tell their stories and connect with their target audiences in visually compelling ways.
So, if you're looking to elevate your marketing game, consider Canva as a valuable addition to your toolkit.
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