Creating audience-specific content visuals for use on social media platforms is a smart way to capture consumer attention and boost SEO strategies. Today it is not necessary to be a professional graphic designer to generate high-quality visuals such as time-lapse videos, GIFS, and infographics, great results can be achieved using several free or low-cost apps. Ideally, the app will offer a variety of video formats, user-friendly editing capabilities, and is easily imported into multiple social media channels. Here is a list of a few of the most widely respected social media graphic online and mobile tools:
Adobe Spark
Spark Video, Spark Post, and Spark Page are hosted by Adobe software, an industry leader in graphic design. Images can be selected from the vast Adobe Stock digital library, Lightroom CC, Dropbox, or personal images stored on Adobe Creative Cloud. Images and videos designed within these apps can be uploaded to any social media platform. The apps are free and easily used on iOS mobile devices, but premium features for use in branded story creation using private logos and color schemes have associated fees.
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Canva
Canva is a versatile and popular graphic generating application. The designer can choose from over a million stock images or upload their images as a starting point. Design layouts can be used on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Users can start with a free version of the app but will eventually need to upgrade to premium versions to access advanced construction features.
Pablo
Pablo by Buffer promises to help users create social media images in 30 minutes flat using royalty-free images from sources such as Unsplash, templates, or the designer’s personal image library. Using this app, the designer can easily generate graphics with quotes, facts, and statistics, or blog post teasers for use in all social media platforms. The web app is free, but a mobile version is not yet available.
All three of these image creation apps provide user tutorials on their web sites giving helpful pointers on design principles for typography, proximity, color, and contrast in addition to technical guidance for use of the app.
Adding customized images to social media platforms has become conventional in today’s marketing arena and is an essential part of brand development but it does not have to be a difficult or expensive task.
