You could hire someone, or you could just do it yourself (DIY). Social media creators like @the_avantgarde and @angelarosehome have us believing that we can do just about anything on our own. The two badass women are transforming homes, building furniture and decor from the ground up and sharing their best home hacks so that others can join in.  

Sometimes business calls for a DIY, too. Canva is a great tool for businesses looking to do more marketing on their own! But no one said it would be easy. Like @the_avantegarde and @angelarosehome, Bowe Digital is here to guide you and share tips to help anyone get the most out of Canva.

5 Things to Take Advantage of:

  • Convenient Printing – We all like to support our local print shops, but Canva is a great alternative when you’re in a pinch or want things to be a bit easier. You can print business cards, flyers, postcards, company swag, etc., straight from the Canva website and have them delivered to your door. 
  • 10,000+ Options –  Canva has a lot of different categories for products and designs on its website, each sized appropriately for specific platforms and media types. Like any DIY build, graphics can get confusing. But we encourage you not to miss out on the best designs by sticking to one category. Instead, explore all your options. Look at different categories for inspiration – even if they don’t match the exact size or platform you’re creating for – you can always resize them later.
  • Video Editing – Video has become a vital part of marketing, and Canva can help with that, too. You can brand and edit existing videos filmed on your iPhone or video camera or start from scratch using stock images and music available on the Canva platform itself.
  • QR Code Generator – Create QR codes easily and incorporate them into your designs as a simple way to direct people to your website or review page or get more information. This feature is hidden in the “more” section of your design dashboard.
  • Quick Tools with Canva Pro and Canva for Teams – Make your designs so good that your audience won’t believe you did it yourself. Experimenting with the following tools can take your creations to the next level: 

Another tip? Save yourself more time by using keyboard shortcuts in Canva.

Ensure Your DIY Designs Don’t Flop

The best thing about a DIY design (besides its money-saving quality) is that you can make it completely your own. So go crazy – just not too crazy. These tips can help.

  • Fonts – With so many fonts to choose from, it’s hard not to get carried away! For beginners, stick to one or two fonts per design. Two contrasting fonts will typically complement each other. You can find pre-made font pairings in the “more” section on the left-hand side of your design dashboard. 
  • Color Palettes – Having a brand color palette you can reference whenever you’re creating helps your designs stay consistent and uniform. This, in turn, helps you build a company identity. Learn how to create a brand color palette here. You can also use the palette generator to match the colors in an image or the color meanings tool to add some symbolism to your design.
  • Grids and Frames – In our experience (which we have a lot of), the best designs need balance, so your eyes glide across the page. Grids and frames can help you arrange elements and draw your viewer’s attention to specific areas.

Taking the First Step 

Canva Free Account

Canva Free is a great option for beginners just trying their hand at design. You’ll gain access to over 250,000 free templates, basic editing features, over a million free photos and graphics and more. Just be careful you don’t get burned. If you’re using other marketing alternatives like Etsy to purchase templates, you may need the Pro version to access them.

Canva Pro

Do it like the pros. For just $12.99/month, you get unlimited access to premium design templates, over 100 million premium stock photos, videos, audio and more. Pro makes it easy to establish your visual identity with brand kits and more. Plus, you get the ability to resize designs, remove image and video backgrounds in one click and schedule social media content.

Canva for Teams 

DIY doesn’t mean you have to do it alone. Get all the features of Canva Pro, plus features designed to help teams of all sizes collaborate with ease, for $14.99/month total for the first five people. Scale your brand with centralized brand assets and guidelines, maintain consistency with brand Controls, brand Templates and design approval workflows, leave real-time comments and assign tasks, get team reports and insights and more. 

You Don’t Have to Do It Yourself

DIY isn’t for everyone. If you’re the type to call in a Task Rabbit or just don’t want to do it yourself, Bowe Digital will do it for you! We’re pros at custom marketing, and our expertise goes beyond creating one-of-a-kind designs.

Whether you work with us or not, we’re always happy to help! Contact Bradley Erb on our team at bradley@bowedigital.com to discuss your marketing goals, set up a time to brainstorm ways you can utilize Canva to get through this phase of the market or set up a Canva demo for your team. Learn more about our services at bowedigital.com.