Creating an Instagram post is not always easy … Not only do you have to think of content ideas to publish on your Instagram page but also the software you will use for its realization. It also happens that you have great ideas for posts to publish on your Instagram account, but do not know how to achieve them. Photo editing can quickly become time-consuming and training in Photoshop or Illustrator would take hours and hours! A few years ago, a fabulous tool arrived in the online software market: Canva. This tool has a simple promise: to be able to achieve what your creativity asks of you easily and quickly. Can quickly become a benchmark in the graphics industry, although professionals continue to use more complex tools (such as those in the Adobe suite, for example) for sophisticated designs. On the other hand, the online tool gives everyone access to the creation of visual content. Even the greatest beginner who does not have a creative soul or studied for! In this article, I give you 5 tips for using Canva for Instagram.
Choose the format of your publication easily using Canva’s search bar
The advantage of Canva is its ease of use. As soon as you arrive on the home page of the tool, you have available formats with models directly as examples, to see if this corresponds to your needs. In the blink of an eye, you can therefore access all the most popular formats on the platform. In addition, you take advantage of the left tab which groups together all the features you might need such as your designs or the designs that have been shared with you.
If you can’t find the format directly on the home page, just type it into Canva’s search bar.
For example, you want to create an Instagram story. Just type the word “story” in the search bar and Canva will suggest the right format for an Instagram story.
So you don’t have to search the internet to find the exact dimensions to create an Instagram story: Canva does it automatically for you. Instagram stories, posts, video reels, and even themed stories are available and offered directly in the search bar.
Use the Instagram post templates available in the left tab
When you have selected the format of your publication, a blank page opens for you to start creating your design. In the top bar, you will then find the color palette for your background, but also the font if you add text. In the left tab, you have the possibility to choose images, text or shapes to add in your design. You can import the images directly from your computer or select from the image bank available on Canva.
Don’t you want to start your creation from scratch? Canva has hundreds of templates you can use to create your Instagram post. Pick a template that matches your need or ideas and edit it to create the post you want. Montage to fill in, infographics, an interactive publication with GIFs or videos … Canva offers you many suggestions that can themselves give you ideas.
In the “Elements” section, you will find shapes to add to your design… But not only! Graphics, lines, audio, and video clips are available to make an Instagram post as engaging as possible.
To take full advantage of all these features offered by Canva, I advise you to subscribe to the Pro version. Indeed, many images and models are available only for users of the Pro version. The free system is still very relevant if you like to start from scratch and import your own images. On the other hand, if you want to use the full power of the online visual creation tool, the paid version is to be taken.
Prepare your feed in advance with the different publications you plan to put online
In your content creation, it is always better to have a few publications in advance so that you are never overwhelmed by time or a lack of ideas. So, if you have one or two weeks of content in advance, it allows you to prepare your feed with the different publications that you have created on Canva.
Canva now even offers content programming on the Instagram platform. This means that in addition to creating your post, you program it immediately at the date and time you want. This saves you from having to pay for another tool like Later, Hootsuite, or Buffer. So, thanks to the calendar, you can see the upcoming publications. So you adapt the posts based on what you’ve already talked about, the images you’ve posted, and the themes you’re focusing on right now.
Add interactive elements
Then, I advise you to add interactive elements to your publications (if this fits in your editorial charter and corresponds to your target). Indeed, the interactive elements capture the attention of the person scrolling on Instagram. Thus, they will stop on your post, read it and read the caption. If it’s a carousel, Internet users will surely slide to discover the content.
Since subscribers stay on your post for a few seconds, Instagram detects this post as interesting and highlights it to your community (and maybe even Explorer). This allows you to generate more engagement, get more subscribers and improve the visibility of your account as a whole.
But it’s not just posted on this social network… So add interactive elements like GIFs, arrows or shiny shapes to your stories to grab attention on Instagram. This image format, available for 24 hours to your audience, is particularly relevant for inserting elements that capture the attention of Internet users. With the appearance of Reels, Canva can also be of great help to you. Indeed, the short format of videos is quite suitable for the insertion of interactive elements.
Save your different types of posts to keep a consistent feed
To keep the same colors on your Instagram feed all year round, save your color scheme. Thus, you have easy access to the colors of your brand that you use on a daily basis. To save time, duplicate designs to keep the same theme. This is very useful especially if you are creating carousels for your Instagram community. You duplicate, keep the same theme for your post and change the layout and text with just a few clicks.
To keep a clear organization, I advise you to create a new page for each category of posts. You rename them with your own words so that you will find your way around when you land on the Canva home page. Each post you create in this category is therefore easy: you can take ideas from your other posts, use your color palette, use the shapes already present, etc.
Finally, Canva’s scheduling tool lets you view your post calendar and feed. So you can always be sure, even by scheduling your posts in advance, that your feed remains consistent and consistent. This improves the user experience and adds branding to your brand that has an impact on your customers!
Conclusion on Canva for Instagram
Canva is clearly the new flagship tool for visual creation. Easy to use and very inexpensive (even for the Pro version), Canva is your best ally for Instagram. To create quality images, relevant infographics or attractive carousels, the online tool is ideal. But it doesn’t stop there… With its plethora of possibilities for Reels videos or Instagram Stories, Canva is relevant in every way. Suitable for beginners and experts alike who will be delighted to find features present in the Adobe suite, if you haven’t tried Canva yet, you should adopt it (if you’ve tried it, too!).
