All About Canva and Why You Should Take Advantage of It for Your Business
Canva is BY FAR one of the most versatile platforms to use when creating digital work for your business! When it comes to creating marketing content, Canva can help you create anything from social media posts to flyers for upcoming events and all things in between! Maybe you aren’t the most creative when it comes to the layout of your posts, but don’t even worry about that because Canva has you covered with hundreds of templates available. Keep reading to see how Canva can help you and your business succeed in more ways than one!
Image 1: Home Screen of Canva
Who can use Canva?
This spectacular platform can be used by just about anyone with a computer, tablet, or phone. On both apples and androids, Canva has a user-friendly app that can be downloaded and used to create content. We find it easier to use our tablet when creating posts, although it has a lot to do with what you have available. With tablets or touch screen laptops, you can use a pen instead of a mouse for the dragging and dropping of images or elements, and some people prefer this technique the best! Although, whatever is more comfortable and efficient for you is just fine!
Most kids now a days are very in tune with all things associated with electronics.... more so than some of us adults sometimes! So, although we use this as a business tool, there are many different aspects of Canva that can also be used for schoolwork or even to keep yourself organized. Students of all ages can make use of it to create schedules, flyers, school projects, or even social media posts if they would like! They can start with a blank canvas or use a free template and start designing almost immediately!
Overall if you have a use for it, with just a little practice and figuring out, students, teachers, business owners or anyone else can use Canva….and in our opinion should!
What EXACTLY is Canva?
Canva is an online digital media platform that can be used to create marketing content for your business. This platform allows you to create an account, create projects, organize them in folders and save them all online for future use. Not only can you use Canva for your business needs, it can also be used, as stated above, for students, teachers, or anyone in general!
It is designed in a user-friendly way that you can start creating with ease. It has a drag and drop feature with options for images, elements, borders and much more. This platform, we feel, is designed for the everyday person. A person who finds a need for digital marketing. A need to design in one way or another, but is not a professional and does not have a need or the time that it would take to learn all of the ins and out of a professional digital design software.
If you are a digital marketing professional, you may look towards using software such as Adobe Photoshop, but for the average small business owner...who has that kind of time? AND if you are using this as a means of helping your children out with school projects or they are using this by themselves... they/you have no need, or probably will, to learn and master such robust design software!
So...OVERALL... Canva is digital marketing and design made easy for the every day person/creator!
Cost of Canva?
Canva like many other apps and platforms out there, has options available that are FREE and options that you can purchase. Purchased plans offer the user a greater array of actions and elements to choose from. There are three different pricing plans, each with their own benefits, that you can choose from.
You can go online and check out the “Compare Pricing” section to look at specifics related to the 3 different plans. This will help you to decide if upgrading is right for you or your company. We are not going to go into detail about the specifics of each plan because you can find them in much more detail online.
This will help you to decide if upgrading to a purchased plan is right for you or your company.
Image 2: 3 Different Pricing Options for Canva
Even though we are sure that you are going to LOVE Canva, when learning a new software or platform, it is always a great idea to start out with the free option… if one exists! Get your feet wet a little bit and experiment with what Canva has to offer before signing up for something that is going to cost you money. There is a good chance that the free version may be all that you need!
Where can Canva be used?
As mentioned before, Canva can be used on all types of electronic devices. One downfall we have seen, here at JD CNC, is that, although it is versatile and can be used on all types of devices, Canva does require an internet connection to use. If you have an unlimited phone plan or a hotspot available to you then Canva can be used just about anywhere.
Because this is also an app or platform with specific account information per each user, it can be very useful when needing to design across a plethora of different devices. We have gone from designing on the tablet to reaching out to workers at the shop, who can then get on the laptop and make changes or at least have access to what we were working on elsewhere. Sometimes, you have an idea on the go that you need to get onto paper before it disappears and it’s rather convenient to pull out your phone and be able to get work done.
Image 3: Canva being used across multiple devices.
Unfortunately, we have not found an offline version or a way around needing internet. We do feel, however, this may be necessary because of the online storage capabilities that you have when using Canva. To store all your templates and projects on the online database, you would have to be connected to some sort of internet.
But, that being said, that should not deter you from trying out Canva. Keep reading for specifics as to why!
Why choose Canva?
On top of all the reasons why we just listed to use Canva…have we mentioned that there is a free version that you can use? That right there is enough of a reason to at least give it a try! We have not found any other platform that gives you the ability to create so many projects in such a way that anyone can benefit from it... and free at that!
We use Canva for order forms, SVG designs, mock-ups, social media posts, and so much more. Without Canva we would be spending quite a lot more time getting posts and products out to you. The fact that there is a free version offered that has a plethora of options is quite amazing! The paid versions runs for roughly $13 a month and gives you the added benefit of more designs to choose from and a few more options that may/may not benefit you. So, even after using the free version for a while, if you feel you would benefit from some of the “Canva Pro” options. It is at a very affordable price!
A lot of people and small businesses use Canva for designing marketing material. Up and coming businesses do not always have the most allotted time to put towards creating content including YouTube banners, social media post, newsletters and so much more. Canva not only has hundreds of templates in all of these categories for you to use, but they are super easy to customize with your information! This, not only saves you and your business time... in the long run it saves you money because we all know that time is money!
Check out this screen capture below of just some of the vast array of templates that Canva has for you to customize.
Video 1: Screen capture of Canva templates
On top of the many templates and other benefits of using this platform, you can also use it to schedule all of your social media posts for your business and post them from one site! If you have the purchased "Teams" plan, multiple people can be working together on posts and you can see other peoples thoughts and ideas simultaneously. This really helps when working in large groups and trying to keep everyone on the same page.
Then when you all agree on design posts for the week or month you can schedule them all from the Canva platform and have Canva post them for you. We have not yet taken advantage of these features ourselves, but we hope to look into it as we continue to grow our team! We will have a necessity for the schedule and post feature coming next year and have Canva listed as one of our main options!
How to Use Canva for your benefit in ways you haven’t thought about!
There are many benefits from using Canva, as stated above, but another option that people use Canva for is to have a source of passive income. A lot of small businesses use Canva because of it’s large array of templates, however, some people and businesses are looking for specific styles, designs, or templates that Canva doesn’t offer.
There are a lot of creative individuals out there that actually create templates for Canva users to purchase and use for a small fee. This allows business owners to spend more time creating there media instead of figuring out a template or a good layout to use, when maybe this isn’t their expertise. This allows for a stream of passive income for the seller, which is always nice. You create a template and sell the digital file to whomever would like to purchase it. Therefore, you design it once, post it on a platform such as Etsy and there you have it! It is good to go almost indefinitely!
Image 4: Etsy Search for Canva Templates
You can also use this platform to create material for parties and gatherings. You can create custom cards, invitations and other décor that you can have sent somewhere to be printed for you. Have you ever thrown a get together, such as a bridal shower or a child's birthday party, and couldn't find the right themed invitations or banners maybe? Well, why not just create your own and have them sent out to be made?
What about journals? Or Planners? We know that there are hundreds of people out there, such as ourselves, that like to write things down and plan to stay ahead of the game. We have found, however, that not one journal or planner has specifically covered all of the needs that we have. Creating a yearly planner for your business, school, or life specific for what you need to complete each day can be a huge help at staying organized. AND you can create your own design style!
Maybe you enjoy darker colors with a minimalistic approach, or maybe you enjoy pastel colors with quotes and bible verses on each page! When designing with Canva the possibilities are absolutely endless. You could even design these books to have a specific theme like flowers, farming, cars, etc. After designing these to your specificities you can have them printed and bound at any place that specializes in that, such as Staples.
Not only is this beneficial to have for upcoming events, scheduling posts, scheduling meetings and what have you, but it can also just make life better if it is exactly what you need and in the style that you need it! It's not a necessity, but it sure does make life more organized and fun!
Examples!
Here are some examples of how Canva can be used, and why it can be useful for everyone!
Example 1: Event Poster
Example 2: Instagram Post for New Products
Example 3: Example Pages from a Catalog
Example 4: Infographic
Example 5: Facebook Banner
Example 6: Calendar
Example 7: Order Form
Example 7: Brochure
Tutorials to Watch
At some point we would love to be making our own tutorials to show you just how JD CNC uses Canva and all of our other software, but for now, here are some useful videos that others have created to help you start your journey with Canva!
Short Introduction:
Have 10 minutes? I’ll make you a designer! | Canva for Beginners + Small Business 2022 - YouTube
In depth look at Canva:
How To Use Canva For BEGINNERS! [FULL Canva Tutorial 2021] - YouTube
Getting Started!
We hope after reading this blog that you have everything you need to get started using Canva for all of your digital marketing needs! Visit www.Canva.com today to make your free account and start experimenting! If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to reach out. If we don't know the answer right away, we will be sure to find you someone who does!
Thank you so much for reading our blog! Stay tuned for more blogs, classes and new products on the website!
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