Biswajeeta Rath
Did you know that 66 per cent of all social media posts are visual or include visual content? Yes – it is true.
Looking at the way we are moving towards videos and GIFs, this study result is not surprising at all! After all, all-text posts can only boost brand visibility to a certain extent.
You see humans are visual beings by nature.
Nearly 30 percent of the cortex of the brain is dedicated to visual content processing as compared to just 3 percent for hearing and 8 per cent for touch. Click To TweetHence, graphics design have become a vital part of the marketing strategy
According to a 2014 survey by Adobe and software service, the use of images is the third most important tactic for social media posts optimization.
So for social media marketers, creating stellar images has become the need of the hour to drive customer engagement.
They are now required to be innovative not just with their copies but also with their images which have started to hold more power than other kinds of content.
Till about 5 years ago, photo-shopping images and creating cool graphics posed a challenge for social media marketers. But not anymore.
This eCommerce store made it big solely with images
In 2014, when Justin Kelly had just started his own home and furnishings online store in New Jersey, the demand for social media graphics design was on the rise.
While he had an eye catching website and a dedicated team of marketers and writers to manage content and social media, the audience engagement was still less.
And once the team finally picked the social media photo editing tool that was most feasible for them, there was no looking back for them as far the marketing activities were concerned.
They managed to create stunning graphics not just for their content strategy but also for their social media graphics design.
With time, they achieved a strong fan following across all of their active social channels.
They got such a hold on the visual elements that when they started their newsletters, they observed a steady rise of 25% in email subscriptions in just one month – wow!
Naturally, the sales of this eCommerce firm also impacted in a great way and soon, Kelly’s online store topped the charts for having the most engaging and savvy marketing strategy.
Will any photo design tools work?
Nope – it doesn’t work like that. Most of the time, it is important to research properly, try a couple of tools and then arrive at a decision.
Not all tools will sate your graphic designing requirements.
Some may have the best photo bank and easy-to-learn features and some might be just cost-effective and not have the best user interface.
So without further ado, here are those two social media graphic designing tools that will help your team in boosting the brand’s visibility and customers’ engagement:
1. Stencil
The main aim of this social media graphic design tool is to help marketers design social media graphics in just a fraction of time!
Started by Adam Rotman and Oliver Nassar a couple of years ago, Stencil promises to make the process of creating visual content a simple, fun and light-weight activity for marketing professionals.
It doesn’t matter what your requirement is – a blog image, an email banner, a paid social media advertisement, an Instagram post, etc. – this online tool will make sure you have plenty of design elements to play around with and you are just as happy with the end result.
It is every social media marketer’s weapon for creating quick social media graphics design.
So yeah – Stencil is an online tool. It is also available in Google Play and Apple stores, so if you are looking to work on the mobile device – while on the go – you can use Stencil without much hassle.
If you’d like to install its extension, you can do that too as it supports two web browsers – Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.
And if you are one of those social media marketers who work mostly on a desktop, then there is also a free web version of Stencil that you can try just to get a look-and-feel of the tool, before buying a package of your choice for social media graphics.
Trust me – creating and sharing engaging, unique and tastefully branded social media graphic design and content with your customer community in just a matter of minutes is now a reality.
Beat the time crunch and hop on the Stencil brandwagon with this social media graphic design tool. I assure you will not regret using this social media graphics design tool one bit.
9 awesome Stencil features to rock your design game
See; Stencil is designed to craft social media graphics design quickly. The online tool goes to great lengths to make sure you are able to learn using it quickly and create amazing social media graphics design.
The shorter the turnaround time is, the happier you will be.
The Stencil team boasts of continuously improving this photo editing tool and adding new cool stuff – which means you will always have something new to work with.
1. A never-ending photo bank
Social media marketers will have a blast picking the most relevant images to go with their posts.
More options, better designs, quality work!
The photos are high-resolution in nature, and you can create a photo bank of your own over time so that you don’t have to go looking around for social media graphics design when you are in the process of making social media graphic design.
Stencil has partnered with Pixabay and Pexels, so you can be assured of some great pictures from a variety of backgrounds in a matter of minutes!
2. Varied design templates
If you don’t want to create social media graphics design from scratch, you can pick up any of the 296 design elements or templates offered by Stencil – all ready to be edited.
3. Logos and watermarks
So what about them? Well, all you have to do is upload and store every variation of your logo if you are creating a series of visuals for your brand.
This means that you not only can create images quickly but also brand-proof them, so that your brand identity gets consistency.
4. Flexibility to use different fonts
Marketers have the option to choose from over 2000 web fonts from Google for their social media graphics design.
5. The right size for each channel
Now that every marketer posts social media graphic design on so many channels that customizing the size of each image is a hassle and a rather time consuming process.
Thankfully, Stencil pre-loads the optimal sizes for all the social media channels, blog posts and even social ads.
You can even create as many custom sizes as you want. All you have to do is create the image and then choose the right size – and then you are good to go!
6. Too many icons and social media graphics design!
The Noun Project is a creator community that specializes in icons. It has a user base of social media graphic design and Stencil has partnered with it.
And guess what? You can experiment with its icons without any extra charge provided you are using its paid version for creating social media graphic design.
The icons are completely royalty-free and are safe to use for both personal and commercial purposes.
There are more than 2,00,000 of icons and related graphics for your use, so all your work and home needs are taken care of!
7. Play with the magic of quotes
Quotes are huge on social media right now.
Every B2B and B2C brand seems to be leveraging its effectiveness using social media graphics design.
If you don’t believe me, open any Facebook or Twitter account of a particular brand, and you will find at least one quote out of 6 FB posts and 12 Twitter posts on your timeline.
Thankfully, at Stencil, you can choose from more than 1,00,000 quotes on the tool, and stay ahead in the social media posts race.
8. See a live preview of the images
You may have created an image and you think it’s great but just to be on the safer side, Stencil allows you to take a live preview of your creations just before you share them on social media.
This way you will always know how the social media graphics design look once shared, and if you want to make changes to them, you can do so in a fraction of time.
9. Integration with Buffer
This means you can easily schedule social media graphics design you have created on Stencil and schedule it with Buffer in a flash.
You can save a lot of time by doing this – trust me.
Attractive pricing
Intuit, Nascar and Coca Cola are just some of the brands using Stencil for social media graphic design. Join the bandwagon by choosing the PRO package – which is also the most popular option.
You just need to pay $9 per month if you take the annual package. You can create up to 50 images and also get premium support for that.
You also get a 7-day money back guarantee which means if you have paid for the tool but still don’t like it, Stencil will return all of your money (and still stay friends with you)!
Update: GetStencil has made all the necessary updates to ensure that their tool is GDPR and CCPA compliant. In case of any questions related to GDPR and CCPA, one can find the contact details of concerned authorities on their website.
2. Snappa
This is an online tool that specifically creates social media graphics design for marketing, and is one of the online Photoshop alternative.
That’s right – Snappa was founded two years ago in the Canadian capital by Christopher Gimmer and March Chouinard with a vision to support those small businesses who were having a hard time creating quality social media graphic design and giving their online brand a proper identity due to lack of graphic designer.
Since for such businesses hiring a full-time graphic designer is a costly affair and people who don’t know where to start to create social media graphic – the overall process of creating social media graphics design can be long, tedious and downright repulsive.
So to make this an easy activity, Snappa was founded to give some sort of respite to marketing professionals in social media graphics design.
From social media graphics design and display ads to blog posts and banners – one can create a multitude collection of images and social media graphic in just a jiffy without any prior experience of graphic designer!
7 stellar Snappa features you must know about
1. User-friendly graphic editor
Snappa uses the drag-and-drop feature and allows you to create highly engaging social media graphics design in a flash.
You can even add effects to the images by moving the slider.
The editor is quite easy to use. So even if you are a novice and have never used a photo editing tool before, you will not take much time to start using Snappa like a pro!
2. Stunning templates
If you are in a rush and want to quickly upload social media graphic design, you can do so in a matter of minutes.
These design elements are top-quality and come in different sizes.
3. Lots and lots of photos
There are more than 20k photos, 35k graphics and 200 fonts all for your use. They are all royalty-free. Additionally, they are properly licensed for commercial use.
You will find an social media graphics design for every occasion and purpose as the photo library is so extensive and the Snappa team keeps adding fresh images to the bank. You will never be out of options – trust me!
4. Resizing the graphics is simple
Customizing the size of your posts is easy with this social media graphic design tool. Whether it is a Facebook cover or a Twitter header, you can easily resize the graphics in just two clicks.
Snappa understands how each social media platform has a different image requirement, and so it lets the user get the perfectly sized image quickly.
5. Use the folders to organize your creations
This serves the purpose if you want to save your customized social media graphics design tips or favourite templates for future purposes.
The interface of Snappa is just like that of your laptop – wherein you can make folders to store your photos that gives you the capability to easily go back and refer those designs whenever you want to.
Editing your older designs has never been easier thanks to this user-friendly feature.
6. Solid customer support
Learning a new tool or software for social media graphic design is an exciting challenge.
But the whole process becomes a lot easier, if you have access to its highly supportive customer care team! Here at Snappa, that is what exactly happens!
Wherever and whenever you get stuck, you have the option to watch and learn from video tutorials, scan through their comprehensive list of FAQs and even write an email to the support team if the problem is bigger than your understanding and you need someone to sort it out for you.
You have unlimited access to the support system.
So don’t hesitate to experiment with the design tips to create the best social media graphics design, and if you get stuck, appropriate help supports you.
7. Integrate it with social media
Yup – this means you can connect your multiple social media channels with Snappa to instantly share the social media graphics design you have prepared on the tool.
But please note that as of now only Facebook and Twitter can be integrated with the tool.
Two solid pricing packages
Okay – so there are just two packages to choose from. One is the free version that allows to download 5 images from their photo bank, and connect just 2 social media accounts.
It also gives you access to a limited number of templates for social media graphic.
This is a good deal if you want to test the waters and then take a call on whether or not you even want to use Snappa.
Second is the PRO version where you are billed $10 per month but you have to pay the entire amount on an annual basis.
You have access to unlimited photo downloads and templates for social media graphics design.
You can connect unlimited number of social media accounts. Basically – 90% of its features are available to only PRO users.
Wow your target audience with stellar social media graphics design
If GetStencil and Snappa are not your cup of tea, then there are other online tools too that can sate your design requirements.
My two other favourites are Canva and Pablo – which are also the most popular tools around. They are extremely easy to use and are widely known among individual marketing professionals and small businesses alike!
1. Canva
I personally love Canva! First of all, it offers templates beyond the usual social media graphics design.
You can make Facebook ads, banners, resumes, Etsy covers, logos, blog images, etc. – anything to boost your visual marketing and beyond.
If you want to create an image with custom dimensions, you can do that too!
Inside the dashboard, you can select frames, grids, stock images and font types to prettify your images.
There is a lot of scope in terms of designing social media graphic design on Canva. If you love to play with colours, this tool will keep you busy for hours!
Canva also produces fresh templates frequently, which means you are never out of options, and you can simply go on and on with your social media graphics design experiments.
Canva’s has new AI-powered features, which are revolutionizing the graphic design process, offering tools such as Magic Design for automated social media post creation, Instant Presentations for generating presentation foundations, and a built-in text-to-image generator based on the Stable Diffusion model.
Additional features like Magic Eraser, Magic Write, and Magic Edit streamline design tasks by providing seamless object removal, AI-generated copy, and image editing through simple text prompts, making graphic design more accessible and efficient for users of all skill levels.
They are also cooperating with third parties such as AWS to ensure that they comply with all the new laws.
2. Pablo
This is a free online editor which has been introduced by Buffer ( Hootsuite alternative ). If you want to whip up social media graphics design real quick, Pablo is the best option!
You have the option to pick from over 25,000 fonts and access more than 600 stock photos.
You can apply multiple filters and even select the custom size – depending upon the social channel you want to post on.
Pablo is preferred when the user wants to create shareable quotes on social media graphics design.
Although its features are not as expansive as Canva, it still is a hot property because of its direct integration with Buffer and because it lets the user create images quickly!
So if you are still honing your social media graphic design skills or are not comfortable getting lost in the realm of multiple features, use Pablo to design social media graphic.
Update: Pablo is GDPR and CCPA compliant so one can continue to use it without any GDPR and CCPA concerns.
Beacon.by
Beacon.by is another graphic designing tool that markets itself as the perfect tool to create professional lead magnets that actually convert.
With the help of the available templates, you can create lead magnets effortlessly in a fraction of minutes.
Although its USP is the templates that work well for lead magnets you can always use and customize them as per your preferences.
Not just the designs, but this tool also offers reports and analytics to show the performance of your lead magnet and the best-performing pages.
The integrations with social media channels come in handy when your lead magnets are focused on those platforms.
A quick round-up of all the design tools discussed in this post:
| Graphic design tools | Pricing | Features Summary |
|---|---|---|
| GetStencil | The Paid plan starts at $15/mo billed monthly. | What is good? Impressive collection of stock photos . Very easy to use and quick for creating images. Helpful Buffer integration. What is not good? The free plan is limited and offers very less customisation |
| Snappa | The paid plan starts at $10/mo | What is good? Great option for creating banner ads, text-heavy designs and infographics. Quick to learn and implement. What is not good? Lacks some advanced features. |
| Canva | The paid plan starts at $12.95/mo for up to 5 users. | What is good? Great option for creating template based designs Works well for small as well as big businesses. Allows team collaboration. What is not good? Not a tool for professional designers. |
| Pablo by Buffer | Free web based tool | What is good? Allows easy text editing. Option to share as well as download. Quickly add images to your social media posts. What is not good? No complex editing or designing. |
So which social media graphic design maker would you go ahead with? Do you have any other suggestions in mind? Let’s exchange notes, please?
Questions asked before selection of Social Media graphics design Apps:
How to create impressive social media graphics?
To create impressive social media graphics you can use some tools like Canva, Snappa, Stencil and Pablo by Buffer.
What are some free options for creating social media graphic design?
Canva and Snappa both offer free plans to accommodate your basic social media graphics design needs.
How effective are social media graphics?
Social media channels are often visually driven and full of attractive social media graphics. Good social media graphic design can influence your audience and help your business grow.
What are the best tools for creating social media graphic designs?
Some of the popular tools for social media graphics design are:
Canva: A super popular tool to create eye catching template-based social media graphics design.
Pablo by buffer: You can quickly add images to your social media posts.
Snappa: Create designs with text quickly.
Adobe Spark: Modern minimalist designs
Desygner: Create social media graphics design on your mobile device
Amongst Canva and Stencil which is the better pick for social media graphics design?
Canva is a great tool for businesses as well as large enterprises to create awesome social media graphics design. It also allows easy collaboration of team members. As such Canva has more features as compared to Stencil.
Stencil markets itself for solopreneurs or social media influencers who want to amp up their graphic design game. Stencil is all about speed and creating quality images fast.
Very Interesting Article, Ankit. As you scientifically point out the visual nature of human beings – “that nearly 30 percent of the cortex of the brain is dedicated to visual processing as compared to just 3 percent for hearing and 8 per cent for touch”. Hence, social media graphics designs deserve their lion’s share in Internet advertising.
But on second thoughts, don’t you think in the initial stages of business one should actually stick to text rather then getting all the instant attention and then not being able to meet customer expectations? I don’t know. But since you
say pictures get adequately noticed, on preference!
Harry, you are absolutely right about the uses of text in marketing. Yes, I do also completely believe in making the foundation of marketing first with text, then start with visual marketing materials, which ultimately multiplies the impact of overall marketing.
Hi Ankit! If 66 per cent of all social media posts are visual or visual in content, then i would like to ask, how much percentage of visual content is there in media at large. Possibly the same percentage or more.
This bias is not typical of social media, rather it is typical of all media.
For overall media; the visual contents are more than 66%.
A visually enticing website or application has a positive impact on the users. I being a visitor is often impressed if a website has graphics and colorful images. It gives a break from the monotony of the text and tricks the visitor into staying and exploring your website thoroughly.
Hey Matthew! Thanks for the view. Yes, you are absolutely right.
The criteria that you should follow before zeroing down a social media graphic designing tools are:
• Is the application easy for beginners and amateur designers?
• Is the application an apt pick for social media imaging?
• Can you use it for some complex designing or not?
• How much is it costing you to use?
These are few questions that you should keep in mind when opting for a graphic design social media tool.
Sara, great points you have short-listed here. It would be definitely useful for the end designers searching for social media graphic tools.
wow great sharing. very interesting and informative. thanks for sharing it.
I used Snappa quite some time back, and it was freemium, so I got annoyed when I was not able to save my designs. The one thing that I like about it is that it comes in many possible dimensions to fit the diverse social networking platforms. It is also updated from time to time, so you never have to face a problem while designing your social media posts.
Pablo is also a good and an easy peasy designing tool if you use Buffer and do not need to create any complex designs.
Snappa is good, but you should not go with a premium plan if you want a long term full feature graphic designer because it doesn’t leave any watermark. It’s useful if you are starting a graphic design.
GetStencil is a ridiculously awesome photo designing tool that I have tried recently. The only thing is that when you are tight on your budget and you try their free trial pack you only get 10 images/month.
Thats great to hear David! Hope this works well for you.
When it comes for free stuff, it always makes us happy and the GetStencil is really the best tool in the graphics of social media. You can check my work here: https://www.aistechnolabs.com/social-media-marketing-services/
I have personally noticed that visually enticing posts garner more hits and attract a larger audience. People are often more eager to click or follow a link that are colorful and beautiful.
The fact that Snappa was easy to create graphics was what I liked the most about it. Pick a template and change it!
Snappa saves a lot of time. It is nice to be able to export in quality. I disliked the fact that I could only send images in.ppt or.ppts. If you’re a person who needs output in something like Svg or Pdf, then you’re not going to like snapping it. It’s limited to raster graphic formats.
With stencil, you can get a high end graphic look with minimal work and have a lot of options for creation and client personalization. Stencil is my favorite photo and graphic editor. It has all of the features you would want. A large library of photos and templates can be used to choose photos.
You no longer have to search the web for royalty free photos.
Perfect. Appreciate your time and review.
Connor, I adore stencil 🙂
I use it for all of our print materials. It’s easy and I can usually find what I need for our presentations. The image dimensions are adjusted. It’s wonderful that you can choose the size of the images and store them for later use. We have taken to their library to get more marketing materials. The quality of icons are more important than quantity. I rarely use them because I don’t want to find the exact one.
We should hear from you more Russell.