5 Easy-to-Use Design Tools to Amplify Your Content
Take a look at the two Facebook ads below. Which one would attract your attention?
I think the answer is obvious.
What these two examples show is how important good design matters in marketing. The image is the main reason the second post received so many likes. It’s a high-quality photo, and the colors and fonts go well together.
Four quick visual content stats you should know about
- Facebook posts with images are shared 2.3 times more than plain text posts.
- People remember around 10% of the information they hear. However, if you pair audio with an image, the percentage of the information retained rises to 65%.
- Some 37% of marketers report that visual marketing is the single most important type of content for their companies, second only to blogging.
- Website design is the top criterion for credibility of a company for 43% of people.
There are a large number of design tools available to help marketers create some amazing visuals without the need to understand design theory. Here’s a few that we’ve come across to help you get started or to use with your vendor design team.
Crello – Free Design Templates
Crello is a free tool that allows you to create images for your blog posts, posters, and other marketing materials. It offers 10,000 design templates, 31 design formats, and more than 12,000 free stock photos and vectors.
Crello is free and after registration you get access to the different design layouts and thousands of high-quality stock images. Paid stock images are available on the platform as well, with an average price of $0.99 each.
Crello is easy to use. All you need to do is register, choose a format, add an image, and insert your text.
Prezi – for Presentations
As much as 90% of the information we receive comes from our eyes. It’s always better to combine images with text when you are trying to explain bullet points to your readers. Our brains recognize a symbol more easily than reading a word, which is why visually appealing presentations increase engagement with your audience.
Prezi is a Cloud-based service that helps you create awesome presentations. You can select from and customize a collection of great templates.
Payment options of $5-$50 per month are available.
Pixlr – for Image Editing
If you don’t have the budget for Adobe Photoshop and you’re not experienced with Microsoft Paint, then Pixlr comes to the rescue. It has most of the basic functions of Adobe Photoshop, so you can edit your images on any device at any time.
Pixlr is totally free. You don’t even have to create an account to use it.
Pixlr works the same way as the most popular photo editing programs. You can download or create images and then add layers and filters. If you have some experience in photo editing, it will be easy for you to understand how to use the tool. If you’re new to photo editing, you may want to look for video tutorials on YouTube.
Venngage – for Infographics
Did you know that infographics are shared three times more than other types of content? Moreover, people who receive text instructions along with illustrations perform better and understand those instructions more quickly. With Venngage, you can easily create infographics to present your data.
Venngage offers three main pricing options: student, business, and premium. A student account is free, but the number of templates you can create is limited. Premium accounts are $19 dollars per month, and you get more options than the student account. If you buy a business account for $49 per month, you get access to all the templates, an easy exporting process, and online support.
To use Venngage you sign up with your Facebook login, Google account, or email; choose a template; and add your data.
Google Fonts – Free Fonts
Google Fonts is a directory of 800 free fonts. You can use the fonts on your site or in your marketing materials.
All the fonts are free.
In the past, the Internet was filled with the same boring, standard fonts. Now most browsers support different types of fonts, so it’s time to make your site look modern and appealing.
Don’t be afraid to be creative, and go experiment with your content!
Play with some of the tools we have described above to create images for your posts, source fonts, and make beautiful presentations.
