Entrepreneurship can be exhausting. Luckily, there are programs designed for budding businesses to tackle their digital marketing with ease. One such website is Canva. This online resource offers a simple way to create, edit, and export marketing materials, including presentations, logos, business cards, social media posts, flyers, Zoom backgrounds, tickets, invoices, recipe cards, and more! Canva even offers a personalized experience based on the user's profession. Let's go over how to create and utilize a Canva account. 

Canva offers three different pricing plans: Free, Pro, and Enterprise. Each option carries different costs and benefits related to available templates, stock photos, brand kits, workflows, and storage. Starting with the Free plan has no drawbacks and can help determine if Canva is the right marketing resource for you. So let's focus on how to utilize the Free plan.

Creating an account and choosing dimensions

Canva accounts are simple to make. All that is needed is a valid email address and password. Once your account is active, it is time to pick the dimensions of a design. A variety of templates are available for different types of marketing content. Choose sizes based on what content you will be creating. For example, you can choose a template for a Facebook post and Canva will automatically insert the dimensions of the post. This can be done with a variety of templates.

Collaborating and editing a design

With the dimensions set, it is time to customize the design for your business. Keep in mind that consumers prefer visually aesthetic content. Design your image by altering the background, shapes, text, photos, and filters. On the right you have access to all sorts of shapes, text, editing options. Toggle with these options to familiarize yourself, then get editing! Feel free to make a few drafts to experiment with different designs. One of the best features of Canva is its ability to allow collaboration. Invite co-workers and friends to help edit your design by entering their email addresses or adding them to your "Canva Team." Now you and your team can edit simultaneously and in real-time.
Publishing a design

Download your design by locating the top right corner of the screen, selecting share, then clicking download. Depending on your design, there are different preferred file types. However, most of the time, PNGs are the most efficient. If you only want to download specific pages, click the drop down “select pages” to choose your favorite designs. Once you download the design, print it, share it on social media, or include it in an email to customers. 

Canva designs do not have to be perfect; there's no such thing! Have fun creating new content for your business in Canva. Eye-catching designs are a simple yet effective way to engage new customers and remind existing ones that they love your products.