How To Use Canva To Create The Perfect Instagram Feed

With over a billion Instagram users, having a curated feed matters for all brands. Your content will reflect the essence of your brand, and if customers are not engaged by it, they will turn away. Here, we will help you create a cohesive and appealing Instagram feed through the use of Canva.

What Is Canva?

Canva is a free graphic design platform that allows you to make Instagram posts, business cards, invitations, you name it. Besides being free, this platform is very intuitive and you don’t need extensive design experience or knowledge to create high-quality content. With this platform, you can create a high-quality design in only a couple of minutes!

How To Get Started On Canva:

1. First off, you will want to create an account so you can easily access and download all of your work.
2. Once you have your account, you will see that there are hundreds of templates to help you get started. Click on “file” in the upper left corner and go to create a new file. The dimensions of your file will depend on what you are creating, for the purposes of this blog click on “Instagram post”.
3. Now that you have your blank post, you will see several templates on the left side panel. If you want to use a template, all you have to do is select that template and it will automatically replace your blank post.
4. After you select a template, hover over the different components of the design. If you want to edit a component, all you have to do is click on it and you can change its color, size, or position.
5. However, if you don’t want to use a template you can simply go to the left side panel and add elements, texts, background, and more. If you would like to add your own photo, you can either upload it or copy-paste it directly into your design.
6. You can edit the photo you uploaded by selecting it and clicking on effects or filters. You can also rotate and flip the photo and change the transparency of the photo.
7. After you are done editing an image, you can lock it by clicking on the lock symbol on the top-right corner of the page. Locking an image will allow you to add many more components without the risk of accidentally moving the image around.
8. Next, if you want to add a text, go to the left-side panel and click on text. Choose the font or predetermined font combination.
9. Once you are done writing your text, you can go to elements. You will find hundreds of icons, stickers, and illustrations to add to your posts in this tab. If an element has a crown symbol, it is only available with Canva Pro, but there are hundreds of free features you can use. 
10. Edit the elements by adding an animation to them or changing their color.
11. These are only the basics of how to get started on Canva, head to Canva.com to explore more of what this platform has to offer.

What Is A Curated Instagram Feed?

If you want to grow your following, your Instagram feed needs to be cohesive. People need to know what sort of content they should expect from you at a glance. The main components of a curated Instagram feed are:

- Consistent subject matter: Your content should be focused on your area of expertise. People decide to follow accounts that can bring something valuable to their everyday lives, figure out what you can bring to the table, and have your feed reflect that.

- Consistent color palette: A consistent color palette is very important. It makes your profile look much more professional while also being visually appealing. We recommend using Lightroom Presets to create a consistent look and having one dominant color since posts with one dominant color generate 17% more likes than those with many.

- Consistent lighting: You may have noticed that many influencers use ring lights. Some even add a ring light to their phone cases, that is because lighting matters. Having great and consistent lighting will immediately increase the quality of your posts and make your feed look more professional.

- Consistent style: What style best represents your brand? Curating your content means showing your audience who your brand is with only a couple of posts. Figure out what style best reflects your brand and keep that in mind when creating content.

The keyword here is consistency. That does not mean that all of your content will be exactly the same, but it will follow a template that exemplifies your brand. Having a cohesive Instagram feed will not only attract more followers and accurately reflect the essence of your brand, but it will also make content creation much more easy and efficient. 

Instagram’s algorithm will benefit profiles with more engagement, and if you want your content to appear more often, you need to give your audience content they want to engage with. Creating a consistent, interesting, and visually appealing feed will encourage users to engage with your content more often and bring you new followers. Check out Power Move Marketing’s Instagram feed for an example.

As you can see, Power Move Marketing's Instagram feed has a consistent color palette, subject matter (digital marketing), style, and lighting. And we use Canva to create or edit the majority of our posts! 

How To Use Canva To Create A Memorable Instagram Feed?

Now that you know the basics of Canva and curating your Instagram feed let’s go into some tips on how to use Canva to build a memorable feed.

1. Create your color palette: Once you figure out the colors you will be predominantly using on your feed, go to Canva’s brand kit feature to create a color palette. The free version of Canva allows you to add three colors to your palette, so choose them wisely. If you decide to invest in Canva Pro, you will be able to create as many color palettes with as many colors as you want, save fonts, and save your logo. 

- Protip: If you don’t want to subscribe to Canva Pro just yet, create a document that includes the names of the fonts you will be using, the code for all of the colors, and your logo and its variations.

2. Find your core filters: A great and easy way to keep your feed consistent is to pick a few filters and stick to them. Using Canva’s filters and editing tools, you can find a common theme or color that works for your brand and gives your feed a cohesive look. 

3. Stick to your fonts: Beyond choosing a color palette and filters for your brand, you need to make sure that your text is also on point. The fonts you use don’t have to be sophisticated, but they can make your content pop if you use them consistently and creatively. Choose from any of the fonts offered in the Canva library and experiment with them.

- Protip: Create a font guide for different types of text such as titles, subtitles, and body. Pairing different fonts will make your posts more dynamic and interesting.

4. Accentuate your photos with illustrations: When editing your images in Canva you’ll see a great variety of free and premium illustrations. Use these illustrations to accentuate your photos.

5. Make your data visually appealing: Your Instagram feed is the perfect place to let your customers know why they should choose you over your competitors, and what better way to do that than with reliable data? Make the data you want to present to your customers visually appealing by sticking to your style guide.

6. Leverage templates: Canva has some incredible templates that will help you create content in a matter of minutes. Leverage the templates this platform offers and switch up some elements to match your brand’s style.

Should You Start Using Canva?

Over 200,000 companies use Canva for their business, and that number will continue to grow, and it is easy to see why. As you can see, Canva is an efficient and easy design tool that can bring you many benefits. Yes, using Canva (the right way) will make your Instagram feed more appealing and increase engagement, but it can also help you create content for other social media platforms, your email marketing, presentations, business cards, and much more. Using Canva to design your content will ensure a cohesive and visually appealing look. So, should you start using Canva, our answer is yes, you definitely should.

For more tips, advice, and strategies on all things marketing and branding, check out the rest of Power Move Marketing's blogs.

 

Author: Julia Prieto