Visual imagery is the most important way to catch your audience’s attention on social media.
As any digital journalist or marketer knows, attention is everything in a saturated online space. According to Visual Critical, the average Gen-Z attention span is eight seconds, four seconds less than millennials. Ever scrolled through your phone while watching a TV show at the same time? Then you understand the challenge facing every social media journalist today. Our attention spans have taken a nosedive due to the constant digital overload across an abundance of social media platforms.
That is why creating eye-grabbing social media graphics is key to presenting important news and reports on platforms like Instagram which favour visual aesthetics over traditional text.
The best part about Canva? You don’t need to be a seasoned graphic designer, or the most advanced user of Adobe Photoshop. In fact, you can even do it from your mobile phone. Anyone can create the best-looking graphics on Canva with ease and in no virtually time at all.
Here’s everything you need to know to create your very own stunning Instagram infographics with Canva.
What are infographics?
An infographic is a series of imagery, charts, data visualisation and stylised text that helps give your audience an easy way to communication complex information, quickly and clearly.
They’re a great way to give a brief rundown on content that can be hard to explain in words alone, making Canva a must-have for any digital journalist or audience team!
Infographics don’t have to just be graphics that accompany your article either. If you’re looking to increase your brand presence on a trending topic but haven’t got the copy to back it up, infographics are useful in teasing out longform content in a series of key points.
Besides being a fun and creative way to share important information on your socials, it’ll help increase the traffic directed to your brand or news organisation.
One thing to remember is that infographics aren’t just there for decoration. The visuals need to do more than simply excite and engage, but also, help your audience understand and digest the content that you’re sharing.
Why are Instagram carousels important?
Since Instagram launched its carousel upload feature in 2017, it has become one of the app’s most popular post formats, providing users a unique way to visually tell a story with up to 10 photos or videos in a post.
According to SocialInsider, 19.44% of Instagram posts are carousel, making it the most engaging Instagram post format, with an average of 1.92% engagement per post.
A step-by-step guide on using Canva’s templates and resources:
- Choose your template
Navigate to the Templates tab, which can be found on the menu bar at the top of the desktop website.
Here, there are hundreds of free templates to choose from, which range from social media use to personal to business to education. They’re all carefully designed to fit the right dimensions of each social media platform.
Once you’ve found the template which fits with your brand’s voice and for the right platform, replace the template image with one from the copyright-free media library.
To find the right image for your post, you can enter a keyword in the search bar, or browse through the most popular images and animations on the site currently.
Alternatively, you can upload your own through the Upload tab.
- Add text
To change the templated text, simply select the entire text box to highlight and overwrite it.
Once highlighted, Canva will load a series of free-to-use fonts on the left hand side of the screen with an extensive list of text editing options, from size to position to .
A useful detail to note is that when changing the colour of text, you can even enter the HTML colour code or RGB HEX colour code. This can come in handy when trying to fit the rights colours with your newsroom brand design.
- Choose icons, shapes and stickers to bring your design to life
Click on the Elements tab on the menu bar on the left hand side of your screen.
Here, you can search again for a keyword to get inspiration on what animation or graphic would best suit your design.
Icons range from everything between shapes, animations, stickers, themed graphics, GIFs and arrows.
Publishing your infographics on social media:
Once you’re happy with your infographic, there are several ways to publish and export your design on social media.
- Save it locally as a PNG, JPG, PDF, or GIF file
- Directly post it onto your social media platform
Take note that only Pro users can export their images as transparent PNGs. You can also send it directly to your printer to ensure a high-quality print.
And voila!
There you have it – now you’ve got your very own infographic to share out across your brands social media platforms. Who said making newsroom social media graphics had to be a chore?