Creating compelling and eye-catching marketing materials can feel extremely overwhelming – especially if marketing is not your jam in the first place. There are social media images, lead magnets, proposals, presentations…the list goes on and on! How are you supposed to keep consistency in your branding, but still spark originality with each new resource created?!

The fantastic news is that you don’t need a Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design to put together scroll-stopping images or powerful presentations. You also don’t need to invest a ton of $$$ in software to design your marketing materials. 

You just need to find a tool that works for you and your business that is also affordable!

Our team’s favorite FREE (or relatively inexpensive) tool for marketing design is Canva. (No affiliate marketing going on here, I promise – just a genuine love for this incredible product and a sincere desire for you to be knowledgeable about the best resources out there.)

Canva makes creating marketing materials simple and shareable for your team.

Canva is a web-based graphic design platform and freaking amazing content creation tool that is simple to use and collaborate with – even if you don’t have a background in design (and if you do, all the better!).

The free version has plenty of options to get you going and if you choose to upgrade to Canva Pro it starts at only $12.95 per month. It’s the perfect solution for entrepreneurs and small businesses of all kinds.

Canva has all of the preset sizes and templates you need to create whatever marketing materials your business requires. No more wasting time trying to find the optimal dimensions or image sizes for each social media platform or printable you need to create. Canva has them all pre-set and ready to roll!

All of the templates are searchable and allow for plenty of customization along the way. 

Canva is overall very easy to navigate and truly designed to use as a team. Our team (like many of yours) works remotely, so being able to collaborate online is crucial and this is something Canva accommodates extremely well. 

If you want to share a specific design with one of your team members, it’s as simple as putting in their email address and pressing send. This feature allows the people you are working with to make necessary edits or give you specific feedback without so many messages or emails back and forth (saving you SO much valuable time!).

If you opt for Canva Pro, there are even more team features available there!

Customizing Your Marketing Materials for Your Business

Anything you find on Canva can be molded to fit your brand and appeal to your ideal client. 

Consistency in your brand image throughout all of your marketing is important. Canva’s Brand Kit allows you to do just that. You can upload your brand fonts and colors into your “brand kit” which makes them easily accessible for every project you start. (You could also choose your brand’s fonts through Canva’s wide selection if that’s a step you are still working on in your business.)

Canva has a fairly extensive library of free and inexpensive images to choose from when creating your marketing materials. But with Pro, you can also upload your own images from a personal collection or images you purchase and download from other stock sources.

Logos are also easy to upload or create in Canva!

Once you have all of your brand options in place, it is simple to customize one of Canva’s many templates to fit with the look and feel of your brand! And, if you’re creating for several different brands (like our team!), you have the option to set up multiple brands within your account.

Canva Creates Professional, Polished Results

In the end, what you create in Canva will look professional and well put together. 

Yes, hiring a designer or marketing team is always ideal, but Canva gives you plenty of options that will work for your needs and your budget. And, when put in the hands of marketing professionals – like yours truly – its features can be easily elevated even further! 

What marketing materials are the most time-consuming ones for you to create? Where do you get the most hung up?  Share your struggles in the comments. We’d love to know what other resources to create for you!

The Amazing OBM is always happy to help you with your marketing materials.  To learn more about our services visit us here or schedule a free 30-minute consultation.