Creating top quality visual content is imperative to a successful social media marketing strategy. Visuals drive the highest engagement on established networks like Facebook and Twitter, while other networks like Pinterest, Instagram and Snapchat are entirely visual-focused, meaning you need high quality images and video to reach these audiences.
To create top quality visual content you don't need to be an experienced designer equipped with sophisticated tools like Photoshop, as there are several online image creation tools that are available for this purpose. These tools can help you create highly shareable images in minutes.
There are both free and paid options available. If you've already tried the free options and are looking for some better paid tools, then check out all the premium image creating tools listed below...
1. PromoRepublic
PromoRepublic is a complete visual social media marketing tool which enables you do everything from creating images to publishing them to tracking results.
One of their best features is that they give you access to thousands of premade templates - based on your needs, you can pick the template you like and add your message in the place suggested using their image editor. They also suggest where you can place your logo.
These templates help you create highly shareable images in seconds. You can also make extra modifications to these templates by adding background images and other overlays like text, banners, frames, icons, etc.
Once you've designed your image, you can schedule it for publishing to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Linkedin. They also integrate with Hubspot, Hootsuite and Buffer. You can also download your images if you prefer.
You can easily checkout all the images you have scheduled on the PromoRepublic content calendar. Here, you'll also be able to view upcoming holidays and events. The calendar also suggests the templates you can use to create relevant visual content for these days.
After your images go live, you can track how they're faring using the 'Statistics' section.
2. Stencil
Stencil helps you quickly create social media images. Through their dashboard you can directly access 960,000+ royalty free images, and they make it easy to modify them anyway you want.
You start out by choosing the social media platform you want to create the image for - this will automatically set the dimensions. After that you can pick the image you want to use from their vast library. You can then modify the image by adding text, icons and graphics - they provide access to 200,000+ icons.
If you're creating an ad for Facebook, you can use their Facebook ad grid to limit the amount of text to less than 20%. This will increase the reach of your ad.
They even have a quotes feature, using which you can quickly choose and add any of the 100,000+ quotes in their database with a simple click.
They also have templates if you prefer using them instead of building your own images.
Once your image is ready, you can download it or directly share it to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Instagram. You can also share it to Buffer.
3. Picmonkey
Picmonkey is another popular image editing tool.
You can use it to enhance your photos and get them to look extremely professional very quickly.
For modifying headshots you have interesting features like blemish fix, airbrush and wrinkle remover. You can also brighten teeth, remove red eyes and make various other modifications.
They also give you access to various overlays and fonts. Also, check out their themes as they make it easy to style your images with relevant elements. There are some very interesting themes like vampires, demons and comic heroes.
If you're in a hurry to create images even more quickly, you can use the various templates they have. They're available in varying sizes for different social networks.
4. Snagit
One of the easiest ways to create images is by taking screenshots - you can just capture something you come across on the web and then share it. You should be able to take simple screenshots with several browser extensions, but if you want to take it a step further, you need to invest in a special tool like Snagit.
This tool enables you to take advanced screenshots, like delayed menu capture, custom scroll and alternative scroll, both on and off your browser.
After you take the screenshot, Snagit gives you the option to add arrows, highlight areas, text, lines, numbers and various other elements. These are all useful, especially if you want to get something in your screenshot to standout. You can even erase and blur parts of your image. They also have add on accessories that let you upload the images onto Dropbox and Drive and to share them on social networks like Facebook and Twitter.
Snagit even lets you record your screen.
These are all great, effective tools you can use for creating social media visual content. Using them will enable you to churn out beautiful images quickly even if you have zero design experience.