Canva

Post Images that Speak to Your Audience

For example, if you know your audience is interested in different cultures around the world, an image like this will spark their attention.

Stick to the Rules of Great Photography

The great news is you don’t need a DSLR camera and expensive professional gear to take stunning photos. Simply follow these rules with your smartphone, and you’re good to go.

• Use natural light whenever you can.
• Avoid overexposure (to do this, tap the brightest part of your frame before taking the photo).
• Shoot at sunrise, sunset, or on a cloudy day.
• Take photos from different vantage points. (That’s right! Crouch, crawl, lie down, even scale a wall if you’re feeling ambitious.)
• Use unique frames. A hedge, two skyscrapers, or just some extra space are stunning examples.

Sometimes you need something completely custom-made. How do you ensure what you create actually looks good?

Design tip: Sketching a rough outline of your design on paper before you begin can help you bring your vision to life. It doesn’t need to be perfect. Consider what you’d like to include in the design, and where it might look best.

• Choose the right dimensions for your design
• Choose a background
• Add your elements
• Choose the right fonts

Run Contests

Running Instagram contests helps you spark engagement, plus win a ton of new followers.

Here are three great Instagram contest ideas you can use.

• Like, comment, and follow. Users like your post and follow you to enter your contest.
• Tag a friend. Users get one entry for every friend they tag in your post.
• User-generated content (UGC). Your audience creates their own unique posts and tags your business or uses a hashtag you created.

Leverage Video

Did you know that Instagram videos receive 2x the engagement of other posts?

That’s right!

If you want your followers’ attention, it’s time to leverage those videos.

Here’s a quick guide to Instagram videos:

• Keep your videos short and grab your viewers’ attention with movement in the first few seconds of your clip.
• Add captions (Instagram videos are mute by default).
• Plan your videos with a specific goal in mind (e.g. drive traffic to your blog, spark engagement, gain new followers, or educate your audience).
• Add behind-the-scenes footage of your brand for a human touch.
• Capture your products in action (a video of customers using your products is great).
• Follow the rules of great photography when shooting your videos.

Give Exclusive Content with Stories

Use Instagram stories to show behind-the-scenes action and truly pull those viewers into what your brand does.

A super example is Boxycharm and their absorbing story clips.

As you know, Boxycharm offers customized makeup boxes with all your favorite brands in one box.

To engage watchers, they post stories of real people using their boxes to “glow up.”

Take a look at this video and this video from BoxyCharm’s Instagram.

How to make Instagram posts

Open Canva
Launch Canva and search for “Instagram Post” to get started.

Select an Instagram post template
Browse our collection of ready-made post templates professionally designed for Instagram. Each layout fits Instagram post dimensions perfectly. Filter your search by color, theme, or style.

Personalize your design
Make any design yours when you customize the text, choose different font styles and colors, and modify elements within the layout. Upload your product shots or use our extensive library for stock images, videos, audio, and vectors.

Play with different features
Touch up your images with our photo-editing tools. Add filters and enhance your pictures. You can also make it dynamic with animated stickers, page transitions, and text animations.

Share on Instagram
Download your design in high-resolution JPG, PNG, or MP4 to upload to your account. You can even share it directly to Instagram from the editor. Add a witty caption and see your post live on your feed. With Canva Pro, you can queue your content later with Scheduler.

How to make Content for Instagram in Canva

1. SELECT YOUR TEMPLATE

Log in to Canva, then select and create your Instagram story template. There’s two ways to go about this: You can either click “Create a design” at the top right and select “Instagram Story” to get the right dimensions, or search for an Instagram Story template design you like via the search bar.

2. ANIMATE YOUR VIDEO

Here’s where the fun begins! Now that you are ready to start editing your chosen template, you can add unique, animated elements to your story three different ways.

Add a video

Once you’ve selected your template, you’re ready to add in your video! Choose or upload any video you might want to use and drag it into a placeholder on your selected story template. If needed, adjust the size and positioning until it fits.

Animated design elements

Another way to animate your stories is through the Elements feature in Canva by selecting “Stickers”. You can either scroll Canva’s huge graphics collection or use the search bar and type “animated {insert word you’re searching for, ie. lines, arrows}. You can drag and drop them straight into your design. As a easy reference, my favourite search terms are: Animated Arrow, Animated Sparkle, Animated Line and Animated Word. You can also grab my FREE Animated Canva Elements reference guide in the descriptions of my Youtube video below.

Use the Animate button

There’s also an “Animate” button you’ll see at the top when you’re in your design. Simply click on the page you want to animate, and the Animate button will pop up on the top left. Try all the different animation options!

Use these three features to create an animated video individually or all together – they’ll be sure to up-level your stories in a fun and unique way.

3. PREVIEW & DOWNLOAD

Once you’re done, you can preview your animated stories by clicking “Play” at the top of your screen. If you like the look of everything, head to the top right to download your stories – make sure you download each page individually.

There you have it!