Being that as a business owner you need to also be a content creator, Canva has become an epic and efficient tool for most of us in designing and creating high quality, on-brand and engaging content for social media.
But with the general consensus that social media and the hours of content creation that go hand in hand are the ultimate time-suck, I'm always approached with questions about how to make the content creation process more efficient, and quick for the average business owner.
My friend, your wish is my command, in this post, I'm breaking down 3 handy AF tools and tricks to help you use Canva to make content creation quick and easy, and simplify the process (heck, even your life) as a whole.
1. Canva Instagram Bio Link
Even though platforms, like Linktree, offer a quite comfortable possibilty to display several of your links on a small landing page, there’s one big disadvantage to it: the limited branding options.
With Linktree, you only have a few options to design the Linktree landing page in your own “corporate design”.
But, there’s a great solution for this problem: Canva! Canva now offers the possibility to design an own mobile landing page, which is directly hosted on Canva and provides you with all the design options you probably can wish for:
You can easily design the mobile landing page from scratch
Or you can use premade templates and customize them according to your needs
That means you can add your own brand colors, unlimited links, you can customize fonts, font sizes and even add images and other elements – pretty cool, right?
To make it even easier for you, I've got a step by step how you can easily design your own Instagram Bio Link Website on Canva.
1. Search for “Bio Link Website”
First, you’ll need to login to your Canva account and navigate to the button “Create a design” at the top right or the search bar on your Canva dashboard.
Type in: “Bio Link Website” and press enter.
2. Start with a blank design or use premade Template
You can then either start a new design from scratch or you can use one of the pre-made templates. The premade templates are always good to get started and to then customize them according to your needs.
3. Design your Bio Link Website in Canva
Now it’s your turn to make the Bio Link Website your own. Design away and add text blocks, elements, images etc. to your design. Here are some useful elements/blocks you could add to your Instagram Bio Link Website:
“About me”-Section
Media or press you've been featured in
Contact info or contact page on your website
Useful links, e.g. to your website, a sign up form, your blog
Download link to a product or freebie
Social media icons linking to your other social accounts
4. Don’t forget to add links to your design
As you later want your Instagram Bio Link Website to have clickable elements, don’t forget to make your text blocks and elements clickable. To add a link, select the specific element and click on the “Link icon” (chain) in the toolbar. Then just enter your link and hit “Apply”.
5. Publish as website
Normally, when you finished designing in Canva, you export your file by downloading it in a preferred file format, e.g. JPEG, PNG etc. It works a little differently for the Bio Link Website. You do not export the website in a “classical” file format, but instead publish the website.
To do that, just click on the button “Publish as Website”. You can choose different web styles (Presentation, Scrolling, Classic Navigation, Standard).
I would recommend you to use the “Scrolling” style to offer a smooth user experience on a mobile device.
6. Shorten Link
When you now click on “Open website” a website will open containing your design. It’s hosted directly on Canva so you don’t need to have an own website to use it.
As the generated URL is quite long, I would recommend you to shorten your link, for example by using the free URL shortener Bitly.
7. Insert Link in Instagram Bio
Now you just have to insert your generated link into your Instagram Bio and you’ll have an awesome new landing page for your Instagram account that looks exactly like you want it to.
2. Canva Magic Write
Magic Write is an AI-enabled writing assistant that empowers anyone to effortlessly and quickly create written content. You can use it for social posts, websites, blogs, poems, journaling, creative writing, and so much more (I personally use it to help inspire content ideas, and creating listicles for some of my clients... remember: key word being inspire, you gotta add your own touch and personality to everything you do!) It can generate sentences, paragraphs, lists, outlines, and more based on the text prompt you enter.
Be mindful of the following when generating text using Magic Write.
It only uses data and information up to mid-2021. This means that some of the generated text might contain outdated information.
It only takes instruction from the text you entered or used in the document. The more context and instruction you give, the better your result.
It might generate text that isn't accurate or unique.
It has a 1500-word input limit and around a 2000-word output limit. This means that generated text might get cut off mid-sentence.
You can use Magic Write to generate copy from a text prompt or by using existing text in your document.
Generate from a text prompt
Create or open an existing design.
Select the + Add magic button on the page. You can also type / to open the Canva Assistant shortcut.
Select Magic Write from the list.
Enter or describe the text you want to generate.
Press ⏎.
Generate from existing text
Highlight the text you want to generate from.
Select the + Add magic button on the page.
Select Magic Write from the list.
Add instructions after the existing text. For computer users, you can press ⇧⏎ to add a space before adding instructions.
Press ⏎.
Like I said, I'm a big fan of using it to help me brainstorm content ideas for my clients. It lets you move straight from an idea to editing which cuts down your writing time.
Why not try these examples?
"Brainstorm ideas for marketing a new running shoe and explain the benefit of each idea"
"Twitter posts announcing a product launch for a new alarm clock phone app"
"List of 20 interview questions for a social media marketer"
"Write a witty tagline for a company that sells sustainable furniture"
"Step by step, explain how to grow a lemon tree"
3. Canva Brand Kit
Brand Kit brings all your entire brand together in one place, whether you're starting from scratch or adding your existing assets. Once set up, you can access your brand fonts, logos, colors, icons, imagery, graphics, and pre-designed Brand Templates within the Canva editor to apply the brand as you design. Brand Kit helps you establish brand consistency for all your collateral, across every touchpoint.
Here's how you can implement:
After signing in to your Canva Pro account, from the Canva homepage, select Brand on the left-hand menu. This will take you to the Brand Kit setup page.
Name your brand style by selecting Untitled Brand Kit. Then it’s time to add the brand details. As you scroll on the Brand page, there are different sections: Logos; Colors; Fonts. You can upload individually to these sections, but for a smoother process with visual aids, you can set up your brand within one system.
To create your brand harmoniously, select Get started. This opens a new page where you can set up your brand in one place. It provides visuals to show you how your brand could look with each decision you make.
There are five numbered sections on this page:
Profile - Under the first section, you should type the name of the company or the brand name you’re creating the visuals for. This is only for your purpose, so you can make up a nickname or use your own name for a personal brand. If your brand has a website, you can input that in the box below the name. If there is a logo associated with the website, Canva will pull that logo. In the case of using a social media website, it may pull the social media’s logo rather than your brand’s. It’s optional to use a website here; skip it if it’s irrelevant.
Logos - If you included a website and the logo was pulled, you don’t have to re-upload the same logo. But if an incorrect logo—such as the Instagram logo—was pulled, or an incorrect version of your brand’s logo, then you can select the X on the logo file and re-upload the correct file. Uploading your logo in PNG format with a transparent background will work best. The templates will change color to reflect the colors in your logo. Any size will work, so don’t worry about resizing your logo or chosen image. You can only upload one logo file to the Brand Kit at this point, but if you have a secondary logo, you can add it manually later.
Colors - The Colors panel shows many palettes, including a generated palette based on the colors in your logo, labeled Original Palette. There are also four randomly generated Discover Palettes with a wide variety of random themes. Select a palette to apply that style to the templates. After selecting a palette, it offers a shuffle option. Selecting Shuffle will change the color order on the templates—for example, if the original was orange on black, shuffling will switch that to black on orange. If none of the generated palettes tickle your fancy, select Edit next to the top color palette. Each color can be replaced with any color you desire. After selecting Edit, highlight which color swatch to change and use the color spectrum or HEX code to replace it.
Fonts - Next, add a brand font. Select Add a font. You can either scroll through the list of fonts—these will be Canva free fonts, Canva Pro fonts, and any fonts in your computer system—to locate your chosen font. Or you can search for it. If you already know the name of the font you use, type it into the search bar. Or if you’re having trouble finding what you’re looking for, type a style—like Cursive or Sans Serif—into the search bar to help narrow down your options. See these great Canva fonts if you need inspiration. Many brands use one main font and a secondary font. Pick two fonts and make sure they work together and offer something unique to the brand. Most designers use a more legible font for body text and a more creative font for titles or names. You can use the Shuffle option if you’re struggling to pick fonts.
Templates - The final menu item is Templates. Canva is the home of template design—you can easily make your own Canva templates to publish—and your brand should follow a template style for the best effect. Choose between four template style options: Simple; Playful; Minimal; Modern. You can always go back through the other menu items to change things that don’t work anymore. Perhaps your font was too out there to go with your colors or template style. Keep changing things around until your brand feels on point.
Once you’ve ironed out all the details, select Continue and Canva will generate and save your Brand Kit, creating templates for various design purposes. Use your branded templates in the same way as other Canva design templates. You can easily implement your Brand Kit when creating a personal website in Canva.
Your time and freedom awaits with these hacks, and tools to start implementing in your content creation. Which of these tools will you use first?