In the world of digital marketing, it’s hard to ignore the fact that visual content has become a powerful tool for brands in running successful marketing campaigns.
Considering that 65 percent of people are visual learners and articles with images get 94 percent more views compared to those without, it makes perfect sense to create compelling images in all areas of your digital marketing efforts.
However, hiring a professional graphic designer to give you high-quality images for your blog posts is expensive.
So how do other marketers edit their images without hiring a pro?
The solution is to DIY it!
Social Media Image Maker Tools
Fortunately, there are some truly magical image editing tools designed for the technically challenged, and many of them are free to use or have low-cost plans.
Here are 5 Places to DIY your Images
Piktochart
Piktochart is one of the most popular online tools that allow you to create graphics, presentations and even infographics.
Their mantra, ‘Take your visual communication to the next level without hiring a graphic designer” is true to its nature, since they’ve helped a lot of marketers in create outstanding infographics over the years.
With Piktochart, all you need to do is to enter your data and choose a template and it automatically does the work for you.
MakeaMeme
MakeaMeme or MAM is a completely free online tool you can use to make your own meme. It includes a library of images you can simply slap on a caption and download after registering. However, the site does not specify if the images are under copyright, so using them may land you in legal trouble if you use it for your business, especially if your post goes viral. It is far safer to use the meme generator, where you can upload your own image or a stock photo for commercial use.
Here’s one using an image from Pixabay, an equally magical site for free stock photos, illustrations, and videos:
Other sites where you can find free and royalty-free images that require no attribution are MorgueFile and Public Domain Pictures.
Stencil
This is an online tool for easily creating images. It has its own library of thousands of royalty-free images that you can simply drag and drop to the work space, manipulate, filter, and a host of other stuff. The tool also provides social media icons, quotes, and templates.
You can’t simply copy and paste the image you’ve made, however. You have to save it on Stencil and download it, which takes a while. At any rate, it is easy to use and the free version allows you to create up to 10 images a month, so it’s all good.
PlaceIt
A blog is a useful marketing tool, more so if you can actively promote your brand through your visual content. A great tool for brand placement is PlaceIt, which lets you drag and drop your website’s URL or any landing page for a product in any of the stock photos or videos it has in its library. Here’s a sample using an image mockup:
It is free to use if you only need a small image (400×300 px) like the one above, but if you want high-res images, you have to pay per piece (from $8 up). You can also get 9 images a month for $29 or 31 images for $99.
You can also make demo videos, but there is no free version. You either pay per video ($29 or so) or pay $199 a month for unlimited videos and nine images.
Canva
Canva is a nifty image-editing tool, which makes it easy to make professional-looking graphics without having any graphic design chops.
You can choose from pre-set templates, or create your own. Aside from photos, you can also create infographics. All you have to do is choose among the many design options and start playing! Some photos and layouts carry a small price tag, but there are many of free ones as well. They have over 1 million pre-existing images and graphics to choose from.
And there you have it, the 5 places to DIY your images!
While these tools don’t really replace a good graphic designer, it’s nice to consider that there are amazing alternatives to help you kickstart your visual content strategy. Play around with these tools and decide which one best suits you image creation needs.
Do you have other image editing tools that you love? Let us know by leaving a comment!
Republished by permission. Original here.
Photo via Shutterstock
This article, “The 5 Best DIY Image Tools for Your Social Media Campaign” was first published on Small Business Trends