Are you looking to add a little splash of movement and excitement to your next Facebook post? Creating a post that stands out in your patron's Facebook timeline can be a challenge. You're competing for their attention in a crowded space and they are being bombarded with different images, posts and videos. In this update, I'm going to share how you can use Canva to create a simple and effective animated image to accompany your next event or update post (see the example above).

Many of you may already be familiar with or are currently using Canva to create graphics for your website, social media pages and printed materials. For those uninitiated to this free resource, Canva is an online drag-and-drop style graphic design program that allows you to create professional looking visual resources. Canva employs ready made templates that help get you started with your layout and the best part about all of this is that it is FREE! (Yes, there is a paid option to access additional templates and assets, but the amount of resources availalble for free is quite extensive.)

Step 1

From the Create a design menu on the Canva homepage, navigate to the Social Media option and select Animated Social Media.

Step 2

Scroll through the ready made templates on the left side of the page to find a starting layout that you want to use. If you hover over any of the available choices you will see an example of the animation.

Step 3

Once you have found a template to serve as the starting point for your design click it and it will get added to the active design area.

Step 4

Almost every element on the template is editable including text, font choice and colors. In the example above I have changed the text from the default values to what I want my graphic to say.

Step 5

In addition to changing the text, I have also moved a few of the cloud graphics to a different part of the canvas. You could also update the background color of the sky, change the font color or font family of the text or even add additional elements to this design. In this case I want to add the InfoSoup logo to the design. To do this I select the Uploads option on the left menu and then click on Upload an image or video. This lets me find an image on my computer to upload to Canva and then use in my design.

Step 6

For this example I upload a PNG image of the InfoSoup logo to use in my design. I selected a PNG instead of a JPG because of the transparent background which will look nicer. I can then drag the image I just uploaded directly into the design area and place it. I have also resized it slightly and placed it in the bottom center of my design.

Step 7

After making changes to get the design exactly how I want it to look I can now export it. Canva automatically saves any design in progress, so if you accidentally leave the page for any reason you can always pick it up again. Click on the Download option in the upper right menu, choose one of several options under the File type dropdown. I want to be able to use the short animated video to accompany an upcoming Facebook post, so I can select either the MP4 Video or GIF option, either would work in this situation. 

And just like that I have a nice looking animated visual that I can easily share online. 

As always, if you have any questions about this or any other graphics and marketing related subjects, please don't hesitate to reach out to me via email or phone. Have fun designing!