You’ve heard the term “pictures are worth a thousand words” right? That simple statement rings completely true in today’s world of content. Words alone are no longer sufficient when it comes to marketing your business and engaging your audience. Last week we mentioned that the brain processes visual content much faster than written words. Therefore, there is true power in imagery. Visuals trigger a reaction, something we seek in our business operations. Whether you want consumers to purchase a product from you, attend an event or hire you to provide a service, you want your message to resonate with them and encourage them to act.
Creating unique visual content doesn’t have to be complicated, expensive or time consuming. And let’s be honest, not everyone has access to the top editing programs out there for photo, video and other graphics. The great news is there are many sites and apps that can help! Below, we’ve outlined several of our favorites for creating quality visual content that can be used with your blog and social media platforms. These sites and apps provide an easy but professional way to enhance your messages with images.
Photos
First, we all need access to quality photos. There are several sites out there that provide professional photos that are royalty free. Some come with minimal cost and some are completely free all together. Below are some of our favorites:
Provides over 1.4 million royalty free photos and videos. The site provides an easy way to search for the topic you need and allows you to view and download a file in various sizes.
Provides free stock photos with high resolution. All photos are royalty free. There are approximately 40,000 photos with new images added daily.
Provides a sharing platform for photographers to share their photos. Photos on Upsplash are also free and you can browse, create an account to store your “liked” photos and download as you’d like. According to Upsplash, they have over 5 billion photos, provided by more than 70,000 photographers.
Content Creating Apps/Sites
Below are some of our favorite content creating apps and sites. Many apps have free versions or advanced versions for minimal cost.
Canva allows you to create a wide variety of documents enabling you to get as creative as you’d like. You can start with basic predesigned templates or create your own from scratch. From cards to flyers and presentations, Canva has many options that can meet your specific needs. There is an entire section dedicated to social media posts for nearly every platform. It’s an easy click through design system that provides step by step directions.
WordSwag takes your words, quotes or messages and turns them into a beautiful graphic text design. You can use your own photos, or the app pulls images from the Pixabay site mentioned above. The design process takes only minutes once you choose your photo and text style.
Over is an easy to use photo editing app that makes it super simple to add text, stylize your font and upload directly to your social media platforms. If you want something that’s super quick and easy to use right from your smart phone, this app is for you.
The websites and apps listed above are just a few of our favorite free versions. There are hundreds of options out there that provide unlimited photos, videos and templates to create unique visual content. We encourage you to browse the tools listed above and test a couple of them out. Remember, you don’t have to be a professional designer to create unique content for your business.
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