How to Create Professional Instagram Posts With Canva

Creating Instagram content for your business requires various content types to keep followers engaged.

But if you’re like me, you probably lack design skills or the motivation to design a new image from scratch.

This is where Canva comes in.

Canva templates have helped me design many posts for my Instagram accounts.

Doing this saved me hours and also resulted in professional designs.

In this guide, I’ll take you through how to use Canva to create those designs. You’ll also see best practices to keep in mind while using Canva.

Let’s dive into the details.

How to create Instagram posts on Canva

You can create Instagram posts on Canva on your desktop, smartphone, or through a social media scheduler.

I’ll go through the steps for each method.

How to create Instagram posts on Canva desktop

Canva offers 2 options to create an Instagram post on the dashboard.

The first option is to search for a template.

Once you find a suitable template, click it and then click Customize this template.

Doing this will take you to the editing page where you can add text, images, and videos to your design.

The second option to create a design is to click + Create at the top left corner of your Canva dashboard.

Canva will show you various types of designs for your post.

Here, you can select an Instagram post, carousel, story, or reel.

However, if you don’t get Instagram post suggestions, click social media at the left sidebar to select Instagram post types.

After selecting a post type, Instagram will take you to the editor, where you can also select a template.

Once you finish your design, click the Share button to download your design or share on Instagram.

Canva also lets you schedule posts to Instagram from the share panel.

How to create Instagram posts on the Canva mobile app

Open your Canva app.

Then, click the + button at the bottom middle of the app.

Doing this will load the available design options. You can type what you want to create into the search box.

Another option is to select Social media, which will show the social media post options.

Since you’re creating content for Instagram, Canva provides these options:

• Instagram post
• Instagram story
• Instagram reel
• Instagram carousels

Once you select the post type, Canva will open a blank canvas.

However, if you’d rather use a template, click Design at the bottom left corner of the editor.

Doing this will pull up templates, and you can use the search box to find the right one.

Once you find a good template, apply it to your design.

However, you can bypass this process by searching for a template when you open the Canva app.

After searching templates, you can filter them according to post types and styles.

After selecting a template, edit its various elements to suit your brand.

Canva allows you to add text, images, videos, and elements to your design.

Once you finish the design, click the download icon at the top right corner of your page.

Now, you can upload your design to Instagram or schedule it with a social media management tool.

Canva also lets you share and schedule your design directly to Instagram.

With the Canva mobile app, you can quickly create designs on the go for your Instagram accounts.

How to use Canva in a social media scheduler

Many social media schedulers now integrate with Canva to let you import or create new Canva designs.

Take Vista Social as an example.

When you click the image or video icon in the Vista Social post composer, you’ll see Canva among the options.

Click on Canva, and there are options to import or create a new design.

Once you select an option, the Canva interface will pop up to create your design.

After creating your design, insert it into your social media post.

Many social media management tools offer this feature because most creators use Canva.

So, when buying a social media tool, verify that it comes with this option.

Best practices when using Canva to create Instagram posts

1. Determine your brand design guidelines

Brand design guidelines contain a set of rules that define your brand’s visual and verbal elements.

Your brand design guidelines should lay out elements that will make your brand unique. These are elements like:

• Brand colors
• Brand fonts
• Brand voice
• Brand design philosophy

With brand design guidelines, you’ll pick the right templates in Canva, use the right editing tools, and create consistent designs.

In turn, consistent designs help you stand out and turn many profile visitors into followers.

If you already have brand design guidelines for marketing activities, use the information when creating Instagram designs on Canva.

However, if you have no brand design guidelines yet, draw inspiration from examples online to create yours.

Canva also has brand kit templates you can edit to fit your branding elements.

Once you have brand design guidelines, it will direct your design choices in Canva.

2. Use Canva AI tools 

Creating viral Instagram posts is hard, and many parts of the design process can cause you to postpone for another day.

Canva AI tools let you breathe easier as they help at various steps during your design.

Here are some AI tools you can take advantage of:

• Magic write: This can write captions and texts to include in your design.
• Magic design: With this feature, you can create various Instagram designs using a prompt. Apart from creation, you can also use AI to edit your video.
• Auto-sync: This feature rearranges your reel video to ensure it aligns with your audio.
• Magic media: This lets you create photos, graphics, and videos with a prompt.

These features make many parts of the design process easier to swallow.

3. Use the bulk create feature

The bulk create feature on Canva lets you create many posts at once.

This is useful when creating many designs from a single template. For example, quotes and employee features are possible applications.

To use the bulk create feature, you need two things:

• Design
• Data

Your design will be the template for multiple posts. This can be a design created from scratch or a Canva template edited to your needs.

Your data is the information you want to have on the design. You can also have the data in a CSV file.

Once you have your design in Canva, click Apps on the left sidebar and then Bulk Create.

Canva will prompt you to enter data manually or upload data.

After uploading the data, connect design elements to relevant data points.

Once you connect the data field to design elements, apply your data to generate design variations.

Now, you’ll have your designs with the data populated.

You can change some elements of each design to make it unique.

The Bulk create feature can save you many hours of design. 

4. Plan your Instagram grid with the grid planner

Have you ever visited an Instagram grid so sleek that you wished you created it?

You now have the opportunity to create it with Canva’s Instagram grid planner.

The grid planner lets you create multiple designs and preview how they will look when published.

And if you need help with Instagram grid ideas, Canva has thousands of grid templates you can edit to create a unique grid.

Once you select a grid template, you can swap each design with yours.

This means you should have your designs before using the grid planner.

The grid planner adds beautiful aesthetics to your profile to become a follower magnet.

By creating a grid, your profile will stand out to any visitor.

Conclusion

There are many things to unpack when using Canva to create Instagram posts.

I’ve just gone through some of the basics you need to know.

As you use Canva, you’ll discover more tools to create unique and branded Instagram posts.

Share this post with someone who wants to raise their Instagram game to the next level.

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