Boost your business with the Stencil graphic design tool

Did you know that around 65% of people are visual learners? 

It’s no wonder, then, that Facebook posts with images have 2.3 times the engagement than those without, and articles that feature pictures roughly every 100 words are more likely to be shared.

While social media may be a newer invention, the idea of visual learning certainly is not. From the earliest cave drawings to the infographics of today, the use of images to convey information is nothing new. And as a small business owner, it’s important to tap into this strategy with some stunning, memorable images of your own. 

Let’s explore how to create online graphics for free. Plus, we’ll delve into how good graphics can boost your brand’s online engagement. 

Create online graphics for free with Stencil by Visual

Creating graphics may feel a bit intimidating, especially if you don’t have a ton of experience using a specialized program and didn’t go to school for graphic design. Thankfully, there are tools like Stencil by Visual that make graphic design for social media accessible, easy, and fun. 

Stencil by Visual is a simple-to-use graphic design tool for bloggers, business owners, and social media marketers. From compelling ads to blog headers and much more, Stencil by Visual has you covered. Wield it in any modern web browser to create images faster than ever before without the need for complicated, expensive software. Simply pick a background, add some text, and boom — you have a design that takes social media posts to the next level. 

Top Stencil by Visual features

Here are the main features of Stencil by Visual that will have your brand bursting with potential and uninhibited influence:

• Choose from more than 1,350 image templates. Stencil by Visual offers its users tons of options for templates already formatted for social media, and that’s just to start. These templates will get you past that “blank slate” feeling. All layouts are fair game for personal or commercial use without attribution. 

• Pull from more than 500 million stock photos. The photo options alone give you infinite options to create stunning content. These pictures are high resolution and royalty-free, and they work for any type of branding. Long gone are the days of downloading an image and manually uploading it into your canvas. With millions of photos built in, creativity is a click away.

• Upload your font or choose a free one from Google Fonts. A feast of fonts is available by using any of Google's thousands of web fonts. But if you have your eye on something specific, or you’ve already identified a font for your brand, you can upload it directly to the platform. This gives you plenty of opportunities to further enforce the connection between your social media graphics and your company through brand identity and makes Stencil a powerful tool for any graphic designer.

• Share directly to social media. The speed and agility of Stencil by Visual allows users to share directly to any social media platform, saving time and effort from creation to posting. Preview your post on desktop and mobile, then share to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Buffer, if you use a scheduler. All you have to do is connect your social accounts. 

• Preset sizes. Stencil by Visual has more than 140 preset canvas sizes to eliminate the guesswork when it comes to optimal sizes for social networks, ads, blog posts, and more. You won’t have to keep up with the current social media logo and image dimension requirements — Stencil by Visual has them stored and ready to go for you. You’ll know before you share that the image will be seen in all its glory, with no awkward head crops or missing valuable info.

• Browser extensions. With the Chrome extension and Firefox add-on, you can add the Stencil button to your toolbar for seamless access and integration anywhere on the web. And if you plan to use Stencil by Visual on your blog, the WordPress plugin makes importing these images to your website even easier.

• Store multiple logos. Stencil by Visual lets you upload and save every iteration of your logo. And if you’re working on visuals for a variety of brands, you can save them and keep track of their separate logos, too. This provides a high level of flexibility in designing for whichever platform or niche you plan to market your graphics with.

5 benefits of good graphic design for your business

Memorable designs can make a world of difference for your business. Understanding the benefits of this form of visual communication can work wonders for the success of your brand, whether you’re just getting started or your company is hitting a major growth spurt.

1. Support a holistic brand identity

A fundamental component of any brand is brand identity, which references the copy, visuals, and every other element that helps communicate your values. An identity is what separates your brand from the other artisanal soap makers, sock shops, or wedding photographers. Enhancing your social media profiles with high-quality graphics that follow your brand style guide reinforces your uniqueness. And it allows customers the opportunity to appreciate your signature color palette anywhere. 

2. Polish your professionalism

Stumbling upon a page with outdated fonts and low-res images may not spark confidence in your products or services. That’s because we trust polished presentations with our hard-earned money. Correctly-sized, high-quality images make your brand appear professional, which builds credibility. If a brand invests in their design, then it says a lot about how they conduct their business, too — with great care and skill. 

3. Help build brand recognition

With any brand identity, there has to be consistency to achieve brand recognition and, ultimately, brand loyalty. A strong brand is easily recognizable — it has a logo, slogan, or color scheme that makes you crave burgers or pops into your head when you need craft supplies. Similar to professionalism and credibility, unity builds trust. That clear messaging gets customers in the door. Once they have a positive experience with the product or service, they’ll come back for more — and they’ll recommend the online seller with that interesting vintage logo design to their friends. 

4. Increase interaction

Aside from the stats proving the increases in engagement on posts that feature images, the billions of users worldwide also present endless possibilities. So if you want to make your marketing work for you, carefully plan your posts and make your feed pop. Social media is already heavily visual, with platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest centered around images. Well-developed content that people click on has the potential to increase your likes, comments, saves, and follower count.

5. Foster connection 

If you schedule your content well and get in the groove of posting what your followers care about, there’s tons of room for connection on social media. Today’s consumers want to connect with the brands they buy from — they want an image behind a brand name. A graphic that shows the amount of waste a company saved that year by switching to eco-friendly packaging demonstrates that your organization doesn’t just talk the talk. When you develop posts with meaning, then you can interact in the comment section and build something more than a transaction. 

Design high-quality content in a flash 

A strong visual identity that’s consistent with its messaging across all platforms does a lot for a brand’s credibility and engagement. Since so many prospective customers are on these platforms, your small business has limitless potential. Plus, if you have a personal brand where you’re working to build an artistic community, social media is perfect for that, too. The origins of social media spring from a desire to connect when you can’t physically meet in person. It’s all about coming together.

Now that you know the benefits of graphic design and the importance of images in a visual world, start boosting your business with Stencil by Visual. This graphic design tool is free to use and sets you up for success. The option to use different web browsers, templates, images, icons, graphics, and more make producing brilliant content easy for any individual or business owner. You don’t have to have a graphic design background or fancy software to wow your audience. So here’s to designer-quality results, in a fraction of the time. Happy branding!