6 Visual Tools to Improve Your Social Media Content : Social Media Examiner

By Caleb Cousens
November 15, 2016

9K Shares

Want to improve your social media images?

Looking for easy-to-use tools for creating high-quality visual content?

Visual content is an absolute must for generating engagement on social media, whether it’s in the form of videos, graphics, or emojis.

In this article, you’ll discover six tools for creating unique, professional-looking visuals for social media.

6 Visual Tools to Improve Your Social Media Content by Caleb Cousins on Social Media Examiner.

#1: Add Emojis to Graphics

Emojis have become ubiquitous in online conversations as a way to add personality to content. The team behind EmojiOne is always on top of the newest emoji updates so you never have to wait long to use the hippest visuals available. The app makes it easy to use emojis on social media and lets you incorporate them in custom graphics.

EmojiOne is available as a desktop browser extension for Chrome, Firefox, and Opera. Once you install the extension, click the unicorn icon on the toolbar to access your emoji library.

Click the unicorn icon to open EmojiOne’s emoji library.

You can also download the art files for the complete emoji library to use them in your other communications such as posters, infographics, or SlideShare decks.

Download EmojiOne’s art files and use them in your content.

EmojiOne is completely free to use. If you’re using their art files commercially, they ask that you give them attribution in the form of a link.

#2: Produce Animated Videos

Moovly lets you create animated videos and presentations and then export and share them on social media.

After you register, click Create New Moov.

Click the Create New Moov button to get started with Moovly.

Next, enter a title, description, and category for your video. Then click Create.

Add a title and description for your Moovly video.

Now decide what video style you want to create, such as an animated video, presentation, or display ad. You can either use one of Moovly’s templates or create a moov from scratch.

Select a Moovly template for your video.

Now you’re in the Moovly editor window where the magic happens! From here, you can add objects from the Moovly Library and access the text, color, animation, sound, and voice tools. The tool also lets you upload your own content in the form of pictures, graphics, and sounds.

Add visual and audio elements in the Moovly editor window.

When you’re finished creating your video, decide what platform or device to optimize the video for such as YouTube 480p, iPhone 5, iPad, Presentation, or custom dimensions. Then save your video and return to your dashboard.

Click the Moovly Animation Settings menu to see video platform optimization options.

Click the Moovly Animation Settings menu to view video platform optimization options.

Downloading your video is easy. First, choose the file format and video quality you want. (It costs up to $8 to export in HD.)

Select a download format for your Moovly video.

Then decide if you want the Moovly watermark on your video; it’s $3 to remove it.

Finally, choose whether you want to remove the “Made with Moovly” outro. (This will set you back another $2.) You can export your video and then upload and share it.

You can remove the Moovly watermark from our video for a fee.

You can remove the Moovly outro from your video for a fee.

You won’t find many tools that let you create professional-grade animated videos and presentations for under $15. Moovly offers an easy-to-use interface and with a bit of tinkering, you’ll soon be creating high-quality videos like this for your social media channels.

#3: Build Infographics

Infographics are a must for your social media marketing. With Piktochart, you don’t have to be a graphic designer to create attractive infographics.

A limited version of the tool is available for free and offers 10 infographic templates to choose from. For a monthly fee, you get access to hundreds of templates and icons, as well as integration with SlideShare, PDF, and more.

After you choose a template or start your own design, begin adding your content. Everything is customizable so you can tweak and edit the graphics, background, text, and more. You can also upload your own files.

Tweak your infographic design in the Piktochart editing window.

The Tools section lets you add charts, maps, and videos to your infographic.

You can add a chart or map to your Piktochart design in the Tools section.

You can add a chart or map to your design in the Piktochart Tools section.

When you’re happy with your design, download your infographic. Your choices are limited with the free version, but if you’re just starting out, you’ll be able to share an impressive-looking infographic with your social media followers.

Choose from these options to download your Piktochart image.

#4: Create GIFs

GIFs are powerful tools for showcasing your brand, products, and company culture on social media. MakeaGIF lets you create GIFs from your own images, YouTube videos, webcam, and other video files.

To build a GIF from images, select the images you want to use such as pictures of your latest company event, office activities, or something else.

Upload your images to MakeaGIF.

Then arrange the images in the order in which you want them to appear.

Arrange your images in the order you want in MakeaGIF.

Now, just name your GIF, pick the speed and category, and click Create a GIF.

Add a name and choose speed and category options in MakeaGIF.

Keep in mind your GIFs don’t have to be work-related. The best ones use humor, so get creative and brainstorm a GIF for TGIF, for example. Creating your own GIFs lets you add a more personal and unique face to your brand.

#5: Turn Visuals Into Movies

Magisto eliminates the time and hassle of video editing and will create beautiful videos for you automatically from your photos and videos. It’s available on a variety of platforms, including desktop, Android, and iOS.

To get started, click Create Movie and choose the videos and images you want to include. The free version limits you to 10 videos or photos and a maximum length of 15 minutes.

Add photos and videos to create a movie in Magisto.

Next, choose from Magisto’s collection of themes and editing styles to apply to your movie. Your choice will determine the effects within your movie and the editing speed and filters. There’s also an option to let Magisto choose a style for you.

Choose an editing style for your Magisto video.

Next comes the music. Make a selection from Magisto’s excellent music library or you can upload your own song. The song and video will sync perfectly with the cuts and effects following the speed of the song.

Choose a soundtrack from the Magisto music library.

Select a soundtrack from the Magisto music library.

Finally, give your movie a title and the app will do the rest.

Magisto does a great job of creating professional-looking video based on your selections, but if you want further editing options, you’ll need to upgrade to the Business plan for $9.99 a month.

#6: Design Custom Images

If you’re on social media, chances are you’re at least familiar with Buffer, one of the best free social media management tools around. But you might not know about Buffer’s relatively new image creation service.

Pablo lets you create amazing images optimized for Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter in just a few minutes. You can share them directly from Buffer’s dashboard.

Pablo lets you design custom images to use on your social media channels.

To begin, select an image from the library of 600,000+ free images from Unsplash. If you can’t find something you like, upload your own. You can also add a filter to your image to create a cool effect.

Next, add overlay text on your image, place your headline, and choose the font and color you want. Pablo’s Quotes tool will randomly generate inspiring and famous quotes that help attract engagement on your social channels.

The Pablo Quotes tool will generate random quotes to use in your images.

Pablo’s Quotes tool will generate random quotes to use in your images.

Pablo also lets you upload your logo or icon to brand your image.

Now all that’s left is to share your image. You can publish it directly to your favorite social platform or schedule it with Buffer’s dashboard for an optimal time.

Conclusion

You have tools at your fingertips that make designing awesome visual content ridiculously simple. And we know that good visual content increases the chances of high engagement.

So what are you waiting for? Try some of these tools and see what works for you.

What do you think? Do you have any must-try visual apps or tools to recommend? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.