6 Graphic Design Tools for Creating Social Media Ads

When it comes to crafting impactful social media advertisements, choosing the right graphic design tool is crucial. Insights from a seasoned Graphic Designer and an experienced CEO shed light on this essential decision. Kicking off, discover why Adobe Express offers robust tools, and wrapping up, learn why you should choose between Canva and Adobe Suite. This collection features six valuable insights that will guide you to make an informed choice.

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Use CapCut for Quick Edits

CapCut is my go-to. For our social ads, we use our top-performing reels and make quick edits to update them. CapCut’s user-friendly interface makes it easy for anyone to dive in, start editing, and get your ads live!

Diane Howard, RN and Founder, Esthetic Finesse

Adobe Express Offers Robust Tools

Adobe Express (formerly Adobe Spark) offers robust tools for creating eye-catching social media ads. As a graphic designer, you’ll appreciate its features and flexibility. Adobe Express provides an intuitive interface, making it accessible even for beginners. Whether you’re designing for Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, or Pinterest, you’ll find customizable templates that fit various formats. 

Adobe Express offers a vast library of templates specifically designed for social media. These templates cover different ad types, orientations (horizontal or vertical), and platforms. The Adobe Express Content Scheduler allows you to plan, create, and publish ad campaigns across multiple social media channels. From TikTok to YouTube, you can manage it all in one place. 

Access to thousands of royalty-free photos, icons, and design elements is directly within Adobe Express. This saves you time and ensures your content is legally sound.

Michael Carpenter, Graphic Designer, Founder, MC Design

Combine Adobe Illustrator and Canva

I use a combination of Adobe Illustrator and Canva. If a brand already has a complete brand identity complete with logos, colors, and typography, then I build a brand kit in Canva and create within that tool. The reason I love it is that the brand kit keeps everything at my fingertips and it’s extremely user-friendly. If I am creating for a client, it’s also very easy to hand over the ready-made templates to them.

Tanya LeClair, Graphic Designer, So Swell Studio

Figma Balances Power and Simplicity

As a digital-agency owner, I rely on Figma to design social media ads for clients. Figma offers an intuitive interface and powerful design capabilities without the steep learning curve of Photoshop.

For a fintech startup, I used Figma to quickly mock up several social-ad concepts with bold graphics and minimal text. The client loved the concepts, and we launched an ad campaign that drove a 32% increase in app downloads. Figma’s collaborative features also allowed my team to provide feedback in real-time, speeding up the design process.

While Figma may lack some of Photoshop’s advanced features, its ease of use and low cost make it an ideal option for small agencies and solopreneurs designing social media ads. The drag-and-drop interface minimizes the time spent manipulating layers and applying effects. For those on a budget, Figma’s free plan includes all the tools needed to create professional social media ads.

Overall, Figma strikes the perfect balance of power and simplicity for designing high-impact social media ads. For digital marketers looking to scale their social advertising, Figma can save valuable time and money. I highly recommend giving it a try.

Doug Steinberg, Founder & President, Magnetik

Adobe Spark Provides Customization

In our agency, we rely heavily on Adobe Spark for creating social media ads. I recommend it for a few reasons. First, the level of customization is fantastic; you can really tailor designs to fit a brand’s voice and style. The intuitive drag-and-drop interface makes it easy for anyone on my team to jump in and start creating without a steep learning curve.

What I love most is the seamless integration with other Adobe products, allowing us to incorporate high-quality assets from Adobe Creative Cloud when needed. This helps maintain a consistent look and feel across all platforms.

Also, the social media-specific templates save us a ton of time. It’s all about efficiency for us, and with Adobe Spark, we can whip up eye-catching ads that not only look professional but also engage our audience effectively. Plus, the analytics feature helps us refine our approach based on performance, which is invaluable for optimizing future campaigns.

Harmanjit Singh, Founder & CEO, Website Design Brampton

Choose Between Canva and Adobe Suite

We use both Canva and Adobe Creative Suite for social media ads, depending on the complexity of the project. Canva is perfect for quick, efficient designs. I remember working on a tight deadline for a PR agency, as they needed the creative ASAP, and Canva allowed us to produce high-quality visuals in a matter of hours. It’s user-friendly, and the built-in templates make it easy to maintain brand consistency without spending too much time.

For more intricate designs, like custom illustrations, animations, or video, we rely on Adobe Creative Suite. On a recent branding project, where animation made up a large component of the brand, the Adobe suite of products gave us the flexibility to create detailed, polished designs that truly stood out. The choice between Canva and Adobe really comes down to the scope of the project, but having both tools in our arsenal ensures we can deliver exactly what’s needed, no matter the timeline or complexity.

James Hill, CEO, Golden Goose Digital

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