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Create an Adoring Social Fan Base like Canva

Whether you are a marketer or an individual trying to create their wedding invitations, you likely have heard of the smart visual communications platform: Canva. From ideation, templates, and publishing, Canva is the online tool many of us are using to make our design ideas come to life with little to no design experience.ย 

Whatโ€™s more is that Canva is a brand that fantastically puts their tools and ideas in the hands of users in a creative and strategic way using social media.ย 

How Community, Creation and Culture Fuel Canva's SocialShameless plug:ย  I suggest taking a moment to listen to Jacky Barkerโ€™s episode on our Social Pros Podcast for the insights she shared in: How Community, Creation and Culture Fuel Canvaโ€™s Social

Jacky Barker, Canvaโ€™s Social Lead, shared what makes Canva so successful and well-loved by its followers. As the Socal Pros hosts, Anna Hrach and Daniel Lemin, pointed out, Canva has such a passionate social fan base of Canva lovers. So how can your brand create the same energy and moments as Canva? We are diving into some main takeaways.

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Be at the Start of Conversations

Off the bat, Canva aims to be at the forefront of online social conversations.ย 

Should you want to do the same? Of course, because you are positioned to increase:

  • Brand awareness
  • Customer engagement
  • Reputation management
  • Competitive advantage

To do this you have to be very intentional about your activity on social media. Be in-tune with connecting the dots of social insights and enter the convo at the right points. Engaging with your audience with what they are seeking and what they need will give you a great competitive advantage.ย 

How does Canva stay plugged into what is going on socially? They look for cultural cues from the news and the social platforms on which they want to be a stakeholder. They dive into the day-to-day news as a means to be on the up-and-up.ย 

TikTok happens to be a big player as it sets cultural behavior and trends for many. Itโ€™s a good idea to get several of your team members on board for this endeavor, since the For You Page (FYP) is personalized to the individual using the app. This will give you a better perspective and add more ideas to the pot.

Most importantly, establish what your brand stands for and how it should be presented on social media. Where is the right place to tap into or share a voice? What is aligned with your brand? Find those moments and make sure that you are having a perspective and an opinion to join in on that conversation.ย 

Canva shares a voice on social media
The Power of Youtility for Social Engagement

One of Canvaโ€™s biggest successes has been their engagement with their social fan base.

If you havenโ€™t heard Jay Baerโ€™s coined term โ€œYoutilityโ€- Itโ€™s marketing that your customers actually want and value. This is done by providing useful information without a price tag. Canva provides educational resources, such as tutorials and webinars, to help its customers learn how to use the platform effectively. Their social media team promotes these resources on social media and encourages customers to engage with them.

Canva provides a megaton of youtility with their educational resources and how-toโ€™s. This has allowed for a devoted social community and fans have taken it a step further by sharing extra secret tips and tricks. Ah, the joy of authentic user-generated content!

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Canva user-generated content

Credit: YouTube

Donโ€™t forget the value of 1-on-1 interactions

Itโ€™s important as marketers that we donโ€™t lose sight of the individuals we are helping. Canva has built a community of superfans by taking one-on-one communications seriously. You canโ€™t help but make people feel good and valued when you take the time to acknowledge them.

Canva offers personalized support and responds to comments and messages. This builds trust and increases overall customer satisfaction. They have actually taken it a step further by creating a graphic specifically for a customer or sending swag. Imagine what that does to your customer and the chain effect that it sets off. This makes people share their experiences as well as continue to support your brand online.


How are you creating personalized, 1-on-1 conversations with your followers?
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The Art of Social Connection

When building a social community, itโ€™s important to ask yourself: who do you want to connect with on social media to share your brand and content?

One key factor Canva takes into consideration is the social channel. You can fuel a paid campaign for the target audiences you want to reach, but channel strategies should be deeply considered.

Look at who is on the channel you are targeting for your social fan base. To increase brand awareness, youโ€™ll need to speak to people who are actually on those platforms so you can create useful, relevant content for them. Itโ€™s important that they want to share what you produce.

Letโ€™s consider TikTok for a moment. First, remember there are subniches involved in that community. Second, you are going to have to decide which niche(s) you want to target there. In Canvaโ€™s case, they had to consider how to go after the workplace and the individual content creator. They understand that an individual can become a fan and thus take it to their workplace, or conversely an agency can add it into their toolkit.

Canva TikTok channel

Just like Canva, youโ€™ll need to craft different pieces of content for each of your targets so you donโ€™t miss the mark on their needs or what they may become.

Going From a Global-Level to a Local-Level

To add more specificity and impact to your campaigns, think local. Again, addressing specific needs is going to build that passionate social community you are aiming for.

Canva focuses on understanding the cultural nuances and business messages of each local market. They conduct thorough research to identify the specific needs and desires of the community they are targeting.ย 

This information is then packaged into a comprehensive approach that is shared with their teams. They go as far as to outline the doโ€™s and donโ€™ts from their brand perspective and clarify their values to create clear guidelines for their teams.

Because of their emphasis on the importance of integrating local cultural insights into social content, they are able to scale their local efforts quickly.

Furthermore, they leverage platforms like Pinterest, which serve as visual search engines. By analyzing trending topics and search behavior, they are able to shape their content strategy to align with what their users are actively searching for.

Pinterest local search for Canva users

Your Social Fan Base Awaits

Canva is all about inspiring and educating their engaged audience using their thoughtful, researched content. Being visually interesting is not a requirement for leveraging social media effectively. When you focus on providing valuable and educational content that resonates with your social community, you win big time. Make actively listening to your usersโ€™ feedback and preferences a priority and incorporate their requests and interests into both your product development and content strategy. By paying attention to your communityโ€™s needs and aligning your social strategy accordingly, you will foster a stronger bond between your brand and its clients.

Listen to the Social Pros episode with Jacky Barker.

Learn more about Social Media Marketing Cosulting services Convince and Convert offers.

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