Skip to Content

How to Use Canva Templates for Digital Marketing

How to Use Canva Templates for Digital Marketing

Canva Templates is reader supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more


Canva is a useful, versatile tool for digital marketing. In this article, you’ll find out how to utilize Canva’s vast array of templates and design tools to show off what your business has to offer!

There are over 250,000 free templates to use on Canva. From Instagram posts to header banners, the platform offers you a template for whatever you need. Join us as we explore all the different possibilities!

Read on to find out:

  • How to access Canva templates 
  • The benefits of using Canva templates
  • How to incorporate Canva into your digital marketing toolbox.

Without further ado, let’s dive in!

What is Canva?

Canva is a platform where you can design content for many different purposes. 

If you’re looking to make documents, presentations, social media content, videos, print products, websites, infographics, magazine covers, and more, choosing Canva is a very easy decision to make!

It’s free to use, though there’s also the option to pay for Canva Pro. This unlocks more tools, templates, and other useful features. The platform offers access to a 30-day free trial for you to test out whether you’d like to commit to the Pro option.

You can pick a template, go freehand, or make and share your own template

Canva allows you to make any design of any size, depending on what you need. 

Ways to Use Canva Templates for Digital Marketing

1. Social Media Graphics 

Nowadays, social media is a huge part of selling a brand. Every brand should be posting high-quality, attention-catching material on platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest to generate interest.

The size of posts depends on the platform. Fortunately, Canva offers a wide variety of shapes, colors, borders, icons, images, text, animations, and other design elements to perfectly match the social media site of your choice!

Take this Canva template as an example. The background color is neutral with the text reading “Always Stay Hydrated” overlaid. An illustrated hand wearing a biking glove reaches up to grip a water bottle. 

The graphics are appealing to look at, and they deliver the message effectively! That’s the purpose of social media graphics — to inform, while pleasing the eye. 

To find more templates, type “social media graphics” into the Canva search bar. 

Blog and Website Graphics

Have you ever heard of the phrase, “bounce rate”? 

A 2021 report by Contentsquare found that “47% of website visitors abandon their journeys after viewing just one page”. In other words, nearly half of the viewers “bounce” (leave)!

To attract people and convince them to stay, graphics are absolutely instrumental. 

One example is this template made for an internal communications website. It has a pleasing purple color palette that ranges from lilac to indigo. 

There are illustrations of characters doing different tasks — giving a presentation, typing on a laptop, and more — throughout the design. These illustrations add a nice touch and break up the text. 

Type “blog graphics” or “website graphics” in the Canva search bar for more options! 

Users can even create custom graphics for their website, using Canva’s AI tool, Canva Text to Image, which generates images based on text descriptions entered by users.

Email Header and Newsletters

An email header will make you stand out in people’s inboxes. It gives an appearance of professionalism and shows your attention to detail. 

With this design, you can put a photo of yourself alongside a welcoming message, or announce a seasonal sale to your subscribers.

Check out this Canva template by LisaVokan Design. It reads “Welcome to the Club!” and has a textured background with a picture of a woman gesturing to the text. 

You can try this tactic with newsletters, too. If there are attractive visual cues throughout the text, it’s even more likely to be noticed. 

Search “email header” or “newsletter” in the Canva search bar to explore the range of templates available.

Infographics

Infographics are statistics or data presented in a simple visual format. This might include drawings, graphs, or symbols. The point is to make complicated data readable for the average person. 

If you search “infographics” in the Canva search bar, you’ll find endless options. 

One design by Andrew Pixel is titled “The Seven Steps of the Selling Process” and features a black and neon theme with seven steps laid out like stepping stones. The reader then travels from step to step, learning new information along the way.

Video and Animation

Humans are attracted to motion. As such, using video and animation is more attention-grabbing compared to mere text or static images! 

To find the wide range of templates available, simply type the above keywords into the Canva search bar.

For example, this GIF template by Helen Torreggiani features a pulsing black-and-white hypnotic swirl. You can’t take your eyes off it! Instead, you’ll more than likely be convinced to click “Shop Now”.

Ads and Banners

Ads are found all over the place and they regenerate quickly. Canva’s ad templates help you keep up with the competition.

The ideal template will match your brand’s ideology, show off your product/sale announcement, and be appealing to potential clients. You can customize the template you pick so it’s not completely set in stone. 

A good example is this ad by Signato which advertises a Black Friday Sale. The background is textured and black, with torn paper revealing a bright red background. The text appears to be bursting out of it. 

Ads that have dynamic elements (even if the rest is static) succeed in grabbing attention. Having texture and dimension is also extremely effective!

Landing Pages

The opening page of a website is a make-or-break place. If people don’t immediately see something they like, they leave. 

If you look up “landing page” in Canva’s search bar, you’ll find lots of templates to help you prevent that. See this one designed by Creative Journey for a natural skincare company. 

The striking image shows a woman with sparkling eyes peering through a gap in two leaves. It’s captivating, and teases the “freshness” of the natural products. The “visit store” button in the corner is then the next logical step for the viewer!

Ebook Cover and Content 

The cover is a huge part of a customer’s decision-making process when it comes to clicking on an eBook. If it doesn’t speak to you, you’ll simply scroll on by!

Take this Canva template as an example for an eBook called “Blood Shot”. We see a close-up of a girl’s blue eye and her hand holding a glass of blood. Maroon ripped paper is slotted throughout. 

This cover is immediately striking and matches the tone of the title. You should look for templates that match the mood of your eBook. When choosing one, think to yourself — would I click on this?

Enter “Ebook cover” into the Canva search bar to peruse all sorts of different templates! 

Webinar Presentations

Webinars, like seminars, have a reputation for being boring. Subvert initial expectations by using playful graphic design in your presentation. 

One compelling example is a Canva template by Halley Room. It’s titled “Wellness Webinar: Reduce Stress by Stopping Negative Self Talk”. 

The illustration of a peaceful person with flowers sprouting from their brain is appealing. The pale colors and rounded edges make the webinar topic approachable and light. 

Don’t be afraid to add graphics to your webinar, as it’s an easy way to boost engagement. Feel free to explore Canva’s webinar templates for inspiration!

Podcast Cover Art

The mythical podcast, “Hang on, What?” features its hosts Kacey and Donna on the extremely ‘80s-themed cover

High ponytails, bold colors, and a walkman exude a retro and fun throwback, setting the stage for something lighthearted and casual.

Your podcast theme might not be the same, but it should be clearly expressed in your cover art. “Hang on, What?” is just one template in Canva’s bounty of podcast cover templates. Search “podcast art” to find more!

Whether your podcast is about finance or true crime, the cover art will need enticing graphics. For ideas, consider incorporating photos of your host(s) alongside on-topic colors and images.

Google Display Ads

Display ads are small, but that doesn’t mean we don’t see the!

After all, they pop up under videos we watch and recipes we read. You have a very small strip of ad space to work with, so your message needs to be clear. 

This template by yellow bananas on Canva reads, “Christmas Sale, up to 50% off!”. It’s decorated with tinsel, baubles, and a person excitedly carrying shopping bags. That’s all you need.  

Search “Google ad banner” in Canva for more templates. 

YouTube Thumbnail and Channel Art 

What’s a good way to create suspense and draw viewers in? Through your YouTube thumbnail, of course!

Consider including a photo of your face on it so people have something to connect with immediately. Match your thumbnail to your channel banner and profile picture style.

Canva has a world of templates for thumbnails, including this one by My Social Designer. It’s cut diagonally, and the left side reads “If I Had To Do It All Again”. The right side has a picture of a woman sitting on a chair about to be interviewed. 

This is compelling because the viewer will want to know what the woman has to say. Aside from the dynamic pose, the color scheme is also attractive with its dark teal and yellow combination.

Instagram Stories

You may post just one Instagram story per day, or keep a steady stream going. To make all your stories look cohesive, you may choose to reuse templates, changing only the text, audio, and photos.

This template looks like a phone lock screen. It has a wallpaper, time and date, and two notifications — which is where you’ll write your message. 

It’s a super customizable template that attracts people and invites them to automatically look at the text!

Pinterest Graphics

Pinterest is all about cover photos — the reason you click on a post is its cover art!

If you want to keep it stripped down, try a template like this one. It has autumn colors, rounded fonts, and a simple 4-grid layout for photos. 

Sometimes, simple and minimalist layouts are the best; you don’t need flashy graphic design if it doesn’t suit you. Fortunately, you’ll also find many simplistic templates on Canva for Pinterest graphics. 

Facebook Cover and Posts

Facebook posts are excellent for announcing a launch, sharing photos of an event, or calling your audience to action. 

This template reads, “Produce is wasted at every level of the food chain. Learn how you can help […].” 

As for the design elements, the template has a light background and three illustrated pieces of fruit. 

In this instance, a simple graphic design is used to support the message. The images don’t distract the viewer from the call to action, but they make it interesting to look at.

Search “Facebook post” in the Canva search bar for other engaging templates to try out.

In Summary

Canva is all about creativity — but that doesn’t mean you have to start from scratch!

 Explore the platform’s template gold mine to find one that suits your digital marketing needs. 

Save time, get inspired, and make attractive marketing material for free!