Popular template-based tools like Canva and PromoRepublic are great, but they aren’t really viable Photoshop alternatives – while they’re awesome for many graphic design needs, they were never intended for photo manipulation and editing, and they simply don’t have the versatility of Photoshop and its rivals. Perhaps recognizing that its market share is slipping as a result of these drawbacks, the Adobe team has been experimenting with scaled-down, web-friendly, freemium versions of Photoshop, but no product has emerged yet as the company’s flagship in this regard. Photoshop is the grandfather of photo editing tools, but it’s also highly expensive, heavy on computing resources, and for many of us, offers too many features that are too hard to use.

It’s clear that content creators of all stripes need shortcuts to top quality visuals. For another 29%, it takes ten hours or more. And marketers say that visual content creation is sucking up too much of their time, with 28% of marketers spending up to five hours per week crafting visual content. Creators are fighting for views among the approximately 46.7 million amateur and 2 million professional (full-time) creators.

The success of visual content creates a new challenge: how to stand out.Īgency marketers, independent content creators, and in-house marketing teams alike are all struggling to produce high quality-content in a shorter space of time. But marketers don’t yet feel they’ve mastered Instagram, having named it as the top platform that they want to learn more about. Visually-oriented social media apps like Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest are highly popular marketing platforms, which is why 64% of marketers say they’ll be increasing organic activities there. Memes, photos, and infographics are the best way to communicate trends, information, or commentary on social media. Text posts and longform blog content still have their place, but when it comes to going viral or scoring solid engagement, visuals win hands down. Our brains can absorb the information in a photo or a meme far faster than when we have to read a text-based post, even if it’s just 280 characters, and an image stays with us for longer than words. The old saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” has been reinforced by social media. Whether you’re a creator working hard to cultivate your following and score sponsorship deals, or a marketer seeking to boost awareness and capture leads for your brand, social media is your battlefield, and visual content is your weapon of choice.

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