The essentials
- For most SMEs: Canva Pro (around €110 a year) covers visuals, carousels, Stories and short videos, with a brand kit and shared templates.
- Short video: CapCut (free, Pro version at €8 a month) for Reels, TikTok and Shorts, with automatic subtitles.
- AI images: Midjourney, Adobe Firefly, Ideogram; useful for backgrounds and illustrations, to be avoided for products and real people.
- The rule: a visual must be understood in one second without the post text, on a 6-inch screen.
On social media, the visual decides whether the thumb stops; the text comes afterwards. An SME does not need a full-time graphic designer, but tools that quickly produce visuals consistent with its brand, in the right formats. This comparison ranks seven tools by use and by price, then sets out the formats that carry in 2026 and the rules that make a visual engaging. Scheduling posts is covered in scheduling your posts effectively.
The comparison
| Tool | Main use | 2026 price | Strengths | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canva | Visuals, carousels, Stories, simple videos, presentations | Free; Pro around €110 / year; Teams from 2 users | Templates in each network's formats, brand kit, automatic resizing, built-in scheduling, generative AI included | A recognisable “Canva” look if the templates are not customised |
| Adobe Express | Same scope as Canva | Free; Premium around €12 / month | Firefly built in, Adobe fonts, links with Photoshop and Illustrator | Fewer community templates |
| Figma | Brand templates, precise visuals, teamwork | Free; Pro around €15 / month / editor | Reusable components, precision, collaboration | Learning curve, no video |
| CapCut | Short vertical videos, subtitles, quick editing | Free; Pro around €8 / month | Automatic subtitles, trending templates, direct export to TikTok | Watermark on some free templates; owned by ByteDance |
| Descript | Video and podcast, editing through the text | From $12 / month | Silence removal, transcription, automatic short clips | Geared to long-form content |
| Midjourney, Adobe Firefly, Ideogram | AI-generated images (backgrounds, illustrations, moods) | $10 to $30 / month | Speed, originality, legible text with Ideogram | No real products, hands and faces, rights to check, AI labelling expected |
| Photoroom, Remove.bg | Cutting out and staging products | Limited free tier; €10 to €15 / month | Clean backgrounds for e-commerce in a few seconds | Narrow use |
For an SME with no graphic designer, the Canva Pro + CapCut combination covers 90% of needs for less than €20 a month. Figma becomes useful when a team has to share strict templates. The visuals created are then scheduled with the tools compared in the scheduling tools.
The formats that carry in 2026
| Format | Social | Dimensions | Why it works |
|---|---|---|---|
| Short vertical video (15 to 60 s) | Instagram Reels, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Facebook, LinkedIn | 1080 × 1920 | The highest organic reach on every network; see video best practices |
| Carousel (5 to 10 pages) | Instagram, LinkedIn | 1080 × 1350 (Instagram), 1080 × 1080 or PDF (LinkedIn) | Time spent, saves; ideal for teaching and for lists |
| Single image with short text | Everyone | 1080 × 1350 or 1080 × 1080 | Quick to produce; a key figure, a quote, a before/after |
| Story and ephemeral format | Instagram, Facebook | 1080 × 1920 | Closeness, polls, behind the scenes |
| Authentic photo (team, site, product in use) | All, especially local | Depends on the network | Outperforms stock images on engagement |
Six rules for an engaging visual
- Legible in one second: a single message, 3 to 7 words of text, strong contrast; test it on a phone at arm's length.
- Consistent: two colours, two fonts, a constant logo placement. Canva's brand kit or Figma components enforce this.
- Human: faces, hands and real places hold attention better than abstract illustrations. Photograph your team and your work; a smartphone is enough with natural light.
- Suited to the network: denser, plainer text on LinkedIn, shorter and more colourful on Instagram, subtitled and fast-paced on TikTok; see adapting your tone to each platform.
- With a first frame that hooks: the first image of the carousel or the first second of the video decides everything; ask a question or give a figure.
- Accessible: enough contrast, alternative text filled in, subtitles on every video (85% of videos are watched without sound on Facebook).
Organising production
Create five to eight templates per network (key figure, testimonial, tip, behind the scenes, offer, completed job), locked to the brand guidelines, and fill them in each week rather than starting from a blank page. Set aside half a day a month to photograph and film raw material (team, products, sites) to feed the month ahead. Measure by format: saves and shares by type of visual, in the monthly report described in the SMO KPIs, show what you should produce more of.
How GreenRed helps
Rather than juggling several tools, GreenRed's AI Writer brings these metrics together in a single dashboard, compares them over time and tells you which actions come first. You can try it free, with no card, from the Pricing.
Frequently asked questions
Is Canva enough for an SME?
Yes in the vast majority of cases: visuals, carousels, Stories, short videos, with a brand kit and templates shared across the team. The Pro version, around €110 a year, unlocks automatic resizing, transparent backgrounds and scheduling. Add CapCut for vertical video.
Can you use AI-generated images on social media?
Yes for backgrounds, illustrations and moods, provided you check the tool's commercial use terms and flag the generation when the platform asks for it (Meta and TikTok label AI content). Avoid them for showing your products, your premises or people: the gap with reality damages trust.
Which image format should you use on Instagram and LinkedIn?
On Instagram, the 1080 × 1350 portrait takes up the most space in the feed and suits carousels; Reels and Stories are 1080 × 1920. On LinkedIn, the 1080 × 1080 square or the 1080 × 1350 portrait for images, and PDF for carousels.
Do you need a graphic designer or a provider?
For the initial brand guidelines and templates, a 1 to 3 day engagement (€600 to €2,000) gives a solid base. Day-to-day production can then stay in-house with Canva or Figma. A regular provider is justified for elaborate video or a high volume.