I wrote a few weeks ago about why I’m against using watermarks in photographs for marketing purposes. Since then, I’ve explored with a few different graphical ways to promote your images through branding.

One of the tools I’ve found recently is Adobe Creative Cloud Express — which recently added the ability to add your branding to the graphics you create.

Simply put, Adobe CC Express lets you create graphics, videos, web pages and other layouts to share across social channels. It’s like a simple version of Photoshop — but made specifically for social media.

The problem

For the past couple weeks, I’ve been trying to push my Instagram page via other channels. I’ve shared links on Facebook and Twitter, but I’ve had problems getting engagement with the images. It’s ArtPrize season in West Michigan, and thus there are a ton of opportunities to take photos of some really cool-looking art.

I wanted to share my ArtPrize images but do so in a way that enhanced my brand.

The solution

I decided to check out Adobe CC Express. There are a plethora of options here, and depending on your needs, you can start out with a pre-existing template or build one from scratch.

I decided to build from scratch, and feature one of my ArtPrize images greyed out in the background, along with some brief text and a call to action to visit me on Instagram. I also added my logo to bring the package together.

The nice thing about Adobe CC Express is you can easily duplicate your existing projects — making it easy to make adjustments for specific campaigns or different layout requirements. For instance, while I initially made a square image, with just a few clicks of a button I was easily able to change the layout to a horizontal Facebook-specific image.

All the CC Express projects you make — finished or otherwise — are automatically saved to your Adobe Creative Cloud account. So while you might not like a direction you were headed one day, you might find another use for something down the road.

Endless possibilities

While I’m a corporate photographer, I can see this especially handy for photographers who specialize in photographing families, children, weddings — anything considered more “personal” portraiture.

For instance, if you’re gearing up for some a fall mini-session weekend, why not create a social graphic that promotes this? After you create the graphic, you can create a CC Express page to further discuss your mini-sessions, too.

And if you’re looking for ideas, check out Adobe’s Inspiration Gallery. It has a ton of ideas, and you can use one of these to get started with.

On mobile, too!

Even if you’re away from your computer, you can use Adobe CC Express on-the-go with its mobile apps. Check out all that CC Express has to offer at adobe.com/express.

For more on Photography Marketing, see our weekly column.