Canva enters the world of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The simplified graphic design platform has recently held its virtual event Canva Create 2023, where they have presented all the new features it will incorporate. 

The tools that have attracted the most attention are those that use AI to facilitate the work of designs and its new Brand Hub to facilitate the creation of brand designs.

The Canva Visual Suite has transformed; from now on, we will find many more features to facilitate our tasks when designing with the platform. Some of the new features are:

One of the first new features we can see is Assistant, which will be like our personal assistant within the platform, as it will give us quick access to functions and help us find ideas for our designs. The recommendations will be based on our style and existing designs. In addition, it stands out for giving us quick access to AI functions.

Images are a key element in our designs, and Canva wants to make it easier for us to find the perfect photo. Magic Edit (or Magic Editor) allows you to add or replace any element within an image. And with Magic Eraser, you can remove unwanted distractions with a magic brush.

On the other hand, with Magic Design, you can upload an image, and instantly the platform performs a series of designs with it by choosing fonts, photographs, graphics, and styles, to get the perfect design. 

Afterward, the user can choose the design they like the most and download it. It can be used for everything, whether for making billboards or birthday cards. It can also be used to create attractive presentations easily; ask it to create various presentations with an outline and content.

Canva AI for drawing… and writing 

Now you can also use its Draw tool to draw your ideas and sketch your designs. It offers various brushes that allow you to change color and select weight to make the best freehand designs. 

Integrated into this tool is the Shape Assitant solution that will help you perfect your designs. 

Canva will have a translator who can translate a complete design into another language in a few simple steps. You can find more than 100 languages to translate your designs.

Not only have they developed new features for images, AI will also be present in Canvas video editor with its Beat Sync tool that allows you to choose a soundtrack and adapt the video to the rhythm of the music.

Last year Canva launched Magic Write for Canva Docs; seeing the good reception it has had in the community and the use that was being given, have announced that now Magic Write (Magic Writing) can be used throughout the Visual Worksuite, that is, it will be present on websites, presentations, social networks, whiteboards and more, to write texts easily and quickly. 

For example, you can ask it to make a text on a specific topic or to give us ideas to write in our blog. In addition, it is available in 18 languages, making this generative AI tool one of the first to be available worldwide.

Text-to-image functionality 

Text to Image is another new tool. The AI allows you to transform what you type into an image.

Apart from these tools, the company has added other new features such as:

"Styles" allows users to search for suggested color palettes and fonts.

"Layers" to view all elements in one place, including text, shapes, images, and video.

"Alt Text" can provide additional context to images and elements to describe them for people with visual impairments or accessibility needs.

"Fonts" have added 953 new fonts, including Arial, Courier, Helvetica, and Times New Roman.

"Gradients" add depth and character to your design with customizable gradients.

The post Canva enters the world of AI appeared first on Cross-Border Magazine.

By Alex Kassab - It is not a secret that Amazon is the biggest marketplace in the US and the world. Amazon represents a big part of eCommerce and having an Amazon strategy for your brand is important to get your product into current and future customers' hands.

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Why Sell on Amazon vs your website?

I see it as having an aquarium (your brand with your eCommerce store) and going hunting for more fish in the ocean (Amazon). Amazon is where your potential future customers are buying, therefore our duty is to make sure they discover our brand where they are currently buying. 

Once they explore and buy your product, then you have a small window to try to convince them to go to your site and continue nurturing that relationship.

Some impressive Amazon Stats:

• 300 million customers shop in Amazon stores worldwide.
• Nearly 2 million small- and medium-sized businesses are Amazon's third-party selling sellers.
• It is one of the most trusted brands in the world.

I started selling online back in 2006 when I lived in Venezuela. I used to sell stuff on MercadoLibre, a marketplace like eBay in Latin America. Later I moved to the US and started selling on Amazon, eBay, Walmart, and other marketplaces.

Let's assume you have a community and a product and you want to launch your brand to the world. 

Here are some lessons I learned and what I would do if I were starting a brand today.

1. Create a website (using any eCommerce platform)

You need to have a website and a place where you can list all your products. This is like your house. You own the land, you can create your own rules and terms of service.

The main difference between your website and Amazon is that you get to know your customers, their phone numbers, email addresses, how often they buy from you, and what they like. 

This is key to really understanding where to innovate and the pulse of the brand. 

2. Register and Protect your Brand with Amazon Brand Registry

Assuming you own the trademark of your brand, the first step is to register with Amazon Brand Registry. 

This allows you to use different tools Amazon offers to enhance your listing and protect your brand from potential IP infringements by your competitors.

Amazon is all about the experience and these tools allow you to add pictures, videos, enhanced content, and a better grip on your listing.

3. Select one product and list it on Amazon

Select one or two products to launch.

If you list every single one of your SKU then you will dilute the effort. It is important to only list your best-selling product, so you can focus 100% of your attention on making that product rank on A9 (Amazon Search Algorithm).

You will still have all your portfolio on your website, but on Amazon focus on ideally one product at a time.

Many brands don't pay attention to their presence on Amazon and they either let other sellers list their products or simply do not have any presence at all. Both of these options harm your brand, especially option 1 as you are at the mercy of the person that listed the brand.

4. Select Fulfillment Type Service

There are two options when selling on Amazon. FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) and FBM (Fulfillment by Merchant). I suggest you try FBA as Amazon will do the fulfillment for you. You can list your product to have a backup as FBM in case you go out of stock on FBA.

5. Drive External Traffic to your Listing

Amazon loves this. You are going to do a big launch through your social channels, blog, website, email list, influencers, etc, and drive tons of traffic to your listing. Since you are bringing outside traffic to Amazon and they are converting, Amazon will rank you higher than other products. Depending on the size of your community you might get into the “Amazon Hot New Releases”. That will trickle new eyeballs and therefore your community will make other potential buyers notice your product.

6. Monitor Pricing

There are tools to help optimize your pricing and make sure you are being competitive. Pricing changes multiple times a day and tools like Profasee help you maximize sales, margins, and profits. 

7. Get Reviews - Social Proof

Once you get your initial sales since it is your community the verified purchase reviews will start trickling down and help you rank higher for the keywords in your listing. 

That is why it is important to make sure your listing has the proper keywords so amazon knows what are you selling.

8. Replenish Stock and never go out-of-stock

Try as much as you can to never go out of stock. This will make the product tank as it will not sell while you are out of stock. It is an art and a science, how many units do you need to send to avoid going out of stock, but at the same time, you don't want to send too many as Amazon will charge you per sq ft of inventory stored.

9. Rinse and Repeat

Once you rank your first product, you can plan a second launch for your second product. Many sellers try to list everything at once and end up not positioning any product as the efforts get diluted among all products.

If you use Amazon as a way to acquire new customers and your website as a way to nurture your customers, you will probably have a great brand. I used to rely too much on Amazon which is a risky game to play, as you are relying on rented land and you might get kicked out when you least expect it. Having an omnichannel brand or channel agnostic brand is the way to go in 2022.

About the author: Alex Kassab, a Serial Entrepreneur, Brand Builder, and Digital Marketer is an expert entrepreneur in the USA featured multiple times in the media as a successful history and case study for its brands Vitabox and Paletas Morelia. Check out more about Alex here!

The post How to use Amazon to launch your brand! appeared first on Cross-Border Magazine.