Creating A Banner Bear Alternative

In today's digital marketing landscape, custom banner images for social media and blog posts are essential for brand recognition and engagement. However, services like Banner Bear that automate this process can cost around $50 per month – an expense that might not be justified for smaller projects or businesses.

Why Create a Banner Bear Alternative?

Banner Bear is an excellent product that connects to your systems via API to create automated images for WordPress featured images, LinkedIn posts, and other platforms. But when you're working on smaller projects or with limited budgets, finding a more cost-effective solution makes sense.

The DIY Banner Image Automation Solution

This tutorial demonstrates how to create an automation system using tools you likely already have access to:

• Airtable - To store your record data and image URLs
• Google Slides - To create your banner template
• Make (formerly Integromat) - To connect everything together

Step 1: Create Your Google Slides Template

Start by creating a new presentation in Google Slides that will serve as your template:

1. Add a text box for your title or description
2. Add a placeholder image
3. Design the slide according to your brand guidelines
4. Make sure to skip the slide (this is important for the automation)

Pro tip: You can adjust the slide dimensions to match different social media platform requirements.

Step 2: Set Up Your Airtable Base

In Airtable, create a base with at least:

1. A field for the title/text you want on your banner
2. A field for the image URL
3. Create a specific view (like "test") to use in your automation

Step 3: Create the Automation in Make

The automation workflow consists of these key steps:

1. Search Airtable Records: Connect to your Airtable base and select the appropriate view
2. Create a Slide from Template: Use your Google Slides template and map the title field from Airtable to the text box in your slide
3. Upload an Image to the Presentation: Replace the placeholder image with the one from your Airtable image URL field
4. Get a Page/Thumbnail: Export the completed slide as an image that can be used in social media posts

The final output is a custom banner image that combines your template design with dynamic content from Airtable, ready to be used on LinkedIn, WordPress, or any other platform.

Benefits of This Approach

• Cost-Effective: Uses free or already-paid-for tools instead of a $50/month subscription
• Customizable: Full control over your template design
• Scalable: Can handle as many banners as you need
• Flexible: Works with various data sources and image destinations

Potential Applications

This Banner Bear alternative is perfect for:

• Daily LinkedIn posts
• WordPress featured images
• Product announcements
• Event promotions
• Blog post headers

By following this tutorial, you can create a robust system for generating custom banner images automatically, saving both time and money while maintaining professional-looking marketing materials.