Social Media and Canva Design Level 2

Who it is for. People who have finished Social Media and Canva Design (Level 1), or who can show the same skills. National Proficiency II covers varied work, mostly routine, under limited supervision.

Bridge from Level 1: what you already know

Level 1 did not cover a month-long content plan, a brand look you can repeat, short-form video, paid ads, quotes and contracts, invoices, freelance platforms, or how to get paid from abroad. Level 2 covers all of these.

How the module works

Each unit has learning outcomes, performance criteria, the range and the evidence your assessor needs. You are judged Competent or Not Yet Competent. About 70% of the time is practical. Every unit has numbered steps, a homework task and a three-question "Check yourself".

Competency standard

Range. A small local business: fish smoker, salon, guesthouse, farm produce seller, church group. Evidence. Strategy sheet; 30-day calendar; weekly review table.

Start with who and why

Facebook, YouTube and WhatsApp are where most Ghanaian customers are. Facebook has about 8.40 million ad reach, YouTube about 8.59 million and Instagram only about 2.30 million. Reach is an advertising estimate, not the number of active users. So for most Akwidaa businesses the plan is WhatsApp + Facebook first, and Instagram or TikTok second if the business is visual.

Build a weekly rhythm

The method below is a teaching method, not a statistic. Start with three posts a week and a simple pattern: Monday product, Wednesday tip, Friday customer proof (with permission), Saturday offer. A common rule of thumb is about four useful posts to one selling post; its origin is not verified, so treat it as a guide.

When to post: global studies point to Tuesday to Thursday, about 9 am to 12 noon, with strong evenings; the sources disagree, they sell tools, and no Ghana study was found. Start with 8 to 10 am and 6 to 8 pm (Ghana runs on GMT), then read your own insights and keep the best times.

Scheduling: Meta Business Suite is offered free for scheduling according to third-party guides (not verified); a plain phone calendar or exercise book is enough to start.

Weekly review: what counts

The real measure is sales and orders, not likes. Each week, write: reach (people who saw it), engagement (reactions, comments, shares), messages, link or WhatsApp clicks, followers gained, and orders. Facebook Pages and Instagram professional accounts show insights inside the app; Instagram insights need a professional account.

Keep, change, stop. At the end of the month, list one thing to keep (the post type with most messages), one to change (a weak time or caption), and one to stop. Keep tests simple: two captions or two photos for the same product, one change at a time (teaching method).

Check yourself

1. Which two platforms should most Akwidaa businesses start with, and why?
2. What is the one goal of a monthly plan, and give an example of a bad goal.
3. What is a batch day?

Competency standard

Range. Free Canva plan, phone and laptop. Evidence. Brand sheet; five matching designs; export record; licence check list.

One look for every post

A brand look has four parts: 2 fonts, 3 colours, 1 logo and 1 style of photo (teaching method). People should know the post is yours before they read your name.

Make a template your own

The 6 checks for good design. (1) Can I read it at arm's length on a small phone? (2) Is there strong contrast, dark text on a light background or the reverse? (3) Is there one main idea? (4) Is there space around the text? (5) Are the contact and location at the bottom? (6) Is the meaning given by words as well as colour?

Sizes and exports

These are standard sizes; Canva offers them as presets, but this book could not check them against an official page. Menus: Share > Download, then pick the file type. Which formats the free plan offers (PDF Print, transparent PNG) is not verified. Transparent backgrounds are usually a paid feature (not verified). The help page says a PNG can be exported from 0.5 times to 3.125 times size.

Resize. The one-click Magic Resize is for paid plans. On the free plan, make a new design of the other size and copy your elements into it, or create a custom size by hand. If you resize directly, you can undo from Version history.

Print quality. For print, aim for about 300 dots per inch (common print-shop practice, not sourced here). The arithmetic for an A4 page: 210 mm ÷ 25.4 × 300 = 2,480 px wide and 297 mm ÷ 25.4 × 300 = 3,508 px tall. Ask the print shop what size they want before you design.

What the licence allows (summary only)

The page for the Canva free content licence could not be read in full. The summary says:

Check yourself

1. What are the four parts of a brand look?
2. Which file type do you send to a print shop, and why not a screenshot?
3. May you sell a stock photo from Canva alone on a T-shirt?

Competency standard

Range. 15 to 30 second videos for Reels, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube Shorts and WhatsApp status. Evidence. Shot list; finished video; consent form; export record.

Plan before you film

Shoot clean clips

Edit in a free app

CapCut is a free editor that can trim, split, merge, add effects and transitions, and make automatic captions. Free auto-captions are reported as limited to videos of up to 10 minutes, and the free plan exports in 1080p. Sources disagree about watermarks: some say only Pro-labelled templates add one, some say some templates add an ending clip that you can delete, and one test of the web editor in July 2026 found none. Rule for this class: use plain tools, avoid anything marked Pro, delete any ending clip, check the preview before export, and for client work use your own or licensed music. Commercial-use terms for CapCut's free assets are not verified. Your phone's gallery editor and the YouTube Shorts or Instagram editors may also work; their licences are not verified.

Example file size (calculation, example only): a 20-second video at about 10 megabits per second is 20 × 10 ÷ 8 = 25 MB. Seven such videos are 175 MB, about 0.17 GB. At GH¢6.30 per GB that is about GH¢1.08. Real phone video files can be larger.

Music, copyright and consent

• Ghana's Copyright Act, 2005 (Act 690) protects musical works, sound recordings, audio-visual works, artistic works and software. Section 41 covers infringement and sections 42 to 45 cover offences. What section 19 allows was not read here, so do not assume a use is permitted.
• A TikTok business account sees the Commercial Music Library, which is cleared for commercial use; hit songs are usually absent. Sources disagree on how strict this is. Use that library or your own or licensed music.
• On Canva, audio marked personal-use-only is not for business posts.
• Never use chart-hit songs in a paid ad or a client's business video. Silence, a voice-over or natural sound is safer.
• Local music collecting societies such as GHAMRO and their rules are not verified; ask before you use Ghanaian songs.
• People on camera. A clear photo or video of a person is personal data. The person who decides why and how it is recorded or posted has duties, and consent is the usual lawful basis. The Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843) applies. Data controllers must register with the Data Protection Commission; whether a one-person freelancer must register is not verified: ask the Commission.
• Children. Get a parent's consent. Never film or share a child in nudity or distress, or intimate images of anyone. The Cyber Security Act 2020 (Act 1038) has child online protection sections 62 to 67, with penalties of up to 25 years reported.

Make video accessible

Captions on every video help deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers and people watching without sound. Also write the key facts in the caption text. Do not make voice-only offers. Describe key images in the caption or alt text (see Unit 7).

Check yourself

1. What is the best shape (ratio) for TikTok and Reels?
2. Why should you never use a hit song in a client's paid ad?
3. When do you need a parent's consent?

Competency standard

Range. A Facebook or Instagram boost and a WhatsApp-message goal for a local business. Evidence. Ad plan; screenshots of the results (practice Page); results table; decision note.

What a boost is

A boost pays Meta to show one of your existing posts to more people. You choose a goal, an audience, a budget and the number of days. A guide says the minimum is about USD 1 a day, or about USD 2 in total over about two days; no official cedi minimum was found, and the cedi cost depends on your ad account currency. On 5 October 2026 the interbank rate was about GH¢11.70 to 11.72 to the dollar. So USD 1 a day for 7 days is 7 × 11.72 = GH¢82.04 (calculated example; the rate changes daily, so read the budget on the boost screen).

Typical clicks cost about USD 0.50 to 2.00 in global figures, not Ghana figures. No Ghana cost-per-click figure was found. Learn your own from your own results.

Payment. Meta ads need a payment method. Whether MoMo or Ghanaian bank cards are accepted is not verified. Look in the ad account's Payment settings. If a local card is declined, your bank may offer a virtual or prepaid dollar card; never share card details with anyone else (teaching advice).

Set up a boost, step by step

WhatsApp click ads and Ads Manager need a Meta Business account and are more advanced. Teach them only after a plain boost works.

Read the numbers

Worked example (all numbers are example numbers). A fish seller spends GH¢300 over 10 days (GH¢30 a day). The ad reaches 12,000 people and brings 60 messages and 12 orders at an average of GH¢85.

• Cost per message = 300 ÷ 60 = GH¢5.00.
• Cost per order = 300 ÷ 12 = GH¢25.00.
• Sales = 12 × 85 = GH¢1,020.
• Return = 1,020 ÷ 300 = 3.4.
• Orders from messages = 12 ÷ 60 = 20%.
• If the seller's profit before the ad is 40% of sales, profit = 0.40 × 1,020 = GH¢408; after the ad, 408 − 300 = GH¢108. A return of 3.4 sounds good, but the real test is the profit after the ad cost.

Decision rules (teaching method). Keep the ad if the cost per order is lower than your profit on one order. Change the picture or the first line if reach is high but messages are low. Change the audience if messages are many but nobody buys. Stop if two weeks of spending give no orders. Test one change at a time: two captions or two photos for the same product.

Analytics routine. Every Friday: open Insights; copy reach, messages and best post time into the table in Unit 1; write one sentence: "This week I learned ..." At the month's end send the client a one-page report.

Check yourself

1. Why keep the client's ad budget separate from your fee?
2. What is cost per order and how do you work it out?
3. Why not target the whole country for a shop that delivers only in Takoradi?

Competency standard

Range. Local small-business clients; one-off designs and monthly social media work. Evidence. Intake form; quote; contract; invoice and receipt; role play.

Step 1: intake

Step 2: price it

No published Ghana price list for flyers, logos, social media management or event photography in cedis was found, and no Western Region price survey. Foreign guides give wide ranges that do not fit Akwidaa; one says flyer design runs from under USD 35 to over USD 100 and logos from under USD 55 to over USD 125, and another lists flyers at USD 75 to 225. One Jobberman-type salary listing advertised GH¢25,000 to 35,000 a year for a social media manager in Accra, which is about GH¢2,083 to 2,917 a month; that is an employee salary, not a freelance fee. A local flyer designer's Jiji listing says "contact for price". So build your own price and collect three local quotes (homework).

The cost method: Price = (hours × your hourly target + data + transport + materials) + a 20% buffer for revisions and delays. All numbers below are example numbers.

Worked example 1: monthly social media care for a guesthouse (example).

• Time: 24 hours × GH¢20 (example target) = GH¢480.
• Data GH¢60 and transport GH¢40 (example) = GH¢100.
• Cost = 480 + 100 = GH¢580.
• Buffer: 20% × 580 = GH¢116, so 580 + 116 = GH¢696.
• Quote: GH¢700 a month (rounded up).
• Deposit 50% = GH¢350.
• The client pays any ad budget separately (for example GH¢300).

Worked example 2: a single flyer (example). 3 hours × GH¢20 = 60; data GH¢5; cost 65; buffer 20% = 13; price 78, so quote GH¢80, deposit GH¢40. Two rounds of changes are included; each extra round GH¢10 (example).

Withholding tax. Some payers must withhold tax from payments to you. The GRA lists 7.5% for services for an individual or entity over GH¢2,000 a year; ask the payer on what basis they withhold and ask for a withholding tax certificate. If a company withheld 7.5% of GH¢700 it would pay you 700 − 52.50 = GH¢647.50 (calculated example). Whether a small freelancer's client must withhold is not verified here: ask the GRA.

Step 3: the contract

Contract basics (teaching, not legal advice); no Ghana freelancer template was found. A plain-language contract on one or two pages is better than none. Both sign, and each keeps a copy.

Step 4: deliver and bill

1. Send each batch as images and the calendar PDF, and ask for a reply "approved" on WhatsApp. Save a screenshot of the approval.
2. Do not post a design that the client has not approved if the contract says so.
3. Invoice on the day you deliver (or on the due date for the month). An invoice must show your name, contact, the client's name, date, invoice number, items, amount, amount paid and balance, and how to pay.
4. Issue a receipt when money arrives. Check payments in your MoMo or bank app, not in a screenshot the client sends, because fake payment screenshots are a known trick (see Unit 6, and Digital Skills and Mobile Money).
5. Report at the end of each month: posts made, reach, messages, orders, what to change.

Worked example: the guesthouse's monthly invoice (example).

Check: 700 + 160 = 860; 860 − 350 = 510 (calculated).

Step 5: difficult clients (scripts)

Handle a complaint (LAST). Listen; Apologise; Solve (ask what fix they want, then offer one); Thank, and follow up later. Move the talk to private chat and keep the proof. This is a common customer-service method; its origin is not verified.

Check yourself

1. Write the cost-method formula for a price.
2. Why take a deposit before you start?
3. Why check payment in your own MoMo or bank app and not in a screenshot?

Competency standard

Range. Upwork, Fiverr, Freelancer.com, micro-task sites and local routes (Facebook and WhatsApp groups, Jobberman). Evidence. Profile draft; proposal; payout comparison; scam checklist.

The routes

Treat micro-tasks as practice, never as a main income. Hubstaff profiles of Accra freelancers show asking rates of USD 5 to 10 an hour; these are asking prices, not what people earn.

Profile and proposal

How you get paid

Receiving money from abroad is the hard part. Here is what third-party sources say, with their limits.

• Payoneer. Its official page says fees can change, limits depend on your plan and are shown before you confirm, and your bank account must be in your own name and match your Payoneer details; withdrawals can be declined or reversed if they do not. One aggregator reports USD 1.50 for a same-currency withdrawal to a local bank (not Ghana-specific). Currency conversion can cost up to 3 per cent. The Ghana limits and cedi rates are not verified.
• Upwork payouts. Guides list Payoneer, direct bank, and wire; a vendor claims wire fees of about USD 30 to 50 and a minimum of USD 100. The vendor sells a competing account, so treat figures with care.
• Fiverr payouts. A competitor's guide lists bank transfer, Payoneer and a Payoneer card for Ghana, with fees and minimums that conflict across guides.
• PayPal. Several guides say Ghanaian accounts can send but not receive. Opening an account under another country's details to get around it breaks PayPal's agreement and risks losing the money: do not do it. PayPal's Xoom lets people abroad send to Ghana banks and MoMo wallets. The current rule is not verified.
• MoMo for foreign payments: not verified. For local customers use MoMo as in Digital Skills and Mobile Money.
• Exchange rate. The cedi lost 7.9 per cent against the dollar in the first half of 2026. Rates change daily, so a payout in dollars can be worth fewer or more cedis by the day it arrives.

Worked example (all fee numbers are examples): a USD 100 job.

At GH¢11.70 a dollar (interbank buy, 5 Oct 2026) the USD 100 job would be worth GH¢1,170 in theory, but you receive 85.845 × 11.70 = GH¢1,004.39; the fees and conversion cost you about GH¢165.61 (calculated example; the bank's actual rate will differ).

Tax. Residents are taxed on worldwide income; non-residents on Ghana-source income. In August 2025 the GRA said it receives overseas income information through automatic exchange of information and sent more than 1,000 letters asking Ghanaians to reconcile foreign tax paid. How a resident freelancer's foreign client income is treated, and any rule on export of services, is not verified. Keep records and ask a GRA officer or a tax adviser. Level 3 deals with registering and records.

Scam checks

Red flags for freelance and "online job" offers:

Local scams (teaching, general): pay-to-join "online job" schemes on WhatsApp and Telegram; fake "admin" asking for your OTP or PIN; fake MoMo "wrong transfer" messages; fake payment screenshots; pages copying your logo. Rule: if you pay first, it is a scam. The CSA says to pay only after receiving and inspecting goods and never to share your Ghana Card number or bank details with strangers. Cyber fraud cost Ghanaians GH¢49.5 million in the first half of 2023 alone.

Check yourself

1. What should you never do if a client overpays you?
2. Why is PayPal's "account in another country" workaround a bad idea?
3. What number do you call to report an online scam?

Competency standard

Range. Akwidaa, Takoradi and nearby towns; one-person service. Evidence. Location check; business sheet; portfolio; accessibility checklist.

Location settings that give good returns

Business ideas and ingenuity

Money maths: how many clients?

You want to cover living costs of GH¢2,000 a month plus business costs of GH¢110 (data GH¢80 and charging GH¢30; example numbers). Your monthly quote is GH¢700 (Unit 5, example).

If you are alone and trade under a name, business name registration at the Office of the Registrar of Companies costs GH¢130, with GH¢70 a year to renew. Your Ghana Card PIN is your individual TIN. Registration and tax details are in Level 3. A payer may withhold tax from your service fees (see Unit 5).

Market yourself

Accessibility

Check yourself

1. Why must a studio's Google Business Profile be about a place customers can visit?
2. What is alt text for?
3. Name two things in a good portfolio entry.

1. What is one good goal for a monthly content plan?
2. Why should a calendar include batch days?
3. Name the four parts of a brand look.
4. Which file type do you send to a print shop?
5. Which music is safe in a client's business video?
6. What is cost per order?
7. Why keep the ad budget separate from your fee?
8. Write the cost method for a price.
9. What are the first three things a contract must say?
10. A client overpays and asks for a refund of the extra. What do you do?
11. Which number do you call to report an online scam?
12. Name one way to make your posts accessible.

Best next reads: the official help pages of WhatsApp Business, Meta Business Suite, Canva (the content licence) and your chosen freelance platform; the CSA's online safety pages; the Data Protection Commission's guide for small businesses; Digital Skills and Mobile Money in this series.

What this module does not cover: running a registered agency, tax filing and accounting (Level 3); Ads Manager and pixels; MoMo set-up and MoMo scams (see Digital Skills and Mobile Money); the content of any paid course or certificate.

Every source used in this manual is listed, with links, in the Teacher Copy.