In today’s digital world, content is everything. Even then, creating new content for multiple social media platforms every day can feel a little intimidating. Thankfully, there are now a ton of great apps that content creators should use to take their game to the next level.
Whether you are a business owner or a freelance content creator, one of the best ways to save time, stress, and boost productivity is by exploring free and paid apps and tools, and use them to your advantage.
I run 2 different online businesses which means that I’m usually juggling a lot of content on different topics at the same time across different channels.
I wouldn’t be able to grow on all of these platforms if it were not for these tools.
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Here are the 8 best tools that will triple your productivity and make your content creation as easy and efficient as possible whether that’s blogging, social media, or Youtube videos.
#1 Canva
Canva is a free graphic design tool for those of us who don’t understand design. Even if you are a complete newbie to design creation, you can get started on Canva and design social media graphics, blog post graphics, YouTube thumbnails, and more.
The free version of Canva gives you a lot of tools, free photos, and elements that you can use to design your graphics.
In the beginning, I started with the free version but now I moved on to the paid version because it allows me to save my designs and also collaborate with my team which is not available for free users. However, if you’re just starting you most likely don’t need the paid version.
In terms of creating graphics, Canva stands out on top to design pretty much every graphic that you need. Honestly, I use Canva so often that I couldn’t imagine running my business without it.
Try Canva Pro for free to design graphics here!
Also, if you haven’t checked out my free Pinterest Canva Templates, dive in now!
#2 Trello
Trello is a free project management tool that allows you to create different boards for different categories and have a tab on all of the different things that you need to be creating for your content. Simply put, Trello is a huge productivity booster!
Trello is especially handy if you’re not a huge fan of excel sheets and you just want to have an overview of all of the different types of content you create or the projects you manage.
For instance, you could create one board for every different channel that you create content for.
You could create an Instagram board, YouTube board, blogging board, and so on.
Usually, I have specific boards for each of my team members to track the deliverables of the project they’re working on with me and also to assign them tasks on those particular topics. Besides, you can also add checklists and deadlines which can come in handy as reminders.
There’s also a mobile app available for Trello which makes it super easy to add your to-do lists anytime. Plus, it comes with different templates to make your experience even better. You can start by using an existing template and customize the board for your particular situation.
#3 Rev
Rev is the only paid tool on this list that offers no free trials. If you’re someone who creates video content and you want to use that content on different platforms with text and audio format, then Rev is the perfect tool for you.
So how does it work? You can convert your video content into blog posts by just creating transcripts. Generally, when I want to convert a new video from my channel, I just paste the YouTube link into Rev and place the order. There you go!
Within a few hours, I have a full-on transcript which then I edit and convert into a blog post instead of manually transcribing the video or hiring a VA. This process is more cost-effective and saves you a lot of time by just placing the links and repurpose the transcripts.
#4 Grammarly
This tool is a lifesaver for bloggers and freelance writers! Grammarly is a free tool that you can install as a browser extension.
It will highlight everything incorrect or misspelled in your text. Once you download it as a free browser extension, it will automatically highlight the errors on your blog posts, emails, or even on your drafts.
I use Grammarly for proofreading my blog posts to check if it is grammatically correct and make sure to use the best words I can before hitting “publish”.
I highly recommend that you install the free extension and start using it right away because it is a win-win for both your time and publishing quality.
Install your free browser extension for Grammarly now!
#5 Unsplash
If you’re looking to find cool copyright-free images for your blog posts or social media banners, Unsplash is the tool. Unsplash is a free stock photo library where artists from all around the world upload their images.
You can download the images for your blog posts or other social media graphics from Unsplash. Besides you can also find ideas and inspirations for your content.
The best part about Unsplash is that you don’t need to pay for the license to use the stock photos and also you don’t need a subscription to access this website.
Giving credit is optional but it is not necessarily required. Although it is always a good practice to give credits and help the photographers out there.
The reason why I prefer using this tool over other existing stock websites is that the photos are way better in terms of quality when compared to other older websites like Pixabay. Also, Unsplash wins for being much more modern and aesthetically pleasing.
#6 Hootsuite
Hootsuite is a social media management and scheduling tool where you can connect multiple accounts, schedule and plan your posts ahead of time.
The free plan only allows you to connect to three social media platforms and can only be used by one user. However, I think for most beginner content creators that should be more than enough.
With the free plan, you can schedule up to 30 posts in one go which means that if you connect three social media platforms you can schedule content for the next 10 days which I believe is pretty good for a beginner.
If you have a bigger team or have more social platforms that you would like to manage, then you can also check out the paid option. Undoubtedly, this tool has saved me and my team so much time.
#7 Tailwind
This tool is ideal for all Pinterest creators! Tailwind is a Pinterest scheduling tool that allows you to schedule your pins way in advance to different groups, boards, and profiles.
This implies you don’t have to be glued to your Pinterest account every single day to create and upload new pins.
Tailwind is a paid tool however it does come with a free trial. You can try out the features for the first month completely for free and then decide whether or not you want to upgrade to a paid plan.
It is an excellent tool and a best practice for content creators who create a lot of content specifically for Pinterest and are looking to easily manage their content in one place.
Get one month of Tailwind for Pinterest free. No credit card details are required.
If you’re just starting on Pinterest and wondering how to make your pins go viral, check out How To Create Viral Pins For Pinterest That Drive Traffic
#8 Google Docs
All you need is a Gmail account to have access to this free feature which Google provides us generously within the Google drive itself.
When it comes to creating blog post ideas, content, or even outlines for your next course or product, you can just create a Google Docs and share it with your team for comments as well as ideas on how to collaborate on it.
As you scale and grow your team you can create separate folders for different team members and then collaborate on the content that they create.
It comes in handy if you’re someone who works remotely. You can just log in and start editing your work from anywhere using Google Docs. Also, you can add information on your Google Docs to your Trello account to manage your project seamlessly.
Besides, you can also use Google Docs to create reports, eBooks as well as full-blown opt-in freebies which you can import into Canva to design and format. The basic content that you create can be done in Google Docs for free.
Content is the lifeblood of any digital marketing strategy in the modern marketing landscape – The secret sauce to exhibit your brand in the online world.
Up your marketing game with these proven tools and create amazing content like a pro. These tools can definitely make a huge difference!