Content marketing is the creation of digital content in order to distribute it on various channels or platforms and draw the attention of users to turn to see a business or brand in a natural way. It is an essential part of the inbound marketing methodology where you learn to juggle, with the different formats requested by the platforms, but also with the weight and referencing constraints to publish your content and ensure their performance, namely their readability, their virality or quite simply their loading time.
25 Content Creation and Management Tools
Here is a continuation of 25 tools tested and validated to create digital content without the help of a graphic designer or a web designer. The web is teeming with content creation tools and applications, but you can also create visual content with free tools. Enjoy the list!
- Avidemux
This is a free option and ideal for beginners, as its interface is very easy to use. Some of the editing tasks can be automated, it supports multiple video formats and it has a forum on its page so that you can solve all your questions of use and create the best videos with the features it offers. Despite the ease of use and the simple interface, it has a great processing capacity and is an excellent tool for video editing.
Fee: Avidemux is free for download and use since it is an open-source program.
- Blender
This is an open-source suite that allows you to create 2D and 3D animation videos through all the necessary processes (character creation, animation, simulation, rendering, etc.). If necessary, Blender even gives you the ability to create video games. If you are considering implementing an innovative strategy, it can be a tool that few programs can offer you for free and without the need to register or create an account on their page.
Rate: it is a free program, but if you want to collaborate so that it continues in development for future versions and improvements, you can donate or buy some of the products they sell in their store.
- Buffer
This is a solution that offers two different platforms: Publish and Analyze. The first is a tool for planning, creating, and publishing and the second tool will allow you to analyze the impact and interaction of your content on social networks; It will also facilitate the creation of reports in order to generate an improved strategic plan for your next campaigns.
Fee: there is a 14-day trial and then you can access the service of their tools from $ 50 per month. Each tool charges an independent fee, so you can decide if you want to use both or just one, and thus reduce costs.
- BuzzSumo
It is important to know who you are talking to and who you are addressing, both in the online ecosystem and on social media. Just as important is knowing who is talking about you, or as some know it: active listening. BuzzSumo is an online tool that will help you quickly identify people who are talking about a specific topic or about your brand, product, or service.
Fee: you can access its platform from $ 99 per month, if its tools convince you, you can opt for the annual fee that offers you a discount.
- Canva
Perhaps this is one of the most popular design tools in content creation today. With it, you can create attractive designs very easily. This online software allows you to make brochures, presentations, Facebook or Twitter covers, graphics for your company, business cards, and more, but we include it in the infographic programs because we consider that the templates it offers, the ease of use, and the level of customization is quite good. Of course, if you want to use it for other types of designs or image editing, you can also do it: the limit is your imagination.
Fee: There is a free version that offers you limited features and templates. If you want more features and pre-designed graphics, fees start at $ 8 per month. If you pay the annual fee, the price per month is reduced.
- CopyAI
Do you have writer’s block? CopyAI is here to help. From brainstorming topics to creating social media posts, CopyAI can help you go from stuck to inspired in minutes. How does it work? It is a fairly straightforward concept. CopyAI utilizes a very advanced system language type called GPT-3, to produce a true copy immediately. All you need to do is select a copy type, provide words, phrases, and descriptions on which to base your content and watch CopyAI do the rest.
One of the advantages of CopyAI is how easy it is to get started. You only need to provide a few words to generate a copy that includes Instagram captions, product descriptions, and even product value propositions in seconds. What sets CopyAI apart is its set of idea generation tools. Whether you need an idea for a viral post or just get stuck on what to write next, CopyAI puts you on the move again.
- Copyscape
Copyscape allows you to find and protect your content by searching for exact copies online. It is one of the most powerful and popular copy-paste detection software. Besides that you can use it to verify that your content is not plagiarized when using the comparison tool, you can also access Copysentry: a functional tool that monitors and reviews your content on a weekly (or daily) basis so that you do not worry about the possible plagiarism that they may do of your content.
Subscription Fee: The premium version charges 3 cents for every 200 words and an additional penny for every 100 additional words. Copysentry, meanwhile, offers fees that start at $4.95 per weekly review of 10 pages per month. There are other rates if you want them to do a daily review on ten pages.
- CoSchedule
It is a suite with multiple tools to manage your social networks and also to keep track and order of the publications you make on your blog. Basically, they are different organizers that will help you maintain the order you need, with calendars and schemes so that all your content is published in a timely manner.
It also has multiple resources such as articles on the blog of its page, which will help you improve the management and content of your material, whether in the form of books, guides, podcasts, and other tools to analyze and improve the copies and titles of your contents.
Rate: to find out the price of the complete suite, contact one of their agents. If you only want to use their calendar for blog posts or the publication calendar for your entire marketing strategy, consider that the fees start at $ 19 per month when paying the annuity.
- HitFilm Express
Hitfilm Express is another alternative video creation and editing program that is at the level of many professional programs but is completely free. You can use it to create 2D and 3D material, it has more than 400 effects and default settings to improve the editing of your videos, tutorials, the possibility of joining its community, and accessing articles, forums, masterclass sessions with experts in creation. and video editing, and more.
Rate: it is free and you only need to pay for accessories if you consider it necessary.
- Hootsuite
Hootsuite offers a variety of solutions that you can use to improve your content marketing strategy. Without a doubt, the resources it offers for managing social networks are good. Not only do you have access to a tool that will help you manage your social networks, but you can also take courses specifically focused on networks and you can also link your marketing strategy with sales through social networks.
Fee: You can access a 30-day free trial and business plans start at $ 19 per month if you pay the full annuity.
- Infogram
Infogram offers 30 different chart types classified according to end-use; Among all these alternatives, there are many different templates for creating infographics. It has an interface that contains the written data of each image in a spreadsheet, so it will be a very easy process to edit the information and modify the graphics. The main value of this platform is that you do not require technical knowledge to create the designs. It also allows you to download your infographics in both PNG and PDF formats, a very useful feature to send them by email.
Fee: You can create a free account and enjoy limited services or access accounts with more features from $25 per month; and if you pay by an annuity, you will get a discount on the usage fee.
- Lightworks
Lightworks is a professional video editing suite alternative, whose only restriction for the free version is that the output formats to export your projects do not have as many possibilities as in its paid version. It includes a catalog with special effects and audio that you can use at no cost. You can also access its tutorial download page and a forum in which users and specialists in the program can solve your problems of use and tell you the best secrets so that you can get the most out of this video editing tool.
Fee: if you want to obtain the license to access all the export formats of your projects and more features (such as expanding the catalog of special effects and sounds available for use), the monthly fee is $ 24.99. For its part, the permanent license is also available and has a cost of $ 437.99.
- MailShake
It is a platform that will help you increase the conversion of those leads that seemed to have lost interest, thanks to tools, email templates, and various automation options. It has multiple resources for your salespeople to familiarize themselves with the best strategies to deal with distant customers, such as masterclasses and courses focused on cold email. It is ideal to carry out your link-building strategy.
Fee: you can access the use of the tools of this platform for $ 59 per month. If you pay the annuity you receive a discount.
- Namechk
Reserving and protecting the brand (commercial or personal) in spaces such as social networks is very important. They are places where you can easily create a user with a business name, but claiming and recovering it can turn into a real odyssey.
Namechk is an online tool capable of finding out if our brand name is registered or not in different social networks and online communities. It can also help you test how effective SEO is on your page.
Fee: it’s free, but you can donate to help these services continue and improve their performance.
- Openshot
This is an open-source or open-source alternative available for Linux, Windows, or Mac. This program may be what you are looking for if you have worked with iMovie and you miss the interface in the other operating systems since it looks and works very similar to the Mac movie editing program.
Although there are not many user tutorials, its interface is intuitive and the user guide, a forum to ask questions and a blog are also available on its download page. It is a fairly complete program and can be ideal for your content marketing team to work without complications from different types of equipment, due to the variety of operating systems in which it works.
Fee: it is an open-source program, so the download and use are free.
- Piktochart
Piktochart can be a great alternative if you are looking for a tool to design infographics and other types of visual content creation such as presentations, posters, and reports, and do them in a different and modern way. It has free templates for popular themes (such as Mother’s Day, Christmas, and others), but you can also create your own compositions. An interesting feature of this tool is that you can add a world map to your graphics, and thus highlight those places where, for example, your company has a presence and distributes your service or product.
Rate: it is a free application that you access by creating an account. If you want to get the most out of the features and services it offers, fees start at $ 24 per month. If you pay for a full year of service you get a discount on the rate
- Podbean (free)
Podbean is an online platform that gives you the necessary tools to record and stream podcasts by simply creating a free account on their site. Although the free option has a storage limit, if what you are looking for now is not to create a recurring program, it may be an option to start delving into the format of online audio programs.
Fee: Their unlimited storage plans start with fees of $ 14 per month, but if you pay for the annuity, you’ll get a discount.
- Removal.AI
Have you seen those stories where a person asks the community for “help” to remove some person or object that ruins a photo? Well, that’s basically what Removal.AI does. It is undoubtedly a very useful application if you want to remove the background of a photo and you do not know or do not have time to do it in Photoshop. For a very cheap plan, you can remove the background of a photo in high definition and it allows you to make free trials in a not-so-sharp format. Excellent tool for your next campaign.
Subscription Fee: you can use a free version for lower resolution preview images. You can buy credits starting at $0.15 per image.
- Shotcut
Shotcut is another free program for video editing. Thanks to its high editing capabilities, you can create 4K and high-resolution videos, as its tools and processing power are very powerful. It has filters for the audio and you can create movies with final mono, stereo, or 5.1 surround channels. You also have multiple effects and video editing features at your disposal.
Fee: it is a free program, but if you want to receive training from the main developer of the program to master its use, you can access it here and for the amount of $ 29 you will become a Shotcut expert.
- Socialbakers
This is another suite that offers comprehensive solutions to improve the management, but also the performance of content marketing on social networks. With management, analysis, social listening and influencer marketing tools, it is probably the most complete platform for managing social networks. Something extremely important: the tools in this suite take advantage of artificial intelligence to improve the performance of your social media posts. Its interface is simple so its use will not be difficult.
Fee: the fee for an account with 10 profiles from different social networks is $ 240 per month or $ 200 if you pay the annuity. You can also use a trial or request a demonstration of how the platform works before making the purchase.
- Social Report
Social Report is a social media management platform that offers multiple solutions for the publication and performance analysis of your content on social media. You can search for suitable keywords for marketing campaigns to be implemented on social networks, manage their creation and publication. Then you can analyze the impact and generate reports that will help you improve the performance of your efforts in the area of content marketing carried out by your company.
Fee: there is a 30-day free trial and after that, you can access a plan to hire all the tools and services for $ 49 per month.
- Venngage
This is a platform that has more than a thousand different formats to choose from creating posters, flyers, brochures, infographics, invitations, coupons, and more. It has plans that you can pay monthly, quarterly, or annually. On their site, you will also find a blog where you can consult articles to inspire you or improve the quality of your content, not only graphics but in general, all the content that your content marketing campaign contemplates.
Fee: The monthly price of a business account starts at $ 49 per month and you can get up to a 20% discount if you pay per annuity.
- Wideo
Wideo is an online video creation tool that will allow you to create, edit and share videos for free. The most interesting thing about this application is its ease of creating videos from the templates section. There are animated versions but you can also make a promotional video with photos: just select one of the videos in this template section and replace the default photos with photos of your product or company.
This online platform also offers other tools to create storyboards of your videos and one more to go from text to speech. It also offers you the possibility of hiring video professionals so that your brand’s campaigns are made by the best.
Fee: you can test the program by creating a free account. If it convinces you, you can hire a license from $ 59 per month or $ 19 if you choose to hire the service for a whole year.
- ZSuite
As its name implies, it is a suite of solutions for design and visual marketing that offers you tools to create infographics and other graphic elements. Among the solutions of the suite, you also have an image editor, free webinars every week, and selected courses so that design and its concepts are not a headache. In addition, a customer service team will always be ready to solve your doubts or problems within its platform, if problems or problems arise with its use.
Fee: Zsuite offers you the design tools when you create a free account for fifteen days. If its characteristics convince you, you can access a license for $ 39 per month. If you pay annually you will get a reduced fee.
- Essay Mama
Essay Mama is a platform where you can acquire the contents that interest you, depending on the needs of your clients. It has a team of certified and highly qualified professional writers for different fields. The length, amount of writing, and time in which you need the writing to be completed will determine the fee or fee to pay.
Subscription Fee: Standard plan starts at $19.90 to get an essay or writing in 10 days.
Conclusion:
We know that there are many other programs that can help you create, manage and improve your content marketing strategies. However, the list that we have just presented covers the most important areas that content marketing covers. There are many other free digital marketing tools for SMEs that can be used to optimize internet positioning, do content marketing, and manage social networks as well as commercial tasks.
But before using each of them, I recommend that you try to stop and think if it really meets your needs, and will allow you to be more productive with your business. And you, did you know all the free digital marketing tools? Would you add another tool to the list? Leave a comment to know your opinion, and that it also helps other readers. Please, if you liked this article, don’t be selfish, share it!!
Yen Pedrajas is an experienced social media and digital marketer who writes about eCommerce, technology, and startup businesses. Sharing about her new insights, ideas and strategies about digital marketing, you can read her work at Medium.
She currently works as Lead Editor at Removal.AI, an AI-powered technology used to automatically remove background from image and an image editing software ideally for eCommerce, printing companies and all other web and app development purposes.