As editing software and programs have become easier to use and obtain it has never been easier to create new and fresh looking content to take your social media to the next level.
In this blog we will be looking at some of the best free software and platforms you can use to create content to help boost your social media presence.
When it comes to using editing software, a lot of digital marketing agencies will use the Adobe Creative Cloud as it offers different software such as photoshop, illustrator and lightroom.
This can set you back from £10-£60 a month depending on the package you need. These tools are great for creating detailed and timely pieces of work but the space taken up on your computer will make your computer cry.
IS THERE A FREE ALTERNATIVE?
Yes, if you haven’t heard of it then give Gimp a go!
This programme is an opensource piece of software, which means if you needed to design your content in a certain way you can change the code or find a code someone else has created already.
Gimp offers the same tools that programs like photoshop has to offer. These include photo editing tools like blur, saturate, hue or colour filters that you may need for your content with a simple looking platform.
The only downside to using Gimp is that it doesn’t offer built in tutorials like Adobe. You would need to search for a tutorial to help you master this software.
CREATING CONTENT ON THE GO!
As technology has advanced over the past few years, content creation software has widely become available on web browsers meaning you don’t need to download any programs to your computer – this makes your computer happy!
Canva is a platform to help you create content where ever you are and, as long as you have a log in, you can access it on any computer, mobile phone or tablet.
Canva is tool that has everything you need to create your next fantastic post and it has multiple sized templates to fit every different type of content you can imagine, from Facebook banners, Instagram stories to posts, YouTube thumbnails and even t-shirt prints.
It’s also started to branch out to video templates that can be used to create animated posts and intros to YouTube videos.
Canva has a library of free images, text types and shapes to help you create the perfect post. It also has templated posts you can change to fit your needs.
Importing images is as simple as clicking a button. Exporting your content is also simple as it offers different file types to suit your different platforms.
Canva has premium features that offer more features to help you create your content. These include exporting into mp4s and GIFs, remove backgrounds on images and a bigger library of images, text types and shapes.
Canva premium also offers a posting schedule. This allows you to pre plan your content and post directly to your social media channels from Canva.
Using tools like this can help cut time of waiting to post and you will be able to select the time you want to post.
Premium start from £9 a month for the pro, going up to £24 for the enterprise. Everything you need is in the free tier but these extras are here if you need them.
PLAN FOR SUCCESS!
We’ve already mentioned how Canva has a premium post schedule but they’re not alone.
Facebook has its own post scheduler called Creator Studio which is a free platform allowing you to post onto Facebook and Instagram.
To use this tool, you need to make sure that you have access to a Facebook or Instagram page. If you have used Canva or any other content creator you can import you content to Creator Studio
All you then need to do is write the text for the caption, add your hashtags and then schedule it for the date and time you want it to be published. And, if you need to change a prescheduled post you can easily go back and edit them before they go live.
Using Creator Studio you can create Facebook posts, add to your story, upload a video and even go live. Instagram only has features to create a post or add to Instagram TV.
With Creator studio you can see how well your posts have done including the reach and impression. This platform is great for keeping everything together from creating a post to looking at its analytics.
Facebook offers this free and it is a handy little tool for planning your content.
Overall there is plenty of free software and platforms to create content and, as technology is still developing, who knows what the future will bring for content design.
If you need any help creating content or advice on the best platforms to use for your business then don’t be afraid to contact us we are always here to help.