You probably have a process at this point. Your team churns out as much copy as possible. Maybe you pull a few pieces a day from wire services. Add a featured image from AP or Getty. Grab some screenshots of social media posts if they make sense. But a video producer? A photographer? A graphic designer? Design tools for social media content can be expensive. Who has a budget for that? You will also need data to inform your posts, which is why our data-driven social publishing tool is perfect to help you seamlessly post and report on your data.
The truth is that if you’re solely producing copy at this point, you’re not covering your bases. It would be best if you had graphics for social. You need video. There are a ton of opportunities for live streaming. But how? You’re struggling to do what you’re doing. The truth is that if you use other elements to help tell your story, it may even be a little bit easier! You’ve just got to find what works for you.
In this post, we’re going to look at some tools that are free/cheap, and super easy to use. You don’t have to have the entire Adobe suite to create awesome content.
Images
Images are probably the most familiar to you, as graphics are an essential part of social media and most websites. If you’re creating content, you’ve dealt with images and the legality surrounding the ones you can use. If you’re a newsroom, you probably have a subscription to something like AP or Getty.
Here are some great options if you want to make some custom graphics or access some more content:
A great freemium resource. There are tons of templates for social graphics, banners, and more, plus access to a deep well of fonts, images, etc. The Pro subscription is $9.99/month, and there is also an enterprise version available.
Snappa is a direct competitor to Canva. The goal is to be an all-purpose design tool that makes graphic design accessible to everybody. The downloads are limited, though, which may require most companies to upgrade to the $10/month Pro plan.
The stock photo library dwarfs Canva’s, which is a huge bonus. The Pro version is a bit pricier but could be worth it if you need access to a more bottomless well of images.
Video
Wochit includes pre-created videos, social posts, photo galleries, import options for original content, and branding. It’s a simple tool to help you curate your videos quickly and inexpensively.
Like Wochit, Wibbitz could be a great way to build supplemental video content when working with a team with little to no experience quickly.
A YouTube channel can feel like a heavy lift. You probably have one if you need a place to host clips, but you can do so much more. Some uses for YouTube:
- Upload video content. YouTube is the second largest search engine behind Google. Treat it like one.
- Embed video when appropriate.
- Got audio? A podcast? Upload it to YouTube as well.
Audio
Audacity has been around forever and is a super functional audio recorder. If you need to crank out a podcast or trim down some audio, it’s a great tool.
Ocenaudio is another free editor that offers some more powerful features that are likely useful to more advanced users.
You don’t have to do everything.
Thinking about bringing new initiatives into the fold may seem impractical. Maybe it is. But these tools can flatten the learning curve and make new elements more accessible than you think.
That said, don’t overdo it. Only introduce the elements that add to your overall presentation and not distract.
Contact for a demo to learn how our automation tool can publish to your social media platforms.
