8 Free Tools for Better Social Media Content

As a social media manager, I have a love-hate relationship with content calendars. They keep my social media content strategy on track but require a tedious amount of time, energy, and creativity. But content calendars also act as a constant reminder for just how diverse content creation must be these days. 

More often than not, developing excellent social media content requires social media managers to be creative directors, graphic designers, videographers, photographers, and animators. Who has the time?

Thankfully, there are many tools available to make creating dynamic social media content easier — and more fun. Whether you’re creating memes, GIFs, or even audio clips to spice up your social media content, there is likely a tool out there to streamline your process. 

Here are a few tools to help you create better social media content:

1. Canva

Transform your social media content with this simple graphic design tool. Canva makes it easy to design just about anything with their templates, layouts, guides, illustrations, animations, etc. Build simple Twitter and Facebook graphics or create animations for video or GIFs. Designing in Canva is fast, easy, and sure to polish up your social media content. 

Cost: Canva is an affordable tool with a free plan, a pro plan, and an enterprise plan. 

2. Adobe Spark

Create stunning visuals fast with help from Adobe Spark. For small-budget social media managers, don’t shy away from the Adobe brand label here. This tool is available for free or for a low-cost subscription. 

Use Adobe Spark to brighten up your social media content with short videos, graphics, images, and even web pages. The unique color palettes and style suggestions offered with this tool take the guesswork out of maintaining your brand identity.

Cost: Free and subscription pricing available. 

3. Piktochart

I first discovered this handy tool a few years ago when I needed to make an infographic in a pinch. Piktochart has saved me countless hours when it comes to content creation. Easily create infographics, presentations, reports, and social media content with professional templates and visuals. You can also collaborate with your team on this tool.

Cost: Free and pro pricing is available. 

4. Animoto

Animoto is great to have in your back pocket when a client or executive requests a quick turnaround on a video. This tool will turn your photos and video clips into a video slideshow with ease. 

I love it for social media content because it can generate square videos perfect for Instagram. Customization, storyboards, stock assets, and templates are just a few helpful features available with Animoto.

Cost: Free, professional, and team plans are available at affordable prices.

5. Kapwing

Strong social media content requires you to be on-trend and hip with it all. This is where memes come into play. If you need access to a quick tool for meme generation, I love Kapwing Meme Generator. View trending memes and make your own, all in once place. 

Cost: Free to use for most needs, pricing for advanced use. 

6. Gifs.com

Quick, customized GIFs are a must for your social media content. Audience engagement takes on a new level of fun with customized GIFs made specifically for your brand. Gifs.com lets you tackle GIF creation fast with fun effects. If you don’t mind watermarks, you won’t spend a dime on this tool.

Cost: Free, premium, and enterprise plans are available.

7. Anchor

If you’re looking for an all-in-one audio tool, Anchor is worth checking out. Even if you don’t have a podcast yet, Anchor lets you record, edit, and upload audio. You can even transform audio clips into animated videos. How cool is that?

Cost: This tool is entirely free. 

8. Asana

You can create the best content globally, but if you aren’t managing it correctly, you’re not going to get the right results. Better social media content is achieved through better social media calendar management. Asana is a project management tool that makes staying on top of projects, tasks, and teams easy. I love Asana’s social media calendar and editorial templates.

Cost: Free, basic, premium, business, and enterprise pricing is available.