Let’s nail your digital content with content creation tools! See what we did there? Or do we need to hammer it home some more?
Okay. That’s enough, you’re probably tired of awl these tool puns, and we don’t want to screw up this introduction.
Cheesy jokes aside, this list of digital content creation tools is a must-have for your digital marketing toolbox. You’ll find a range of solutions, from the nuts and bolts that solopreneurs and small marketing teams need to the heavy-duty equipment that keeps large corporations running smoothly. (That was the last tool joke. Promise.)
Craft perfect posts in seconds
OwlyWriter AI instantly generates captions and content ideas for every social media network. It’s seriously easy.
Top tools to inspire new content
We’re willing to bet you’ve hit creator’s block at some point in your career. Coming up with new content can be a slog. But with the right content creator tools, you don’t have to come up with new concepts on your own.
These tools are like little idea-generating buddies. You’re going to want to bookmark ‘em for the future.
OwlyWriter AI
Did you know that Hootsuite comes with OwlyWriter AI, a built-in creative AI tool that saves social media pros hours of work?
You can use OwlyWriter to:
- Write a new social media caption in a specific tone, based on a prompt
- Write a post based on a link (e.g. a blog post or a product page)
- Generate post ideas based on a keyword or topic (and then write posts expanding on the idea you like best)
- Identify and repurpose your top-performing posts
- Create relevant captions for upcoming holidays
To get started with OwlyWriter, sign in to your Hootsuite account and head to the Inspiration section of the dashboard. Then, pick the type of AI magic you want to see in action.
For example, if you’re not sure what to post, click on Get inspired. Then, type in the general, high-level topic you want to address and click Get ideas.
OwlyWriter will generate a list of post ideas related to the topic:
Click on the one you like best to move to the next step — captions and hashtags.
Pick the caption you like and click Create post. The caption will open in Hootsuite Composer, where you can make edits, add media files and links, check the copy against your compliance guidelines — and schedule your post to go live later.
And that’s it! OwlyWriter never runs out of ideas, so you can repeat this process until your social media calendar is full — and sit back to watch your engagement grow.
Price: Free with Hootsuite!
Who should use it: Content creators and marketing teams of all sizes.
Notable features: OwlyWriter can identify and repurpose your top-performing posts, so you know you’ll end up with a winner.
Hootsuite’s Content Inspiration Library
As an online content creator, finding fresh and inspiring ideas can be so tedious. You can’t be creative all the time; it’s too much for one person!
If you want to find inspiration without turning to AI, Hootsuite’s Content Inspiration Library comes in as an absolute game-changer.
This content creation tool is a treasure trove of inspiration, ideas, and valuable resources that online content creators can tap into. With its vast collection of inspo, you can dig deep into a well of already-created creativity that takes the leg work out of coming up with new concepts.
You can automate the flow of creative juices! But that’s not even the best part because this baby is free with your Hootsuite subscription. We love a free tool that saves us time and brain power.
Price: Free with Hootsuite!
Who should use it: Content creators and marketing teams of all sizes.
Notable features: The Content Inspiration Library also sets you up with a pre-written caption you can edit.
Hootsuite Insights powered by Brandwatch
Hootsuite’s Insights, powered by Brandwatch, is for content creators who are always on the lookout for ways to enrich their content strategy or marketing campaigns.
This social listening solution lets you tap into the pulse of your target audience by providing information on what they’re saying about any given topic. Kind of like eavesdropping if it were cool.
Hootsuite Insights pulls from tons of sites where people are candidly speaking their minds, like Twitter and Reddit.
Imagine the possibilities: you’ll be able to identify trends, gauge public sentiment, and acquire fresh ideas to incorporate into your strategy.
Insights gives you the insight to create content that resonates. It’ll take your marketing efforts to the next level without you ever having to lift a finger.
Price: Available as an add-on to Hootsuite Business and Enterprise plans.
Who should use it: Content creators and marketing teams of all sizes, larger corporate marketing teams who need to track brand sentiment.
Notable features: Insights can be used to monitor the sentiment of your own brand, so you can get an alert any time anyone mentions your business by name. This lets you get a jump on any PR crisis before it takes off, or meaningfully engage with your audience in real-time.
Google Trends
Google Trends shows you trending topics from Google Search, Google News, and YouTube. You’ll get insight into what people are searching for and interested in reading and watching.
Delivering content that addresses the topics your audience is already interested in? Chef’s kiss!
The Google Trends homepage shows you clustered topics that people are searching for. You can get a real-time look at popular topics and use these to generate content ideas. Or, you can dive right into the tool and input search terms relevant to your brand.
Source: Google Trends
Price: Free!
Who should use it: Content creators and marketing teams of all sizes.
Notable features: Check out the ‘Related Queries’ at the bottom of the tool. It shows you terms that users searching for your term also searched for. You can use these to generate new content ideas or to get a better idea of what people are looking for with your search term.
Looking for digital marketing-specific tools? We got you.
Top scheduling and planning tools
Do you dread posting every day? Are you perpetually scrambling for content to post? Does your Instagram grid look like you gave a box of photos to a baby to arrange? If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions, you may be entitled to scheduling and planning tools.
Even if you legitimately love publishing content every day and you have a beautifully curated grid, scheduling and planning tools will help your social strategy stay on track and purposeful. Then you can spend more time on social media content creation.
Scheduling tools take the overbearing task of individually publishing your posts off your plate. And planning tools let you get a birds-eye-view of your social marketing plan.
Hootsuite
Heck yeah, it’s Hootsuite again. Our platform keeps popping up because it truly can do everything, and we’re pretty proud of that. So we’ll humble-brag a little bit more about what we think (totally unbiased) is some of the best content creation software out there.
Hootsuite is the OG scheduling and planning software for social media. And it’s a fan favorite for a reason. A user-friendly platform, Hootsuite’s garnered the adoration of content creators everywhere because of how much time and effort it saves. Not to brag or anything.
You can streamline complex social media management tasks, allowing you to create and schedule content and engage with your target audience in a snap. Oh, and it tells you when the best times to publish are, so you can schedule your posts at the exact moment your audience is online. You can also mass-publish large batches of content for those campaign days.
Start your free Hootsuite trial
Hootsuite features seamless integration of all of your social media channels and has advanced analytical capabilities. So it won’t just make your life easier, but it’ll also empower you to make data-driven decisions that maximize the reach and impact of your content. With a splash of fun, intuitive features and a vibrant, supportive community, you’ve got a recipe for success.
Price: Paid subscriptions start at $99/month
Who should use it: Content creators and marketing teams of all sizes. Larger teams will benefit from individualized accounts with communication capabilities.
Notable features: For those of you with mountains of content to publish, check out the bulk scheduler.
Google Sheets
Google Sheets offers content creators a free platform to plan out their content strategy or social media content calendar. In fact, we’ve actually created a free social media content calendar template for you to use.
Creators can collaborate with team members or clients directly in the sheet. And if they change anything, you can see a record of it. Google Sheets provides a customizable canvas where you can see your strategy laid out and areas where you can track your data.
Overall, Google Sheets is a pretty good content creator tool for collaborating over a social calendar, but it does lack the ability to integrate with your social media accounts.
Source: Hootsuite’s Google Sheet Template
Price: Free!
Who should use it: Solo content creators and small marketing teams.
Notable features: Check out the Last Edit button on the top right of your sheet. Here, you can see past versions of your Google Sheet to track changes.
Top content creation tools for graphics and images
We can’t all be the Van Gogh of graphic design. Luckily, there are tools to help you fake-it-till-you-make-it when creating professional-looking graphics and images.
You’re going to want to give these tools a try, not only because they’ll give your work a professional look but because your audience will respond to that look.
Unless your schtick is to lean into the MS Paint-esque style of nouveau design, your audience will expect a certain level of professionalism from a branded account. Dress for the job you want, right?
Canva
Canva is a fan favorite for producing fast-yet-professional-looking graphics. It’s built for non-designers to use with plenty of templates and easy drag-and-drop design capabilities. You can even quickly animate your designs!
Canva really is built for social media professionals. They provide the optimal dimensions for specific social platforms in the creating tool and for the templates.
Canva is also one of those design apps that is truly free. You can get away without a subscription for as long as you need. But if you’ve got the funds, the Pro version contains premium tools that are definitely worth checking out.
Source: Canva
Also! Did you know that you can create designs with Canva without leaving Hootsuite Composer? Yup, it’s true.
To use Canva in Hootsuite:
1. Log in to your Hootsuite account and head to Composer.
2. Click on the purple Canva icon in the bottom right corner of the content editor.
3. Select the type of visual you want to create. You can pick a network-optimized size from the drop-down list or start a new custom design.
4. When you make your selection, a login pop-up window will open. Sign in using your Canva credentials or follow the prompts to start a new Canva account. (In case you were wondering — yes, this feature does work with free Canva accounts!)
5. Design your image in the Canva editor.
6. When you’re done editing, click Add to post in the top right corner. The image will automatically be uploaded to the social post you’re building in Composer.
Learn more about using Canva in Hootsuite.
Try Canva + Hootsuite for free
Price: Free! Pro starts at $149.99 annually, or you can purchase premium images and vectors for $1.39 a piece.
Who should use it: Solo content creators, non-designers
Notable features: Take a walk through Canva’s templates (we love free TikTok Templates) for easy content creation.
Make a Meme
Okay, so Make a Meme won’t give you the polished, put-together look that Canva’s capable of. But there’s a part of the internet that loves the slapped-together style of meme culture in the early aughts (anyone remember lolcat?).
Make a Meme has the added benefit of getting things done fast. I made this meme in approximately 3 seconds:
If you’re running a brand account that needs to react quickly to industry news with a decent sense of humor, bookmark Make a Meme.
Price: Free!
Who should use it: Creators and brands who need content in seconds.
Notable features: Check out the “Submit to Reddit” button on the top right of your completed meme. It’s a great shortcut for creators active on Reddit.
Picmonkey
If you’re just looking to edit your existing imagery for social media, Picmonkey can help. Owned by Shutterstock, the platform has tons of stock photography that you can dip into to fill out your grid or use in your campaigns.
Picmonkey also features templates for logos, banners, and thumbnails, so you can make content creation for all channels a breeze. Ecommerce corporations and creators would benefit from the Pro subscription. With features like the background remover, for example, you can easily grab product shots for your brand.
Source: Picmonkey
Price: Free with basic subscriptions starting at $71.88 annually.
Who should use it: Solo content creators and marketing teams without in-house editing software.
Notable features: Check out the Photoshop-style filtering and enhancement features for those on-point selfies Influencers know and love. The color-changer tool is interesting, too — you can adjust the colors in your image to whatever you like. Want purple hair today? No problem.
Top content creation tools for audio and video
Video content is the popular kid at the party when it comes to social content. According to Statista, online videos had an audience reach of 93% among all internet users worldwide during the third quarter of 2022.
If you’re not a videographer or professional podcaster, you’ve got to use audio and video content creation tools to get in the game. Unedited Boomerangs just aren’t going to cut it anymore.
Adobe Premiere Rush
Adobe’s been serving the content editing space for ages with disruptive content creation software like Photoshop. Adobe Premiere Rush is the company’s video editing software offering for content creators who need a simple and efficient solution.
The straightforward features and usability make Rush a favorite of vloggers and marketers who aren’t trying to make a feature-length film. As you can guess, the name suggests speed over detail. You can take your masterpiece from shooting to editing to sharing real fast.
And Rush is easy to use on mobile, giving it a thousand bonus points for creators who need to be able to work from their phones.
Source: Adobe Premiere Rush
Price: Free! Adobe Premiere Rush does not require an Adobe Creative Cloud or Premier subscription to access. For Premiere Rush Premium content and features, you need Adobe Express, which starts at $12.99/month.
Who should use it: Content creators and teams who need simple video editing software. Videographers and serious YouTube creators should find a more robust app.
Notable features: Adobe Premiere Rush has built-in technology to improve the videos you shoot on your phone camera.
Find a list of more video editing software tools here.
Riverside
Podcasts have become pretty popular in recent years, so if a brand you work for is looking to add one to its content roster, you need to know about Riverside.
Even if you’re just looking for clear audio or to make polished recordings of a speaker outside of podcasts, you should check out this platform.
Riverside is known for crystal clear audio, 4k video recordings, and features like social live sharing. Oh, and their killer client roster, including the likes of Jon Stewart, Kerry Washington (featuring Michelle Obama), and GaryVee (featuring Mark Zuckerberg).
You’d think, with industry-leading features and a client list like that, it must be pretty pricey. Well, you’d be wrong. Riverside’s pricing is actually very reasonable, with even their Pro tier at only $24 per month.
Source: Riverside
Price: Free with tiered pricing from $15/month to $24/month.
Who should use it: Solo podcasters, YouTubers, or creators who need to record themselves or interview others. Larger teams involved with audio-related publishing, like Podcasts or interviews.
Notable features: Separate audio and video tracks will automatically upload if you record in The Studio, giving you more control over your editing capabilities.
Top writing and copy-editing content creation tools
As a writer myself, I love writing and copy-editing content tools. Writing and copy-editing tools allow you to flex your creativity without worrying about the little things, like passive voice misuse.
I’m going to share three of my absolute favorite time-saving, grammar-optimizing, do-it-for-me writing tools I use on a daily basis.
Instagram caption tool
Hootsuite’s Instagram caption generator tool is a must-have for anyone posting on IG. Also, this free content creator is super fun to play with. I’m not sure what tone “Soft Boy” or “Slytherin” are, exactly, but I’m here to find out.
You don’t have to use these captions verbatim; you can also use the tool as a springboard for your caption creativity. Sometimes, the hardest part is the first few words, so once you have a few suggestions, you can edit them to be truly your own. Or, copy, paste, and call it a day. Your call!
Source: Hootsuite’s Instagram Caption Tool
Price: Free!
Who should use it: Anyone who posts on Instagram and/or loves fun.
Notable features: Play around with the different tones available and see what the tool spits out!
Grammarly
Grammarly is the hack that all copywriters and content creators everywhere need.
It’s the kind of content creator software anyone who can’t remember when i comes before e dreams of. Ever try to spell guarantee in an email? No, thank you, not without Grammarly.
Grammarly can integrate with platforms like Google Docs and Gmail and automatically checks your grammar and spelling. If you get the premium version, you’ll also benefit from passive voice warnings, tone checking and suggestions, and plagiarism detection.
Source: Grammarly
Plus! You can use Grammarly right in your Hootsuite dashboard — even if you don’t already have a Grammarly account. (Amazing, right?)
Just log into Hootsuite and head to Composer to start writing your post. When Grammarly detects a writing improvement, it immediately suggests a new word, phrase, or punctuation. It also analyzes your copy’s style and tone in real-time and recommends edits you can make with just one click.
Try Grammarly + Hootsuite for free
To edit your caption with Grammarly, hover your mouse over the underlined fragment. Then, click Accept to make the changes.
Learn more about using Grammarly in Hootsuite.
Price: Free! Premium subscriptions start at $15/month
Who should use it: Anyone who writes online in any capacity.
Notable features: You can set goals for your writing and adjust your voice and tone depending on the brand voice you’re trying to achieve.
Hemingway App
Much like Grammarly, the Hemingway App checks your writing for grammar, spelling, and passive voice misuse. But the Hemingway App makes it very easy to see your Flesch-Kincaid score.
The Flesch-Kincaid score shows you how easy it is to read your text using a grade-level model. When writing for the web, you want to be sure your writing is simple to digest, so aim for a low grade.
The Hemingway App highlights areas of text that are either hard to read or very hard to read. This gives you the opportunity to lower your Flesh-Kincaid score.
Source: HemingwayApp
Price: Free!
Who should use it: Content creators writing long-form text, like articles or whitepapers.
Notable features: Color coding makes it easy to see where you need to make adjustments.
Once you’ve got your content sorted, you’ll want to check out some social media marketing tools.
Save time managing your social media presence with Hootsuite. From a single dashboard you can publish and schedule posts, find relevant conversions, engage the audience, measure results, and more. Try it free today.
Save time and grow faster with OwlyWriter AI, the tool that instantly generates social media captions and content ideas.
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