The Best Free Tools for Social Media Content Creation
Jul 03, 2025
If things get quieter for your business during the summer, now is the perfect time to take a breath and get your digital marketing toolkit in shape, ready for a busy autumn or even the run-up to Christmas.
And if you’re already flat-out? Bookmark this list for when you do have time to review it. Every tool here is free (or has a generous free version) and will make your content creation life much easier. Some of the tools, like Canva, are worth upgrading to the paid version as you get so many fantastic features that you can’t really do without.
Whether you're a small business owner, freelancer, or work for a company, these are the tools I come back to again and again and recommend in my training sessions.
Images, Video And Editing
1. Canva
If you know me, you know I’m a Canva fan. Whether you're creating social media graphics, flyers, business cards, presentations or even editing videos, Canva has you covered.
✅ Free and Pro versions available.
✅ Easy to use, even for beginners. No graphic design experience is necessary
✅ Thousands of templates, videos and photos to use royalty-free
✅ Includes a social media scheduler, brand kit, and video editor
✅ Free for non-profits and education organisations
Bonus tip: The Pro version is worth every penny, but the free version is still brilliant and great to get you started. Plus find out how to get the most out of Canva on my blog.
2. Instagram Edits App
https://creators.instagram.com/edits
If you're editing short-form videos for Instagram Reels (or TikTok), Instagram’s Edits App is surprisingly powerful. You can now trim clips, adjust timing, reorder scenes, add text, filters, music, voiceover, and even use automatic captions, all without leaving the app. Available on iOS and Android
✅ Totally free to use
✅ Perfect for quick, on-the-go video edits
✅ Auto captions and text-to-speech make your content more accessible
✅ Great library of trending sounds and effects
✅ Easy to publish straight to Instagram Reels or Stories
Bonus tip: Use this for speed and convenience, especially if you're editing on your phone. It’s also a great way to test out content ideas before investing time in bigger edits.
3. InShot App
Another fantastic mobile video editing app. Slightly more manual than other apps but super easy to use and gives you more control. It's an excellent choice for editing LinkedIn videos or videos you want to repurpose across multiple channels, right from your phone.
✅ Free version available (adds watermark, upgrade removes it)
✅ Friendly drag‑and‑drop timeline for trimming, splitting, and speed‑ramping clips
✅ Built‑in music library, sound effects, voice‑over, filters, stickers and animated text
✅ Vertical canvas presets (9:16, 1:1, 4:5), ideal for social media formats. You can also edit photographs.
✅ Adjust video speed, merge clips, and export in HD
Bonus tip: Start with the free version to get familiar with the layout. If your videos gain traction, upgrading is well worth it for watermark removal and access to premium assets.
4. CapCut App
CapCut is a free video editing app (available on mobile and desktop) and perfect for Reels, TikToks, or Instagram Stories. Paid and free version.
✅ Templates for fast edits
✅ Auto-captions
✅ Transitions, effects, and text animations
✅ Easy to use even if you’ve never edited a video before
Bonus tip: Use the “auto cut” or “beat-sync” features to quickly edit videos to music.
5. Filmora (Wondershare)
https://filmora.wondershare.net/
If you're ready to go beyond basic video edits but still want something easier than Premiere Pro or Final Cut, Filmora is a solid middle ground. It’s ideal for polished social media videos, YouTube content, or even client projects. It has a great desktop version if you are looking to edit on a larger screen.
✅ Free and paid versions available (free includes watermark)
✅ Intuitive drag-and-drop interface
✅ Huge library of music, effects, titles and transitions
✅ Supports green screen, audio ducking, screen recording and more
✅ Available for Windows and Mac
Bonus tip: Filmora’s free version is great for learning and experimenting. If you're producing videos regularly, the paid version is reasonably priced and removes the watermark. Highly recommend.
Content
6. ChatGPT
Need help with captions, blog outlines, content ideas or even hashtags? ChatGPT is like having a creative partner on hand 24/7. It’s brilliant for beating blank-page syndrome and speeding up your content creation process.
✅ Free and premium versions available
✅ Great for brainstorming, rewriting, and generating ideas
✅ Works best with clear, specific prompts
Bonus tip: Don’t copy and paste, tweak and personalise. ChatGPT should sound like you, not a robot. Think of it as your first draft assistant, not your final editor.
7. Awareness Days UK
Run by yours truly! 😉
This free site is a go-to for planning seasonal and awareness day content all year round. Whether you're posting on socials, writing blogs or planning campaigns, it’s packed with inspiration. It's the go-to resource for awareness days, public holidays and major sporting and cultural events.
✅ 1,000+ awareness days
✅ Search by category
✅ Updated regularly
✅ Great for sparking content ideas all year round
Bonus tip: Bookmark in your web browser to use again and again
8. Loom
Need to explain something clearly without typing a wall of text? Loom lets you record short videos or screen shares, perfect for tutorials, walkthroughs, or quick updates for clients and followers.
✅ Free tier available
✅ Records your screen, camera or both
✅ Share via link instantly
Bonus tip: Record a quick tour of your website, a product demo, or how-to content, then repurpose it across your channels or in emails.
9. Emojipedia
Find the perfect emoji. Emojipedia lets you search and preview emojis, see how they look on different devices, and understand their meanings, so there are no embarrassing mix-ups!
✅ Free emoji search
✅ Easy to copy and paste into your social media posts
✅ Emoji meanings and usage
✅ Platform previews (Apple, Android, etc.)
Bonus tip: Emojis make your captions more visual and scroll-stopping, especially on mobile. Just don’t overdo it 😉
Know Your Audience
10. Google Trends
https://trends.google.com/trends/
Helps you see what people are searching for online. Google Trends shows you what’s trending now and what’s been gaining interest over time. Brilliant for researching blog topics, hashtags, and timing your content.
✅ See trending searches by region
✅ Compare interest in different topics
✅ Spot seasonal or viral trends
Bonus tip: Use it to plan content around when interest peaks, especially for recurring themes like Christmas, weddings, or school terms.
11. AnswerThePublic
Not sure what to post about? This tool pulls together real questions people are asking online, based on search data. It’s a goldmine for content ideas, whether you're writing a blog, Reel, or newsletter.
✅ Great for content planning and FAQs
✅ Visual map of questions, comparisons and searches
✅ Free searches daily (with limits)
Bonus tip: Try typing in your industry or niche (like “email marketing” or “optician”) to uncover what people really want to know.
12. Facebook Ad Library
See what ads other businesses (including your competitors!) are running on Facebook and Instagram. This free tool lets you peek behind the curtain, great for inspiration or keeping an eye on your competitors.
✅ Search by brand name or keyword
✅ View active ads across Meta platforms
✅ See which creatives are being used
✅ Completely free and publicly accessible
Bonus tip: Look up businesses similar to yours to spot trends in creatives, headlines and offers.
Productivity Tools
13. Meta Business Suite
Still posting one piece of content at a time? Meta Business Suite is Facebook and Instagram’s official scheduling and analytics tool, and it’s free. A must for businesses managing their own socials.
✅ Schedule Instagram and Facebook posts
✅ Access performance analytics
✅ Manage inboxes and comments
✅ Free and built-in to your Facebook business page
Bonus tip: Use it to batch-schedule your content for the week (or month!) when you have a quiet few hours. It saves loads of time.
14. Bitly
Long, messy URLs don’t look great in your posts. Bitly lets you shorten links and track clicks. Handy for Instagram bios, printed materials, or keeping an eye on what’s working.
✅ Create branded or custom short links
✅ Track link clicks and performance
✅ Great for marketing campaigns and email
Bonus tip: Add your branding to links for a more polished, trustworthy look, especially on socials or in email footers.
15. URL Campaign Builder
www.ga-dev-tools.google/campaign-url-builder
If you're running social media campaigns or digital ads, this tool helps you track where your traffic is coming from by adding UTM parameters to your URLs. UTM codes are an essential tool for marketers to track the effectiveness of digital marketing. Sounds techy, but it’s really just a quick form to fill in.
✅ Easily track custom campaigns in Google Analytics
✅ See which links, posts or emails are driving traffic
✅ Free and simple to use, just fill in a form and copy the URL
Bonus tip: Use it for big launches or sales campaigns, then check your analytics to see what performed best.
Analytics
16. Google Analytics (GA4)
https://marketingplatform.google.com/about/analytics/
Still the gold standard for measuring what’s happening on your website. With GA4, you can see where your traffic is coming from, what content is working, and how people interact with your site.
✅ Track traffic, user behaviour, and conversions
✅ See what content drives the most engagement
✅ Integrates with Google Ads, email platforms, and more
Bonus tip: Go to Reports > Engagement > Pages and screens to find out what pages on your site are performing best.
17. Percentage Calculator
Are you as useless at maths as I am? This no-frills calculator makes it easy to quickly calculate percentages. Use it when reviewing campaign results or compiling monthly analytics reports.
✅ Free, simple, no login needed
✅ Great for calculating % increase/decrease
✅ Ideal for analytics, ad reporting, and pricing decisions
Bonus tip: Bookmark it! You'll find you use it all the time.
18. PageSpeed Insights
If your website is slow to load, visitors won’t stick around. PageSpeed Insights is Google’s free tool to test your site speed and flag what’s slowing it down.
✅ Free from Google
✅ Mobile and desktop speed scores
✅ Shows what’s slowing your site down and suggestions for improvement
Bonus tip: A slow site often means oversized images or clunky code. If your score is low, start by compressing images or checking in with your developer to optimise your website.
Final Thoughts
Whether you’re prepping content in a quiet summer spell or frantically planning ahead for the autumn/winter push, these tools are well worth bookmarking.
I use all of them myself and recommend them in my training sessions. They’re free, beginner-friendly, and give you a big head start on content planning, video creation, design, analytics, and ads.
Need Help Putting Them Into Action?
I offer hands-on digital marketing and content planning workshops, plus 1:1 support for businesses, charities, and teams.
Get in touch here and let’s make content feel easier.
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