The best things in life are free. But, when it comes to software the best things are most certainly not.
However, there are many online digital marketing tools that I use continuously for professional and personal use which are 100% free.
Only one of the three require anything more than creating an account, consisting of an e-mail address and password. Even better, the majority of these tools can be accessed online at any time, from any device with internet connection.
Below are three of my all-time favorite free online digital marketing tools:
#1 Hashtagify
Hashtagify was created to find, analyze, and amplify the use of hashtags.
The home page showcases the most popular hashtags that are currently active on social media in an interactive bubble diagram format. These hashtags are frequently updated and display additional hashtags that connect with the main keyword hashtag. Upon moving your cursor over the hashtag, Hashtagify associates a popularity and correlation score to allow site visitors to view the strength of the correlation between two hashtags. You can also search hashtags which the site will then automatically populate a tailored diagram so that you can easily find relevant hashtags.
Hashtagify is great to use for social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram, which rely heavily upon hashtags to decipher what is currently trending or gaining popularity.
(This site does not require an account set-up and login).
#2 Landscape by Sprout Social
http://sproutsocial.com/landscape
Landscape by Sprout Social is an online tool that was created for image resizing to fit various social media feed displays. The image size for a picture to be displayed differs depending on which social media platform you are using.
Simply drag and drop (or upload) your graphic images to the home page and follow the step by step instructions. Landscape quickly processes your image(s) and allows you to pick which platform(s) (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, Youtube) for proper resizing.
Whether you are creating a cover or header photo, in-stream or linked image, Landscape’s simple design lets you crop and download your images so that they will be displayed appropriately on social media.
(This site does not require an account set-up and login).
#3 Grammarly
In a nutshell, Grammarly is the online tool that ever blogger or digital marketer desperately needs. Grammarly is a Google Chrome plugin that functions better than a spell checker; it will underline misspelled words in red and suggest edits by underlying phrases in green. Grammarly evaluates contextual spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, style, and vocabulary enhancement.
An interesting key feature is that Grammarly also checks for plagiarism, making sure you cite information correctly.
I even use Grammarly in Microsoft Office software applications such as Word (see picture above) and Outlook in addition to Hootsuite, WordPress, and social media sites. Download this software plugin, and you will not be disappointed. Grammarly is an online tool that will change your writing for the better.
(This site does require an account set-up and login).
Bonus: Hootsuite – Professional
Hootsuite Professional allows digital marketers to manage social content, engage with audiences, and protect your brand. This online tool connects with your social media accounts and acts as a centralized hub for control over your accounts. The publisher tool can be used to draft and schedule social media posts, request or approve posts, and upload bulk messages.
With Hootsuite’s professional account, you can connect up to ten social media accounts. Within Hootsuite, you can access platform features such as editing, deleting, and viewing analytics without having to jump from one platform to the other. Hootsuite can also be connected to your Dropbox to access files easily and is also available in app format for iOS and Android mobile devices and tablets. The “AutoSchedule” is a neat feature that will automatically schedule your posts for popular platform audience times.
(This site does require an account set-up, log in, and costs $9.99/mo).
Also, Hootsuite offers educational training, courses, and certification. I received my Social Marketing certification through Hootsuite in 2016 and would highly recommend it to any professional that has heavily implemented social media into their marketing strategy.
Lastly, I must confess that I was thoroughly impressed with Grammarly’s free account and Hootsuite’s free trial. So much in fact, that I now pay to use the professional versions of each software.
Enjoy!