Digital Marketing: Content Creation Made Easy

Whether you’re just getting started creating content for your business or you’re ready to level up your social media presence, having the right tools makes all the difference. This page is a curated list of my absolute favorite apps, gear, and resources. These are the exact tools I use in my own workflow to plan, film, edit, and publish content across Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and TikTok. I’ve included quick notes on why I love each one, plus links if you want to try them out for yourself. Some of these are free, some are paid, and a few are affiliate links (which means I may earn a small commission if you buy through them, at no extra cost to you). Underlined items are links. Thanks for supporting my work!

Social Media Platforms.

It’s important that you choose which social media platforms to begin with when creating content. While there is a great deal of overlap (and more overlap every day it seems), they all still have a distinct style and slightly different audiences. I recommend starting with Facebook, or Facebook and Instagram.

• Facebook – The one that started it all. I had an account back when you had to have a school email address to even get a page. While this platform is continually morphing, it’s still the largest platform and best for reaching a local audience. It has functionality to put links directly in your captions, and both static posts and Reels will perform well here.
• Instagram – Continually going through an identity crisis, however it’s still a powerhouse and I highly recommend it. Currently, Instagram is leaning into carousel posts (a series of static photos, images, or graphics, usually 5 to 7 slides). Reels (short form video) still perform incredibly well here.
• TikTok – Short form video, shot vertically. Some static, carousel posts but video is still king on this platform.
• Youtube – Long form video platform. These videos are generally horizontally oriented, longer, with more editing. YouTube Shorts are a new development that are short videos (like TikTok), shot vertically.
• LinkedIn – This is the “business” platform for your business. You can connect as yourself, or you can also create a business page on LinkedIn and add yourself as the employee. This is where you highlight your wins, your recognition, the services you offer, and provide a polished and professional public page. It’s great for networking. Short form video is new to the platform and may not be ideal yet.
• Pinterest – I do not use this tool, but I’ve heard it’s still a highly used platform (and growing).
• Snapchat – Confession: I used to have this and I deleted it. I don’t have a lot to offer about this platform, my apologies.

Editing tools and apps.

There is an overwhelming number of apps out there to help you edit your content. I won’t claim that all of these are the best, but they’re what I’ve landed on and used for years. Some require a subscription, others are free, and they’re all helpful. Some of these tools have the addd functionality of royalty free music with the subscription, which is nice if you do not want to use trending audio for your business.

• Videoleap – This is my go to tool for editing videos, especially if I have many more video segments, want royalty free music, or want to add a voiceover to save to my video and use across multiple platforms. It’s a tricky beast to learn, but once you do it’s a powerful tool. The editing tools are always being updated and enhanced. I haven’t used much of the AI functionality but it is there as well. There is also a large library of stock videography to use too.
• Photoleap – Owned by the same parent company as Videoleap. Again, a steep learning curve at the beginning but it’s an incredible editor. I edit most of my content on my phone
• Edits – This is a new, FREE, tool from Instagram. It’s now my favorite way to create Reels and short form videos. You can browse for inspiration in the app, save videos you like, create idea boards, and edit with full control right in the app. Then, you can download the videos (I recommend in 4K quality) to post to Instagram or save to your phone. Here is an excellent tutorial.
• Canva – This is my number one recommended tool! Canva is incredibly powerful and a necessity for creators. I use the paid version which unlocks the ability to use templates, create brand kits, and access to a full library of stock photography, videography, and clipart. It’s worth every penny. Additionally, you can easily resize your creations to fit whichever social media platform you are creating for. You can also edit videos in Canva and can add fonts and logos for your brand.

My Go-To Gear.

Let me be honest: the only gear you really need is your phone. Any type of phone, in our current state of technology, is going to produce high quality content. There are some things that I use that make it a little easier to shoot content while solo, and make my work flow a little smoother. I actually use all of these items weekly, and I can say they’re all great tools. They are:

• A mini, portable tripod – This tripd is small enough that I can keep it in my purse. It works as a selfie stick and an excellent tripod to grab photos or videos while filming solo, or if I want to get my whole family in the shot. It also has a Bluetooth remote shutter as well.
• Gimbal – This tool is used to help stabilize your shots and make smooth videos with your phone. Fun fact: when I did a LIVE broadcast with KTBS, this is the exact tool the cameraman was using with his phone to record the whole thing! One of my favorite features with this is the tracking mode, where you can have the gimbal follow you, so the camera (your phone) will rotate to follow you as you walk. It’s a very cool feature. There is an app (free) to use with the gimbal to make it work.
• Extra tall tripod – I really love this tripod. It’s massive, but still packs down fairly small. It’s much taller than most tripods, which allows you to get a better angle for most shots. A winning combo: the gimbal on top of this tripod. Here is a video I shot using this exact set up.
• Spare battery packs – These are critical for long shooting days or days where you’re using your phone heavily. I have two. One is a magnetic charger (which is my favorite) and the other is a more powerful charger with multiple connection options. The second one is nice because you don’t need any additional cord to charge it, the plug is built in. Both are great to have.
• Other things to consider – a small microphone, headphones or earbuds so you can edit videos with music and not drive your officemates nuts with the repetitive music, and a small notebook or journal to keep with you to write down ideas you get while out living life.

Planning tools.

One of the most important things about being a successful creator is planning. You don’t have to invest a huge amount of time in the planning process, but having a backbone strategy to what you’re sharing will stop you from feeling like you’re just spinning your wheels. There are a few tools that I recommend to help keep your process streamlined. They are:

• Content Calendar (paper version) – If you don’t have one of these, I have one available for you. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but a basic weekly grid where you can lay out your ideas for what you want to post, where you want to post it, and the medium you’ll use (static versus video). This can be done online as well but for me, it helps to write it down on paper first.
• Meta Business Suite – This is my GO TO resource. It has a huge array of tools, of which I only use one or two. The “Planner” in Meta Business Suite is where I schedule my content. This is incredibly helpful so you’re not scrambling daily to get your content up. I spend a few hours per week planning, creating, and scheduling my content, which then saves me hours of headache later on. You can schedule one week a head or a month ahead, or more. It’s up to you. I use the planner to schedule my static and carousel posts, but if I am sharing a Reel, I schedule that in Instagram itself.
• Canva Content Planner – Canva has it’s own content planner and scheduler however I have not used it.
• Phone Notes – I use the Notes app on my phone all the time for keeping ideas organized or for saving captions to post later. I have a folder for Instagram and a folder for Facebook. The nice thing about having an iphone and a Macbook is the seamless experience. I can type captions in my notes app on my computer and it will automatically show up on my phone.
• Other options – Other scheduling platforms I recommend if you prefer something outside of Meta: Later or Planoly.

Workflow.

As you progress on your journey for creating content, you will uncover what works best for you. To help you get started, I can share my workflow and how I move through my week. This process can be spread throughout your week, or done all at once. For me, I generally do it all on Sunday afternoon because that’s what works for me as a homeschool Mom and business owner. Here is what works for me:

• Planning phase – (30 minutes) usually takes place on Sunday afternoon, or sometimes Saturday night. I use my paper content planner to quickly jot down the ideas that I have for what to post. I also take a look at any special days, themed days, or holidays coming up. A quick internet search can give you those results. I write it all down, along with what medium I’ll be using (photos, graphics, carousel post, or video). I’ll also make notes about any big tasks I need to accomplish during the week ahead.
• Creating phase – (1 to 2 hours depending on content) happens on Sundays for me as well. In this phase, I mostly use Canva to create what I’ll need. I will do all of the photos, graphics, and static posts first. Then videos last. For me, I use the Edits app for videos then save them to Instagram drafts.
• Scheduling phase – (30 minutes) also, on Sundays. I use the Meta Business Suite’s Planner tool. This is where I input all of the images and graphics, add a caption and appropriate tags and hashtags, and schedule the post. For videos, I schedule those within Instagram itself as Planner tool in Meta is a little clunky for videos. NOTE – hashtags are more important on Instagram than Facebook.

Another note – your schedule posts are your backbone and guideline. You can post more than those if you want to, but they give you a consistent posting strategy for when your weeks get wild, as mine so often do. It alleviates the pressures so you can focus on other things during the week, knowing that you’re still feeding the algorithm beast with quality content that you curated carefully.

Tags, Hashtags and Trending Audio.

This is a topic that’s always changing and evolving. However, there are some ground rules that tend to stick around.

• Tagging – (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok) This is when you use the “@” symbol followed by someone’s page name. It makes the name a link to their page and alerts them to being tagged. It can be a great way to give recognition to another business, brand, or person, as long as it is not overused.
• Collaborative Posts – (Facebook and Instagram) These is when you are “tagging” someone but using the option to add them as a collaborator. This function makes the post (video, static, or carousel) show up on both of your pages with both of your names on the post. It’s a great way to boost your exposure, increase your audience, and can be fun. Generally, it’s best to discuss with the brand or person ahead of time before adding them as a collaborator. Here is an example.
• Hashtags – (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok) These are words that are placed next to the # symbol. The symbol goes first. This makes whatever word you place behind it a link, and it’s searchable. This functionality works on all social media platforms. Generally, they are more effective on Instagram and TikTok than Facebook, but they work on all three. It’s best to spend some time researching hashtags in your niche and ChatGPT is a useful tool for this. Ask for “hashtags relevant to (name your industry).” Do not use more than 6 hashtags per post and I usually try to use tags that have less than 1 million uses. Tread carefully, as some hashtags are banned to due policy violations and using them will cause your content to be hidden.
• Trending Audio – This is a hot topic. Trending audio means songs that are being used often, and being pushed to the top of the algorithm. My general rules that I follow are: no explicit lyrics (it will have an E on the song name list), and I look for trending songs with under 100,000 uses. Ideally less than 20,000 uses (but still trending). A song may be at the number one spot for trending audio, but if it has over 1 million uses, your content may get buried. You can find trending audio on each platform by searching for it, navigating to the trending audio list while creating your video, or by looking it up from your profile (on Instagram). A note – if you choose to use royalty free audio for your business, you can search for that too, or create your video with audio from Canva or Videoleap.

Some tips – always, always, always add some sort of audio if you are creating a video. The algorithm will treat it nicer, and that’s the same across all platforms. Also, when it comes to formatting your videos. Use the “story” or “reel” or “9×16” format for the video so you do not have blank or black space in the background. You can use Canva to resize. If it’s blurry or too stretched, make it fit the screen and add a matching background so there isn’t black space.

Final tip.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by content, just start with one tool and master it before adding more. You don’t need fancy equipment or a perfect setup to start showing up online: you just need a plan, a little confidence, a few tools that make the process easier, and practice. My recommendation is to start with Canva and the Meta Business Suite. You can add in Edits after you feel comfortable with those two.

If planning too far ahead is feeling overwhelming, start with one week at a time, with two to three posts per week. You’ve got this! I’m here for you if you have any questions and please know that I’m cheering you on!

Want to run through your process once more? Book a phone call or Zoom call with me here.