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By: Ami Hooper, Spiel Communication for the April 2019 Temple Chamber of COmmerce Focus on Business Keeping track of your online marketing channels and regularly posting and can take time. The best way to manage your engagement across multiple channels and platforms is through the use of social media management and content creation tools. Here’s a list of some the best free tools to use. Hootsuite Hootsuite is one of the trusted giants in the social tools space. It is known for its social listening tools, allowing you to connect with more than 35 popular social media apps. It is free for personal use, but if you are using just a few social media channels, this could work for you. Buffer With features like multiplatform scheduling and analytics, Buffer has become a leader in social media management. It can track your follower activity and determine the perfect moment to schedule content for maximum exposure. If you use Chrome, be sure to get the extension so you can schedule content while browsing. Facebook Scheduler Did you know that you could schedule Facebook posts on Facebook? Well, you can. Look for this feature in the publishing tools. TweetDeck TweetDeck has some of the most helpful Twitter functionalities such as custom timelines, Twitter lists and searches. This service is free and it will take hours off your Twitter management. Latergram This tool is especially good to schedule and manage your Instagram marketing. The best part is that you can upload posts from your desktop, tablet, iPad or Android. Content Creation Canva Canva’s free account offers pre-sized templates to create professional looking social media images. The drag and drop feature make it simple to use. PostCreator This is one of the simplest content creation tools out there. Just upload an image, type in a caption or some content, then add your logo. PostCreator will generate a branded image you can use on all your social networks. GIMP If you don’t want a monthly subscription to Adobe Photoshop, GIMP could you be your go-to choice. It is a cross-platform image editor with sophisticated tools. Imgflip Who doesn’t love a meme? You can choose from thousands of images or upload your own, type a caption, and hit generate. It really is that simple and free to use. Tracking and Analysis Buzzsumo Buzzsumo is an online tool that helps you search for topics and keywords and helps you analyze what content gets the most shares on social media. It will also show you the number of social shares, plus backlinks and linking domains. They have free and paid versions. Google Analytics Google Analytics is a free analysis service which measures website activity and performance. The standard version is completely free to use. A Google account is the only requirement to sign up and use the product. UpRank UpRank is a research tool that analyzes social media, a website’s architecture, SEO, user experience, and mobile responsiveness. It can generate a list of comprehensive tasks to help you with your digital marketing strategy. Video Editors Avidemux Avidemux is a free video editor designed for simple cutting, filtering, and encoding tasks. Windows Movie Maker This is a free video editor included with every version of Windows. It is easy to learn and it is loaded with features.