Like Fraulein Maria and the von Trapp children in the 1965 movie musical, “The Sound of Music,” we love raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. Sadly, we also know these things won’t exactly help you with your social media strategy in the year to come. That’s why the team at Aliya Hammond Consulting has put together this list of our favorite things as a holiday gift for you, complete with helpful tips, valuable information, and even a few digital marketing freebies! Cue Julie Andrews….
Aliya, Social Media Strategist and Trainer
- Planoly: I love Planoly because it let’s you see your Instagram grid in advance before publishing content to your page. It has neat features that let you move around unscheduled posts, save hashtag groups, as well as provide analytics, with free and paid plans.
- BigVu Teleprompter App: I recently started using this app and I absolutely love it. BigVu is a free and paid teleprompter app that will help you read text while scrolling on your screen, and record video at the same time. You can adjust the speed of your text and record with a green screen background, in addition to capturing multiple video takes before choosing the best one.
- WeTransfer: Another application I love is WeTransfer. If you’re looking for ways to share large files, WeTransfer is a simple and quick solution for any business. The forever free option allows you to send up to 2GB, while the paid plan goes up to a whopping 20GB for a monthly fee.
Caitlin, Social Media Manager
- Canva: An on-the-go design app (and website), Canva makes it easy to edit photos on the fly or quickly design a flyer. I love this app because it’s user-friendly, and it allows you to grab a photo and make edits without the expensive subscription service. The basic account is free, but there are also paid options that give you more content and design features.
- Buffer: With multiple social media platforms supported by Buffer, it’s a one-stop shop for scheduling needs. While I’ve used other scheduling apps in the past, this one has been my favorite, because it’s straightforward and easy to navigate. I love the monthly calendar view, so I can see what’s been posted over a month and review what was most effective.
- Followers: This phone app enables social media managers to track their follow/unfollows on their Business Instagram accounts. The app requires users to sign into their accounts, and then it provides statistics on new followers, those who unfollowed you, and those who have blocked your account. Although the basic account is free, other package options are available for a subscription or one time fee.
Deanna, Virtual Assistant
- Trello, Harvest & Canva: My favorite tools are Trello for task management, Harvest for time tracking and invoicing, and Canva, a great alternative to Photoshop that’s easy to use when creating flyers, social media images, etc.
Jason, Graphic Designer
- Adobe Illustrator: As part of the Adobe Create Cloud, this design app lets you capture your creative vision with shapes, color, effects, and typography. I love being able to bring sketches and ideas to fruition with Illustrator. It’s also fun to open up my iPad and draw freehand with the apple pencil.
- Adobe Indesign: Indesign is a desktop publishing and typesetting software application used to create page layouts for books, magazines, flyers, brochures and so on. I use this program more than anything, as it makes laying out my designs a breeze.
- Adobe Libraries: My favorite tool to use are the libraries you can create with Adobe that works seamlessly with all of their programs. Adobe Libraries give you the ability to manage, organize, and keep creative elements at your fingertips, including colors, character styles, logos, images, and videos.
Korrie, Writer
- Grammarly: Grammarly is a free writing tool to catch spelling and grammatical slip ups. It’s a browser extension, so you can use it across all websites that you work on.
- Word Swag: This free app makes it easy to turn text or copy into visual posts for sharing on social media.
Nancy, Web Developer
- Dropbox: I’m a big fan of collaboration tools like Trello and Dropbox. They are easy to learn and use, and allow you to store and share files or collaborate with team members and clients on multiple projects.
- WordPress: Well supported and ideal for web design, WordPress features rich themes and plugins and is also developer friendly.
- Siteground: Siteground offers affordable website domain and hosting with a nice interface, easy migration, and excellent support.
Rebecca, Social Media Manager
- Videoleap: This is a great phone app for editing video to fit multiple platforms. There are even some cool features for animation and text. I’ve just started using Videoleap with images, graphics, and video to create content for clients, and I love it!
- Repost: This is one of the better reposting apps, because it saves your copied link in case you need to go back and repost again, or schedule your reposts. It’s also the easiest to use, and any app that is streamlined gets an A+++ in my book.
Tiffany, Blog Manager/Writer, Graphic Designer
- Google Docs: This free word processing platform allows me to write, edit and stay organized with handy tools, color coding, and pre-set styles. Sharing is easy when working with clients or other writers on the team, with an option for collaborating in real-time.
- Deposit Photos: Every blog needs eye-catching, on brand images to go along with topics. Depositphotos is our go-to photo service at Aliya Hammond Consulting, thanks to its user-friendly design, targeted search tools, and a variety of purchase plans.
- Creative Market: When using Illustrator or Photoshop, sometimes you need the perfect font for a logo design, eBook, or branded marketing piece. Creative Market has over 40,000 purchasable fonts to add to your collection that are perfect for both web and print. The site also offers free goods on a weekly basis.
Happy holidays from the team at Aliya Hammond Consulting!
You’ve probably realized by now that Social Media is no longer an option. In fact, it is a vital and highly successful tool for building a business. Aliya Hammond Consulting is an online Digital Marketing, Training, and Consulting Company headquartered in the greater Philadelphia area. We specialize in Social Media Management and Marketing, Social Media Training, Blog Writing, and Graphic Design Services for small and large businesses, entrepreneurs, and non-profit organizations. If you are looking to improve or increase your online presence, you can rest assured you are in good hands with us. Contact Aliya Hammond Consulting today to find out how we can help your business grow!
