As social media has grown to become an indispensable part of marketing strategies, so too has the demand for social media creators and social media managers. Some brands hire a Social Media team in-house, but many opt to work with social media freelancers—such as yourself. As a social media freelancer, you may not have the same resources as an in-house team, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t helpful tools that can support you as you come up with concepts and content, publish posts, and digest social media analytics for your clients. Here are some top tools for social media freelancers.
Canva
With over 85 million users across the globe, Canva had to be included on our list of top tools for social media freelancers. The online graphic design software has countless tools for social media freelancers and simplifies the content creation process with a wide array of templates, stock photos, and graphics. With an intuitive interface and drag-and-drop editor, Canva enables you to rapidly put together professional, eye-catching social media content, whether it’s an Instagram story, Facebook post, or LinkedIn update.
Canva’s free membership is suitable for most users, providing access to over 250,000 templates, more than 1 million photos and graphics, and 5 GB of cloud storage. With a free subscription, you can also benefit from the online tool’s collaboration feature and invite team members or clients to provide feedback. In addition to social media content, Canva facilitates the creation of reports, presentations, and more.
Buffer
There’s a reason so many social media managers swear by Buffer. The online app is a one-stop shop for scheduling and publishing social media posts to all major platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google Business Profile, and even TikTok. Simply create a post, upload the content for the post, and decide where and when you want it published. Buffer also lets you schedule a number of posts ahead of time, so you can rest easy knowing that content is being shared even if you’re not online.
The app is available on web or mobile and is based on a subscription model. The free version of Buffer lets you post to a maximum of 3 social media channels and schedule up to 10 posts at a time. As you acquire more clients, you can add additional channels for $5/month. This upgrade also increases the number of scheduled posts to 2,000. In addition, Buffer includes other features, such as social media analytics and reporting, making it one of the top tools for social media freelancers.
Grammarly
As a social media freelancer, writing copy is an important part of the job. Grammarly ensures that everything you post online—whether it’s a caption or in-image text—is free of typos, grammatically correct, and punctually perfect. In short, the cloud-based app functions as an editorial assistant, checking over your writing before it goes live. Powered by artificial intelligence, the free version of the tool checks for spelling, grammar, punctuation, and concision.
Grammarly is available for free as either a desktop app, an in-browser editor, or as a browser extension. Paid versions of the grammar tool come with additional revision capabilities, including word choice and tone analysis. Ultimately, it helps you avoid any misunderstandings that can arise from copy errors and ensure the brand you are representing maintains a professional image online.
Clockify
Our next recommendation is not just for social media specialists, but for all freelancers— particularly if you bill by the hour. Clockify is a time-tracking app that helps you monitor how long you spend working on different projects. All you have to do is sign up for a free account. From there, you can create project folders and add different tasks within each project. When you are working on a specific task for a client, select it and hit the timer to start the clock. If you’ve forgotten to start the timer, you can add hours manually after.
Clockify is available in-browser or can be downloaded as a mobile or desktop app. The desktop app has added benefits, like reminders if you’ve forgotten to start a timer or if it’s time for a break. You can also set your rate for each project and Clockify will automatically calculate how much to invoice for. Ultimately, the free app can save you significant time and help you keep track of billable hours, so don’t forget this app when looking for top tools for social media freelancers.
Looking for more Freelance Tips?
With these social media tools in your toolbelt, your workflows are bound to be smoother and more efficient. They will also enable you to scale your freelance services without becoming overwhelmed with responsibilities. For more helpful freelancing advice, don’t miss our Tips for Better Time Management and other blog posts.
