16 Free Tools for Digital and Social Media Marketing.

Are you looking for ways to improve and practice digital and social media marketing? Below is a list of valuable free online tools you can use now to test and learn various digital and social media strategies and tactics.

Click here for an updated list of free tools & resources.

1. Google Trends (trends.google.com/trends). You can use Google Trends to identify topic ideas for blogs, websites, social media posts or other online digital content. Brainstorm ideas and then use Google Trends to compare topic options and to optimize content subjects. Look for data such as interest over time, interest by region, related topics, and related queries by category and type of search (Image, Video, News, Shopping).

2. Hemingway App (hemingwayapp.com). Clear, concise, and easy to read copy is essential to effective online writing for websites, email, social media posts and content marketing. Copy and paste your writing into this tool to identify areas for improvement including sentence readability, complicated phrases and words, over use of adverbs and adjectives, and passive voice. This can be great in a draft stage, but be careful not to lose your voice by over simplifying. You don’t have to follow all the recommendations.

3. SEO Analyzer (neilpatel.com/seo-analyzer). Search Engine Optimization is important to draw search traffic to your online content. This tool analyzes an existing website and up to two competitors. It provides scores and recommendations in key areas such as keywords, key phrases (long tail), alt tags, heading tags, meta descriptions, speed, back links, and indexed pages.

4. Google Competitor Research (www.google.com). Search marketing is important to digital strategy. Get insight into keywords and ad copy with competitor research in Google search. First, try different keyword phrases to determine which are used when people are looking to buy (commercial intent) or to learn about a topic (informational intent). Next, get alternative keyword ideas by scrolling to the bottom to see “Searches related to …” Then, view the ad formats, copy and landing pages competitors are using. For more see Gary Victory’s post on the Kissmetrics Blog.

5. Answer The Public (answerthepublic.com). The challenge of Content Marketing and Public Relations is to know what to create. Answer the Public provides auto suggest results based on Google and Bing data. Enter a keyword and get questions people are asking based on the Five Ws of journalism and more (who, what, where, when, why, how, are, can, will). It also provides lists of related prepositions, comparisons and topics. There is a graphical interface and you can download results in a CSV file.

6. Zurmo (demo.zurmo.com/demos/stable/app/index.php/zurmo/default/login). Customer Relationship Management holds other digital efforts together. Have you wondered what it is like to work within an online CRM system if you don’t have one? Zurmo provides a live demo of their open source CRM application with social integration. Filled with test data, you can find an active customer email list, create a task for a follow up, create an opportunity, schedule a meeting, search a leads list, find opportunities, and add a note to colleagues.

7. Banner Sketch (bannersketch.eu). Display advertising can be an important way to increase sales, improve brand awareness and raise share of voice. Banner Sketch is a free web banner ad generator. Select your size and shape, choose colors and background, enter text and frame, add a border and color, and create the banner. The tool supports both moving (gif) and stationary banners with templates and allows you to upload your own photos.

8. Viral Video Chart (adage.com/section/the-viral-video-chart/674). Viral Advertising Videos can be a successful part of a digital and social media strategy. But how do you know what will go viral? While there are no guarantees you can see what has worked in the past and what is working right now. Ad Age’s Viral Video Chart tracks the weekly top viral videos by total social media views provided by Visible Measures.

9. Headline Analyzer (coschedule.com/headline-analyzer). Headlines drive traffic, shares, search results and opens. Use CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer to improve headlines for websites, blogs, social media posts and email subject lines. After a free sign up, analysis includes word balance of common, uncommon, emotional and power words. It also analyzes length, keywords and sentiment with suggested improvements and provides Google search and email subject line previews.

10. Likealyzer (likealyzer.com/). Do you want some insights into what works for brands on Facebook? Metlwater has created Likealyzer to analyze Facebook brand performance by front page, about, activity, response and engagement. Scores are provided for each category along with specific recommendations and similar pages for brand competitor comparison. Valuable summaries include posts per day, average post length, pages liked, number of events and number of native videos. Also see response rate, response time, people talking about this, total page likes and engagement rate.

11. Followerwonk (moz.com/followerwonk). Followerwonk is a Twitter tool created by Moz to find, analyze and optimize for social growth. With influencer marketing becoming the fastest growing part of digital and social media this tool can help identify top influencers by bios/profiles. You can also analyze influencer followers and analyze the users they follow. Logging in with your Twitter account provides insights into brand current followers, and provides tracking of new and lost followers.

12. Mobile-Friendly Test (search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly). Are you looking for a simple way to test if your web page is mobile-friendly? Try Google’s mobile-friendly test site. This tool provides a nice preview of what your website looks like on a mobile device. It also provides details on any issues found with suggestions for improvement.

13. SimilarWeb (similarweb.com). SimilarWeb provides a report on any website with estimates on total visits over time by mobile and desktop, average visit duration, pages per visit, bounce rate, and traffic by country. It also provides traffic by source from direct, referrals, search (organic and paid), social, email and display ad. Within each of these categories you get a look at each source by percentage such as websites for referrals and social media channels for social. SimilarWeb also provides audience interests, visited websites and competitor/similar websites.

14. Website Grader (website.grader.com). Website Grader is a tool created by HubSpot to analyze websites for inbound marketing across the categories of performance, SEO, mobile and security. Enter your website and email address and you are sent a customized report for factors such as page size, page requests, and page speed. It also looks at browser caching, page redirects, compression, and render blocking. SEO is analyzed by page titles, meta description, headlines, and site map.

15. Psycho-Demographic Profile (applymagicsauce.com). Personalization is an important strategy in digital and social media. This tool gathers information from your Facebook and Twitter accounts to give you a look at the digital footprints you are leaving and what marketers can predict about you from that data. Get ideas about how to target digital and social media content. But also consider the ethical ramifications of accessing and using this behavioral targeting information.

16. Native Ad Quiz (marketplace.org/2013/12/03/tech/quiz-story-ad). Native Ads have become an important part of digital advertising, content marketing and social media strategy. Test your knowledge in this quiz to determine the difference between journalism stories and advertising stories. Then determine best practices for creating native ads and ensure you follow FTC requirements for native advertising.

These are just some of the free online tools I have found to be helpful. For a more complete and updated list of over 300 free and paid tools and resources see postcontrolmarketing.com/links.

For the latest changes in social media strategy consider Asking These Questions To Ensure You Have The Right Social Media Strategy and its a good idea to Perform A Social Media Audit at least once a year.

282 Top Social Media Strategy Tools and Resources by Category.

Social Media Strategy book quesenberry

Social Media Strategy can be overwhelming. Here is a list of top 282 social media tools & resources in 10 categories to help make it easier. Search below for options in (1) Social Media Monitoring & Metrics, (2) Online Data Collection & Analytics, (3) Social Media Content Creation & Data Visualization, (4) Social Content Scheduling & Automation, (5) Social Media & Digital Media Research, (6) Trade Associations, Awards & Conferences, (7) Social Media News & Insights, (8) Social Media Podcasts, (9) Social Media Training & Certification, and (10) Social Media Channels.

Click here for an updated list of free tools & resources.

Social Media Monitoring & Metrics

  1. Agora Pulse: www.agorapulse.com
  2. Agora Pulse Free (Facebook Barometer, Twitter Report Card): agorapulse.com/free-social-media-marketing-tools
  3. Addict-o-matic: addictomatic.com
  4. Audiense: audiense.com/twitter-analytics
  5. Brandwatch: brandwatch.com
  6. Brand24: brand24.com
  7. Buzzsumo: buzzsumo.com
  8. Cision: www.cision.com/us/social-software
  9. Clarabridge: www.clarabridge.com
  10. Crimson Hexagon: crimsonhexagon.com
  11. Critical Mention: www.criticalmention.com
  12. Ditto: http://ditto.us.com
  13. Geofeedia: geofeedia.com
  14. Hootsuite: hootsuite.com
  15. How Socialble: howsociable.com
  16. Iconosquare: iconosquare.com
  17. Klear: klear.com
  18. Likealyzer: likealyzer.com
  19. Lithium: lithium.com
  20. Meltwater Ice Rocket: www.icerocket.com
  21. Netbase: netbase.com
  22. Nielson Social: www.nielsensocial.com
  23. NUVI: www.nuvi.com
  24. Oracle Social Cloud: www.oracle.com/us/solutions/social
  25. Radian6 (Salesforce): exacttarget.com/products/social-media-marketing/radian6
  26. RankSpeed: rankspeed.com
  27. ReviewTrackers: reviewtrackers.com
  28. Rival IQ: rivaliq.com
  29. Simply Measured: simplymeasured.com
  30. Social Mention: socialmention.com
  31. Social Bakers: socialbakers.com
  32. Socially Devoted Meter: socialbakers.com/resources/socially-devoted
  33. Social Blade: socialblade.com
  34. Spredfast: spredfast.com
  35. Sprinklr: www.sprinklr.com
  36. SumoRank: sumorank.com
  37. Sysomos: www.sysomos.com
  38. Trackur: www.trackur.com
  39. TrueSocialMetrics: truesocialmetrics.com
  40. Twitonomy: twitonomy.com
  41. Viralwoot: viralwoot.com
  42. Visible Measures: visiblemeasures.com
  43. Unruly: unruly.co
  44. Yext Free Location Scan: yext.com/blog/2016/05/grow-business-free-location-scan-app
  45. Zoho Social: zoho.com/social

Online Data Collection & Analytics

  1. Alexa: alexa.com
  2. Bottlenose: bottlenose.com
  3. Google Tools: www.thinkwithgoogle.com/tools/
  4. Compete (Millard Brown Digital): compete.com
  5. Comscore: comscore.com
  6. Conversion Fly: conversionfly.com
  7. Cyfe: www.cyfe.com
  8. Delmondo: delmondo.co/snapchat-analytics-software/
  9. Display Benchmarks: richmediagallery.com/tools/benchmarks
  10. Facebook Insights: facebook.com/help/search/?q=insights
  11. Facbook Page Cost Calculator: shiftcomm.com/facebook-page-cost-calculator
  12. Foursquare Analytics: business.foursquare.com/claim
  13. Google Analytics: www.google.com/analytics
  14. Google Analytics UTM Tracking URL Builder: chrome.google.com/webstore/
  15. Google Tools: www.thinkwithgoogle.com/tools/
  16. Google Trends: www.google.com/trends
  17. IBM Watson Analytics: ibm.com/analytics/watson-analytics
  18. Instagram Insights: blog.business.instagram.com/post/145212269021/new-business-tools
  19. iSpionage: ispionage.com
  20. Keyhole: keyhole.co
  21. Keyword Tool: keywordtool.io
  22. Kiss Metrics: www.kissmetrics.com
  23. Klout: klout.com
  24. Knowem: knowem.com
  25. Kred: kred.com
  26. LinkedIn Analytics: linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/26032
  27. ManageFlitter: manageflitter.com
  28. Mention: en.mention.com
  29. Moz Open Site Explorer: moz.com/researchtools/ose
  30. New Share Counts (Twitter): newsharecounts.com/
  31. Nexalogy: nexalogy.com
  32. Omgili: omgili.com
  33. Pinterest Analytics: analytics.pinterest.com
  34. Quantcast: quantcast.com
  35. RiteTag: ritetag.com/hashtag-search
  36. Ruzzit: ruzzit.com
  37. SEMrush: www.semrush.com
  38. SharedCount: www.sharedcount.com
  39. Shopping Insights: shopping.thinkwithgoogle.com
  40. SimilarWeb: similarweb.com
  41. Snaplytics: snaplytics.io/
  42. Social Searcher: social-searcher.com
  43. Soovle: soovle.com
  44. Talkwalker Alerts: www.talkwalker.com
  45. Trendspottr: trendspottr.com
  46. Tweetreach: tweetreach.com
  47. Twitter Advanced Search: twitter.com/search-advanced
  48. Twitter Analytics: analytics.twitter.com
  49. UVRX: uvrx.com/social.html
  50. WordStream: wordstream.com/keywords
  51. YouGovProfiles: yougov.co.uk/profiler#
  52. YouTube Analytics: www.youtube.com/analytics
  53. YouTube Trending: www.youtube.com/feed/trending
  54. Visio Spark Social Media Counts Checker: visiospark.com/shared-counter

Social Media Content Creation & Data Visualization

  1. Accelerated Mobile Pages Project: www.ampproject.org
  2. Adobe Kuler: color.adobe.com/create.color–wheel
  3. Canva: www.canva.com
  4. Chartbuilder: quartz.github.io/Chartbuilder
  5. Compressor (Pitchengine): c.tiny.pr
  6. ContenIdeator: contentforest.com/ideator
  7. Curalate: curalate.com
  8. Datawrapper: datawrapper.de
  9. DesignFeed: designfeed.io
  10. Design Seeds: design–seeds.com
  11. DrumUo: https://drumup.io
  12. Easelly: www.easel.ly
  13. Emotional Marketing Analyzer (Advanced Marketing Institute): aminstitute.com/headline
  14. Enhance (Hootsuite): hootsuite.com/products/mobile-apps
  15. Flipboard: flipboard.com/
  16. Good Data: gooddata.com
  17. Google Data Studio: datastudio.google.com
  18. Google Fonts: www.google.com/fonts
  19. Google Image: images.google.com
  20. Google Tag Manager: www.google.com/analytics/tag-manager
  21. Grammarly: grammarly.com
  22. Headline Analyzer (CoSchedule): coschedule.com/headline-analyzer
  23. Hemingway Editor: hemingwayapp.com
  24. Huzza: huzza.io
  25. Infogr.am: infogr.am
  26. KnowEm: knowem.com
  27. LibreStock (Search Free Stock Sites): librestock.com
  28. Namechk: namechk.com
  29. NodeXL: nodexl.codeplex.com
  30. Nuzzle: nuzzel.com
  31. Opal: workwithopal.com
  32. Over: madewithover.com
  33. Phonto: phon.to/
  34. PicPlayPost: www.mixcord.co/partners/picplaypost.html
  35. Pictaculous: pictaculous.com
  36. PicMonkey: picmonkey.com
  37. Piktochart: piktochart.com
  38. Pixlr: pixlr.com
  39. Portant Content Idea Generator: portent.com/tools/title-maker
  40. Power BI: powerbi.microsoft.com
  41. Recite: recite.com
  42. Relay: relaythat.com
  43. Ripl: ripl.com
  44. Screncast-O-Matic: screencast-o-matic.com
  45. Smartmockups: smartmockups.com
  46. Spark: spark.adobe.com
  47. Storify: storify.com
  48. Studio: madewithstudio.com
  49. Tint: tintup.com
  50. Tiny PNG: tinypng.com
  51. TwistedWave: twistedwave.com
  52. Tweetroot: rubbledev.com/app/tweetroot-for-twitter
  53. Typorama: apperto.com/typorama
  54. 20 Free Stock Photo Sites for your Social Media Images:  blog.Hootsuite.com
  55. Ubersuggest: ubersuggest.io
  56. Unsplash: unsplash.com
  57. Videolicious: videolicious.com
  58. Word Swag: wordswag.co
  59. Yost: yoast.com

Social Content Scheduling & Automation

  1. Adobe Experience Manager: adobe.com/marketing-cloud/enterprise-content-management.html
  2. AdStage: www.adstage.io
  3. Alltop: alltop.com
  4. Buddy Media: www.exacttarget.com/products/social-media-marketing/buddy-media
  5. Buffer: bufferapp.com
  6. Chartbeat: chartbeat.com
  7. Chhirp: cordproject.co/chhirp
  8. Contentgems: contentgems.com
  9. CoSchedule: coschedule.com
  10. Crowdbooster: crowdbooster.com
  11. dlvr.it: dlvr.it
  12. Edgar: meetedgar.com
  13. Google Programmatic: thinkwithgoogle.com/programmatic-guide/
  14. Google Photos: google.com/photos/
  15. HubSpot: hubspot.com
  16. IFTTT: ifttt.com
  17. Leadpages: eadpages.net
  18. Later: later.com
  19. Later Bro: laterbro.com
  20. List-O-Matic: accessify.com/tools-and-wizards/developer-tools/list-o-matic
  21. Livefyre (Adobe): web.livefyre.com
  22. MissingLett_r: missinglettr.com
  23. Oktopost: oktopost.com
  24. OptinMonster: optinmonster.com
  25. Outbrain: outbrain.com
  26. Post Planner: www.postplanner.com
  27. Scoop It Content Director: scoop.it
  28. Short Stack: www.shortstack.com
  29. Slack: slack.com
  30. SocialOomph: www.socialoomph.com
  31. Sprout Social: sproutsocial.com
  32. Social Warefare: warfareplugins.com
  33. Suggestions (Hootsuite): hootsuite.com/products/mobile-apps
  34. Tailwind: tailwindapp.com
  35. Thunderclap: thunderclap.it
  36. TweetBot: tapbots.com/tweetbot
  37. TweetDeck: about.twitter.com/products/tweetdeck
  38. Uberflip: uberflip.com
  39. Woodbox: woobox.com
  40. Zapier: zapier.com
  41. Zendesk: www.zendesk.com

Social Media & Digital Media Research

  1. Adobe Digital Index: cmo.com/adobe-digital-index.html
  2. Affinio: www.affin.io/
  3. Forrester: www.forrester.com/Social-Media
  4. Gallap: www.gallap.com
  5. Global Web Index: www.globalwebindex.net
  6. Grama Hashtag Generator for Instagram: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/grama-hashtag-generator-for
  7. GRYTICS: grytics.com
  8. IBM Watson Analyitics for Social Media: ibm.com/marketplace/cloud/social-media-data-analysis/us/en-us
  9. Interbrand Best Brands: interbrand.com
  10. Kantar Media SRDS: srds.com
  11. Millard Brown BrandZ Reports: millwardbrown.com/brandz
  12. Nielsen Social Media Reports: www.nielsensocial.com
  13. Pew Research Center: www.pewinternet.org
  14. Roper Center: www.ropercenter.uconn.edu
  15. Simmons: simmonsssurvey.com
  16. Social Explorer: www.socialexplorer.com
  17. Social Media Collective: socialmediacollective.org
  18. Statista: www.statista.com
  19. YouGov BrandIndex: brandindex.com

Trade Associations, Awards & Conferences

  1. Brand Innovators: brand-innovators.com/events
  2. Content Marketing World: www.contentmarketingworld.com
  3. INBOUND: www.inbound.com
  4. INTEGRATE: imc.wvu.edu/integrate
  5. Online Media Marketing Awards: www.mediapost.com/ommaawards
  6. Social Media Marketing World: www.socialmediaexaminer.com/smmworld
  7. Social Media Strategies Summit: socialmediastrategiessummit.com
  8. Social Media Week: socialmediaweek.org
  9. Summit: summit.adobe.com/na
  10. SXSW: sxsw.com
  11. SXSWedu: http://www.sxswedu.com
  12. The Webby Awards: www.webbyawards.com
  13. The Shorty Awards: shortyawards.com
  14. The Mashies: mashable.com/mashies
  15. Word of Mouth Marketing Association: womma.org

Social Media News & Insights

  1. Amy Porterfield: amyporterfield.com
  2. Chris Brogan: http://chrisbrogan.com/blog
  3. Christopher S. Penn christopherspenn.com
  4. Jeff Bullas: jeffbullas.com
  5. Content Marketing Institute: contentmarketinginstitute.com/blog
  6. Convince & Convert : www.convinceandconvert.com
  7. FTC Disclosures: www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/ftcs-endorsement-guides-what-people-are-asking
  8. Gartner Digital Marketing: blogs.gartner.com/digital-marketing
  9. Grow: www.businessesgrow.com
  10. Hubspot’s Inbound Hub: blog.hubspot.com
  11. Marketing Profs: www.marketingprofs.com
  12. Mashable Social Media: mashable.com/social-media
  13. RazerSocial: www.razorsocial.com/blog
  14. Scott Monty: scottmonty.com
  15. Social Media Examiner: www.socialmediaexaminer.com
  16. Social Media Explorer: www.socialmediaexplorer.com
  17. Social Media Marketing Magazine: www.smmmagazine.com
  18. Social Media Today: socialmediatoday.com
  19. Social Mouths: socialmouths.com/blog
  20. Social Media Law Bulletin: www.socialmedialawbulletin.com
  21. The Digital Garage: digitalgarage.withgoogle.com
  22. YouTube Video Creators: www.youtube.com/videocreators
  23. WOMMA Code of Ethics: womma.org/ethics
  24. WOMMA Free Resources: womma.org/free-womm-resources

Social Media Podcasts

  1. Amy Porterfield: amyporterfield.com/category/podcast
  2. Content Inc.: contentmarketinginstitute.com/content-inc-podcast
  3. Content Pros: convinceandconvert.com/podcasts/shows/content-pros-podcast
  4. Influence Pros: convinceandconvert.com/podcasts/shows/influence-pros-podcast/
  5. Social Media Examiner: www.socialmediaexaminer.com/tag/podcast
  6. Social Pros Podcast: convinceandconvert.com/podcasts/shows/social-pros-podcast/
  7. The Art of Paid Traffic Podcast: rickmulready.com/category/aoptpodcast/
  8. The Business of Story: convinceandconvert.com/podcasts/shows/business-of-story-podcast
  9. The Marketing Companion: marketingpodcasts.com/the-marketing-companion
  10. This Old Marketing: contentmarketinginstitute.com/pnr-with-this-old-marketing-podcast

Social Media & Digital Marketing Training & Certification

  1. Bing/Yahoo! Ads (Certification): advertise.bingads.microsoft.com/en-us/resources/training
  2. Code Academy: codecademy.com
  3. Constant Contact Social Media 101: blogs.constantcontact.com/social-media-quickstarter
  4. Facebook Blueprint (Certification): facebook.com/blueprint
  5. Google Partners (Adwords Certification): support.google.com/partners
  6. Google Analytics Academy (Certification): analyticsacademy.withgoogle.com
  7. Hootsuite Academy (Certification): hootsuite.com/education
  8. Hubspot Academy (Certification): academy.hubspot.com
  9. Microsoft Dynamics 365 (Certification): microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365
  10. Professional Certified Marketer – Digital Marketing (Certification) ama.org/events-training/Certification/Pages/digital-marketing-certification.aspx
  11. The Trade Desk Trading Academy (Certification): thetradedesk.com/products/thetradingacademy

Social Media Channels

  1. Wikipedia List of Social Networking Sites: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites
  2. Overdrive Interactive’s 2016 Social Media Map: ovrdrv.com/social-media-map
  3. My list of Social Media Channels by Category:

For the latest changes in social media strategy consider Asking These Questions To Ensure You Have The Right Social Media Strategy and its a good idea to Perform A Social Media Audit at least once a year.