While there’s no tool that can replace a good content marketing strategy and a talented team at your side, having the right toolset can make your job a lot easier. You can also start creating content that’s a lot more engaging and – dare we say it – more effective.
There are hundreds of content creation tools, both paid and free, for content creators and digital marketers. To help you sift through all your options, we’ve rounded up the best content creation tools of 2021.
A unique video content creation tool, Prezi Video brings your content, such as slides or visuals, onto the screen with you in a natural and professional way. It’s better than screen sharing on its own because you don’t lose face-time with people on your conference call. This makes it a great tool to visually share your work and collaborate with your team remotely.
Prezi Video connects to the top video conferencing platforms out there, including Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Webex. Additionally, it offers a nifty record-and-share option for async communications when you can’t find a good time to meet. There are hundreds of free templates to help get you started.
Premium subscribers can record in full HD quality, create watermark-free videos, have offline access, and can customize the look and branding of their videos with the brand kit. The brand kit in particular helps strike a professional tone and is perfect for pitches and presenting designs. It also helps take your work to the big stage in webinars and keynote speeches.
Prezi Video works seamlessly with Prezi’s other content creation tools. For example, Prezi Design is a graphic design tool that helps you make interactive designs – everything from posters and social media posts to data visualizations like infographics and dynamic bar chart races.
Slack allows you to instant message and share content with individuals and groups. You can keep communication organized by creating channels based on teams, projects, planning, and topics. Slack also supports video and audio calling for when you need to have a quick meeting.
Easy to use, Slack connects to a range of apps that let you communicate and collaborate through its interface. There’s also a free version, but it comes with less space for storage and saved messages. After a few months of use, you may run into limitations and want to upgrade to a paid plan.
When it comes time to brainstorm, Miro is a great tool to put your ideas on the virtual whiteboard. Miro is a simple whiteboard that you can share with teammates and clients to work through ideas and pitch designs. It has many templates to help get you started. You just drag and drop shapes, text boxes, images, and sticky notes on your board to create and give feedback on designs.
If you’re a manager, you can guide the creation process from ideation to implementation by monitoring changes, assigning tasks, and having conversations within the app. You can also connect to other apps to unlock even more features. Miro is free for three whiteboards. Those who upgrade to a paid plan get access to unlimited boards and more features.
A household name now, Zoom is a video conferencing platform. Users get HD video and audio calling, social media streaming, screen sharing, and integrations with hundreds of apps in the Zoom Marketplace.
What makes Zoom so popular with everyone from your parents and friends to your coworkers and clients is its ease of use. Its interface is simple and you don’t need a login to join a meeting. Zoom’s free plan offers 40-minute video conferences with up to 100 attendees, and paid plans offer up to 30 hours of conference time for up to 1,000 attendees and webinars up to 10,000. Try Zoom for a no-fuss option when you want to share and present content designs with your team, or for presenting to larger audiences in group conferences and webinars.
Woofy is the centerpiece of a social media marketing campaign. Like other social media management tools on the market, with Woofy you can schedule posts, extract data, and track the performance of your posts. Unlike most other platforms, Woofy teaches you how to optimize your content with suggestions on what to post, when, and where.
The platform is a color-coded functional dashboard that connects to Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. You can either take over a project and oversee all aspects of a social strategy or you can invite a team to collaborate with you. Like your dog, Woofy is intelligent. Unlike your dog, Woofy is highly customizable.
AI-powered Grammarly is a great tool to keep close if any part of your content creation is written copy. Grammarly is a word processor that goes beyond your traditional word processor. It reviews grammar, tone, and checks for plagiarism to ensure your writing is in tip-top shape before publishing. You can access Grammarly online, through a browser extension or app, integrate it with Microsoft Office, or download it as a keyboard.
Unsplash is a free online marketplace for stock images powered by a community of photographers and curated by a team of editors. Photographs on Unsplash are high-resolution and it’s updated regularly, so you can keep returning to it for new imagery and inspiration as you need.
The unique and beautiful imagery that you find on Unsplash makes it stand out from other stock imagery websites. That and the price tag. There are over 2 million images on Unsplash and it doesn’t cost you a thing to access any of them. Unsplash is a super handy content creation tool that can be used for anything from presentations, artwork, mock-ups, and more.
Creatopy is a GIF-maker and editor that is quick and easy to use. Each creation can be saved into a ‘brand kit’ which groups together ongoing projects for campaigns. If you have more than one person developing a project, you can create teams to grant everyone access.
The platform has a simple drag-and-drop format and customizable templates that can get an animated visual up and running with minimal effort. This option is a low-cost way to set your content apart from immobile visuals and the tutorial takes under a minute to get through.
Dropbox is a reliable storage service that’s easy to use and connects with lots of other apps and operating systems. It’s one of the most commonly used tools for storage. You can get up to 2GB worth of storage free or upgrade for more space.
Since Dropbox has been in the storage game for so many years, it has developed good apps for practically every system out there, from Windows to iOS to Kindle. Its integration is pretty seamless. Dropbox works more like it’s part of the operating system than its own app.
If you want web-based storage that’s closely integrated with your other content creation tools, the Google Workspace is a great option. Google Workspace includes Google Drive along with its productivity apps (Google Docs and Google Meet). Google Drive allows you to create, edit, share, and collaborate with team members. You can also store up to 15GB of data for free, which is pretty generous. You can upgrade to a paid option for more storage and flexibility if needed.
What makes Google Workspace such a great content creation tool is its ubiquity. You can work and collaborate on Google’s apps, and it works with almost every other web service. This means that no matter what you’re working on, it’s likely that you’ll be able to connect it to Google Drive to store a backup or connect it to Google Meet for virtual meetings.
If your business is already using Microsoft 365, you may already know the benefits of OneDrive. With a Microsoft 365 subscription, OneDrive offers 1TB of storage and features like password protected sharing links and expiring links. You can sync your desktop to your web account with file and folder syncing. OneDrive also offers 5GB of free storage for those without a paid plan.
PC users can access files on their PC remotely, even if they haven’t stored them to their OneDrive folder. You can imagine how this can be convenient when you’ve forgotten to sync your work at the office and need to finish up something on a tight deadline.
Logitech Business Brio Ultra HD Camera
A good camera is a must for video content and the Logitech Brio webcam is one of the best. This camera offers 4K ultra video recording at 30 fps or 1080p video at 30 fps, which helps make it smooth, clear, and detailed. You can also use the zoom or wide-angle features to adjust what appears in your video.
Lighting is not an issue with RightLight 3 and HDR support – it automatically adjusts to make you look more visible. With simple and adjustable mounting features, it’s the perfect, easy-to-use addition to your video content creation tools, and – bonus – it might even make you look better in video conferences.
Another essential for anyone recording video or audio is a microphone. The Blue Yeti's well-rounded microphone with simple plug-and-play technology lets you connect the microphone to your computer with the USB and start recording immediately. Not only does that make it easy for the average person to use, but it doesn’t skimp on audio quality. You can record studio-quality sound without the studio time.
With its four pickup patterns, you’re able to control how much audio your microphone receives. You can reduce the noise when you’re alone, and expand the noise when you’re recording with others, making the audio sound more like the listener is in the room. All in all, the Blue Yeti is a great content creation tool because of its flexibility and the quality of sound it produces.
The right lighting will make all the difference between okay-looking content and something more special. That’s why the Elgato Key Light Air is a content creation tool worth investing in. It won’t break the bank, and it comes with simple controls and a slim design.
The Key Light Air can attach to a desktop and adjust in height. One of the best aspects of the Key Light Air is that it connects wirelessly to your desktop or phone. With these controls, you have quick access to turn lighting on and off and adjust the warmth and brightness. It’s easy enough to use and will make your videos look ten times better.
Logitech Spotlight Wireless Remote
Using a wireless remote makes your presentations online and in-person look more professional and polished. The Logitech Spotlight Wireless Remote is sleek and modern looking. You’ll feel more like a professional speaker just by holding it. This remote uses bluetooth wireless technology and you can control your presentation from 30 meters away.
The Spotlight remote highlights and magnifies items on-screen, the effects of which are visible to the audience in person or online. It also has a motion sensor, so you can use the remote like a cursor and click on items on the screen.
The best content creation tools can help you create content easier and more quickly. Choose tools that aid collaboration with your coworkers, make visual elements stand out, and help you put the final touches on your piece.
