All web marketers and digital branders want to get as much as they can done in a day as possible. In the marketing world, things can change quickly, meaning that you always have to be up to speed.
However, being tech-savvy and ready for anything doesn’t always have to be complicated or cost you a fortune.
Here are some helpful tools and apps that can help you get the job done!
1. PhotoUtils
PhotoUtils is a wonderful tool you can use to edit your social media images. In order to edit photos with PhotoUtils, you need to use your desktop browser. All you have to do is visit the website, upload your image, and decide how you want it to edit it. It allows you to make common edits to images like:
- Resizing
- Cropping
- Compressing
- Rotating
- Flipping
- Converting images to different file formats
This is a free tool. While you cannot do advanced retouching and extremely detailed with PhotoUtils, it is great for basic image-editing.
Also, PhotoUtils is especially useful for social media managers. The image resizing option contains a list of image sizes from many major social media platforms.
2. LumaFX
LumaFX is an app for iOS. It allows you to edit imported or recorded video. The app has some basic features, such as cropping, color correcting, and rotating video. It has filters that are like Instagram’s, which you can combine to give your videos the look you want.
LumaFX also has a great effects library. It’s fast-, reverse-, and slow-motion effects are incredibly popular. You can even use their slow-motion effect to create slow-motion animations.
This app is user-friendly and only costs $2.99.
3. Sticker Mule
Sticker Mule gives you a stress-free way to make branded stickers, magnets, buttons, coasters and more. If you want to take your branding efforts from the web to the physical world, it doesn’t have to be super complicated.
All you have to do is upload the photo or graphics of your choice and Sticker Mule will produce branded items for you. The price you will pay will largely depend on exactly what items you are looking for and how many.
For example, a 1″x 1″ roll of 100 circular branded labels costs $55. However, An order of 100 branded coasters will cost you $88.
Sticker Mule makes it easy to get branded items regardless of where you are in the world. They offer free shipping to customers in 70+ countries. Sticker Mule also supports 9 different languages and 5 different currencies.
4. Airstory
If you have ever experienced the frustration of finding something that inspired you online, but losing it before you can reference it or use it in your content, Airstory is the perfect tool for you.
Airstory is the ultimate web clipper! It helps you save ideas and sources for your content. If your work involves reading many articles and you would like to keep all of that information organized and accessible, Airstory is essential.
Airstory is a free extension for Chrome or Firefox. It allows you to highlight inspirational or useful text, clip it by right-clicking, and then save it by selecting Save Text to Airstory. It saves URLs automatically, so you never end up having to hunt for your sources again.
Airstory works with Google Docs, Gmail, WordPress, and also Zapier.
5. Teleprompt.me
Teleprompt.me is a free Chrome browser tool that works like a functional teleprompter. You can refer to it when creating scripted video or audio content.
You have to open the tool on your computer and give it access to your computer’s microphone. After you copy and paste in your script, the text will appear in your browser. As you speak, the words you have already said will become grayed out, so you always know exactly where you are in the text.
You can also adjust the text to the perfect size for you.
6. Podchaser
If you are looking to expand your digital brand into the world of podcasts, this can be a handy tool.
Podchaser makes it easy to research podcast appearances and topics that are relevant to your work. You can both showcase your own appearances and take a look at a directory of all the podcasts a person of your choice has either hosted or been a guest on.
7. Password Checkup
Password Checkup is a free Google Chrome extension that the security-minded will appreciate.
If you have ever gotten a notice that there has been a data breach on a website that has your information, you might have felt some panic. Many people are unsure of what to do in these cases to make sure their data is secure and have no idea how secure sites actually are.
This extension helps you tackle that. Every time you visit a site that has had a data breach, Password Checkup alerts you. It then reminds you to update your password.
It would be difficult to, on top of all of your other daily tasks, constantly be aware of which of the thousands of sites you have accessed over the years has had a data breach. This tool makes keeping your data secure easier.
8. Instaspacer
Many businesses seeking a young international audience are turning to Instagram to reach them. That is because 500 million people use it each and every day and over an eighth of the world’s entire population have accounts.
Instaspacer is a handy free IG tool that lets you add line breaks and white spaces to your Instagram captions. Previously, people mostly accomplished this using awkward strings of characters, like dashes.
First, you compose your caption in Instaspacer. Then you press the convert button and then paste the text into your Instagram post. This free app is available for both iOS and Android.
9. Swish
Swish is an iOS app that is a one-stop shop for making video ads. It offers templates which make creating video ads easy.
It is especially useful for social media ads, as you can create ads in a vertical, landscape, or square format to suit different social media platforms. Your ads can also contain stock footage, pre-recorded videos, or live photos. Swish helps you customize ads with features like:
- Animations
- Music
- Transitions
- Text
- A logo
- Color schemes
When you finish creating your ad, you can export it and post it to the social media platform of your choice.
There is a free basic version but in order to unlock all of the features of Swish you need to subscribe via an in-app purchase.
10. Timeshifter
If your work has you traveling between timezones often and you struggle with jetlag, this free mobile app can be a lifesaver.
Timeshifter is an app that utilizes the latest sleep and circadian neuroscience to help you beat jetlag. It analyzes your sleep patterns and helps you prepare for a timezone shift, or readjust to your regular time zone after a trip.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, a successful digital brander may wear a lot of hats. From creating content for numerous platforms to promote a business, to promoting and spreading that content digitally and out in the world, there is so much to do that it can be overwhelming.
Hopefully, any one of these handy apps can help you get the job done!
Which of these tools do you think would be the most useful for you? Also, did we miss out on your favorite one? Let us know below…
