Step 4: Use Free Tools and Resources

When you're building your brand on social media, staying visible and engaging without burning out (or breaking the bank) is key. That’s where free tools come in. They help you work smarter—not harder—by creating great-looking content, keeping your posting consistent, and giving you the data you need to make better decisions.

Whether you're DIY-ing your social media for your small business or managing things solo while juggling ten other tasks, using the right free tools can make a huge difference.

1. Create Eye-Catching Content with Free Design Tools

Visuals are often the first impression your audience gets, so they matter. But you don’t need to be a graphic designer or fork out for expensive software to create scroll-stopping content.

Canva is one of the most popular and beginner-friendly design tools out there, and for good reason. With drag-and-drop templates for everything from Instagram posts to Facebook covers and Pinterest graphics, it makes it incredibly easy to create content that looks clean, cohesive, and on-brand.

If you’ve ever looked at someone’s social feed and thought “Wow, that looks so polished,” there’s a good chance Canva was involved.

Tip: Create templates for recurring content like weekly quotes, product highlights, or testimonials. This speeds up your process and keeps your brand looking consistent.

You can also use Canva’s free Brand Kit to save your colours, fonts, and logos, so everything you design feels cohesive without you having to reinvent the wheel every time.

Struggling to figure out what types of visuals you need?

Think about the platforms you’re on and the kind of content that performs well there. For example, Instagram loves aesthetic visuals and bite-sized tips, while Facebook covers and banners are prime real estate for promotions or seasonal messaging.

2. Stay Consistent with Free Scheduling Tools

Let’s be honest: posting manually every day is exhausting, and not always realistic. Especially when you’re running a business and juggling everything else. That’s where scheduling tools like Buffer, Later, and Hootsuite save the day.

Even their free versions allow you to plan and schedule posts in advance, so you can batch your content and let it publish automatically while you focus on client work, packing orders, or catching your breath.

Tip: Set aside one hour each week to schedule your upcoming content. This helps you maintain a consistent presence online without having to be “on” all the time.

These tools also give you post previews and basic analytics, which help you see how your content is performing—and allow you to tweak and improve over time.

Not sure how often you should be posting?

Consistency matters more than frequency. Choose a schedule you can stick to. Whether that’s three Instagram posts a week or daily updates on Facebook. It’s better to show up regularly than to burn out trying to post every day.

3. Understand What’s Working with Free Analytics Tools

Creating content is only one piece of the puzzle. To build a social media strategy that actually moves the needle for your business, you need to know what’s working—and what’s not.

Most social platforms offer in-app insights to track things like reach, engagement, and follower growth. But to get a clearer picture of how your social media efforts are affecting your business goals, you’ll want to dig deeper with something like Google Analytics.

With Google Analytics, you can track how many people are coming to your website from platforms like Instagram or Facebook, what pages they’re visiting, how long they’re staying, and whether they’re taking meaningful actions—like signing up for your newsletter or making a purchase.

Tip: Set up custom reports in Google Analytics to monitor your social traffic. You can track which platforms drive the most traffic, which content converts best, and how users behave once they land on your site.

Feeling overwhelmed by all the data?

Start by identifying your top goals for social media—whether it’s boosting engagement, driving website traffic, or increasing sales. Then focus on just the key metrics related to those goals. For example: Want to grow your audience? Track follower growth and engagement rate. Want more traffic? Track click-throughs and pageviews from social platforms. Want more conversions? Monitor goal completions and conversion rate from social sources.

Once you understand what’s working, you can do more of it—and stop wasting time on what isn’t.

You can also take a look at my free Google Analytics Cheat Sheet, which guides you through the most important analytics for your small business.

Final Thoughts

Free tools won’t magically do the work for you, but they will make the work easier, more efficient, and more strategic. Whether you're designing standout posts in Canva, scheduling content in Buffer, or using analytics to track what’s actually moving the needle, these resources give you the support you need to grow without overspending.

So if you're feeling stretched or stuck, start here. Pick one tool. Try one new approach. Build momentum slowly and intentionally.

And if you’re working through the "Building Your Brand on Social Media on a Budget" workbook, this article is your companion for Step 4. Refer back to the exercises to help you put these strategies into action with clarity and confidence.