I love a free resource. Especially when it saves me time, helps me make something better or gives me a useful answer without booking a demo first.
So I’ve pulled together 100 free resources for social media marketers: tools, templates, training, research and practical guides. There are plenty from The Sauce too, because we’ve made a lot of things we’d have wanted when we were doing the job ourselves.
Some are completely free, some need a free account, and some have limits. I’ve flagged that where I can, because “free” can mean anything from help yourself to please enter your card details and remember to cancel.
Free tools for the everyday social job
The Sauce recently checked the free plans and limits on its list of 20 tools, including the resources below. Plan details can change, so check the provider before building your whole workflow around one free account.
1. Meta Business Suite: Create and schedule Facebook and Instagram content, manage messages and check performance.
2. TikTok Studio: Manage TikTok content, comments and analytics.
3. YouTube Studio: Upload videos, manage comments and see how your videos and Shorts are doing.
4. Buffer: A simple scheduler with a limited free plan.
5. Metricool: Plan posts and review analytics; its free plan has limits.
6. Canva Free: Social graphics, presentations and templates. Check that the assets you use are marked free.
7. Adobe Express Free: Design tools, social templates and a limited scheduler.
8. CapCut: Edit short-form video. Some effects and features may be paid or vary by device.
9. Pexels: Free stock photography and video. Check the licence and context before using an image commercially.
10. Unsplash: Another source of free stock photography. Useful as a starting point; less useful if every brand in your sector picks the same image.
11. Google Trends: Compare search interest and explore seasonal patterns. It measures Google searches, so it isn’t a direct read on every social platform.
12. TikTok Creative Center: Explore trends, hashtags, ads and creative examples. Inspiration is good; copying every trend you see is a separate choice.
13. Meta Ad Library: See ads running across Meta platforms. It shows the creative, not whether the campaign made money.
14. Pinterest Trends: Explore what people are searching for on Pinterest, especially useful for visual and seasonal categories.
15. Instagram Insights: Check audience and content performance with an Instagram professional account.
16. LinkedIn Page Analytics: Review how your company Page is performing. This is for Pages, rather than individual profile analytics.
17. Google Analytics: See what visitors do after clicking through from social. You’ll need your tracking set up properly for the numbers to mean much.
18. Looker Studio: Build shareable dashboards. Some data connectors have their own charges or limits.
19. Bitly: Create and manage short links with a limited free plan.
20. Linktree: Put your important links in one place, with a free plan and paid extras.
Free resources from The Sauce
Yes, The Sauce is in here. There’s a lot more to it than social media news. These guides, templates and career resources are built for people doing the work. The content calendar is free to download without handing over your email; some downloads, such as the ROI guide, require a free Sauce account.
21. Social media content calendar: A practical template for planning what goes out, where, when and why.
22. Social media audit framework: A structured way to review your channels, profiles, content and performance.
23. Printable social media audit template: Work through the audit checklist and save or print the template.
24. Social media reporting guide: Build reports that tell people what happened and what to do next.
25. Monthly social media report template: A useful starting point for turning the monthly numbers into a readable update.
26. Social media KPI framework: Match metrics to objectives, instead of measuring everything because a dashboard lets you.
27. Free social media ROI guide: Frameworks, worksheets and a stakeholder-deck structure for making the case for social.
28. SocialDay Code of Ethics: A shared professional standard for transparency, responsibility and the communities we manage.
29. UK and global social media industry resources: A reading list for platform news, research and industry insight.
30. The Ultimate Resource Stack: A guide to combining specialist news, platform training, audience research and analytics.
31. How to choose social media technology: A guide to choosing tools around the problem you need to solve.
32. The Sauce tech comparison: Compare social media tools side by side before agreeing to another demo.
33. SocialDay tool directory: Browse social media tools and services across categories.
34. Social Media Career Ladder: Explore the different stages of a social media career and what changes as you progress.
35. Social Media Job Titles Guide: Get a clearer idea of what different roles actually involve.
36. Social Media Job Titles A to Z: Compare titles that often sound interchangeable but come with different responsibilities.
37. UK Social Media Salary Report: Check salary benchmarks by role and seniority.
38. Career Ladder Midway Report: Read the findings from SocialDay’s ongoing career research.
39. Social Media Career Standard: A reference for career stages, responsibilities and indicative UK salary bands.
40. The Sauce community: Join for free to access the community, save resources and keep up with the industry.
Free platform learning and official guidance
Before you base a strategy on someone’s confident LinkedIn post, it can help to check what the platform itself says. Not every platform guide is thrilling reading, but they’re handy when a feature changes and everyone suddenly becomes an algorithm expert.
41. Instagram for Creators: Creator guidance, updates and ideas from Instagram.
42. Instagram Best Practices: Instagram’s creator education hub, covering creation, reach, engagement and guidelines.
43. Meta Blueprint: Free training on Meta’s business and advertising tools.
44. Meta Business Help Centre: Help with Meta’s business tools, accounts and campaigns.
45. TikTok Academy: Free learning resources for TikTok marketing.
46. TikTok Business Learning Center: Guides and learning materials for brands and advertisers.
47. TikTok Creative Codes: Creative guidance and examples for making TikTok ads.
48. LinkedIn Marketing Academy: Free courses on LinkedIn advertising and marketing.
49. LinkedIn Sharing Guide: Practical guidance on sharing content, including video.
50. LinkedIn Marketing Solutions: Guides and resources for B2B marketing on LinkedIn.
51. YouTube Creator Academy: Lessons for building and managing a YouTube channel.
52. YouTube Audio Library: Music and sound effects for YouTube videos. Check the terms for each track.
53. Pinterest Academy: Free learning for Pinterest marketers and advertisers.
54. Pinterest Business: Guides and inspiration for using Pinterest as a business.
55. X Business: X advertising guidance, campaign resources and platform news.
56. Reddit for Business: Resources for brands thinking about advertising and participating on Reddit.
57. Snap Focus: Free training on Snapchat advertising and creative.
58. Google Skillshop: Free training for Google’s marketing and analytics products.
59. ASA influencer advertising guidance: UK guidance on making ads recognisable in social content.
60. ICO guidance on direct marketing: UK guidance on privacy and direct marketing, including digital communications.
Free research, news and professional learning
These are useful when you need the context behind a trend, not just a screenshot of a chart with “the algorithm has changed” written over it.
61. DataReportal: Reports on digital and social media use around the world.
62. Ofcom Online Nation: UK research into online behaviour and media use.
63. Pew Research Center: Social Media: Public research on social media use and public attitudes.
64. We Are Social reports: Digital culture, platform and audience research.
65. Social Media Today: News on platform changes, campaigns and social media marketing.
66. Social Media Examiner: How-to articles, interviews and practical marketing advice.
67. Buffer Library: Free articles and guides on social media, content and audience growth.
68. Hootsuite social media templates: Free templates for planning, reporting and social media work; some require a form.
69. Sprout Social resources: Guides, templates and research on social media and marketing.
70. HubSpot Academy social media course: Free online training in social media marketing.
71. HubSpot Social Media Resource Vault: Free downloadable resources; you’ll need to fill in a form.
72. Semrush Academy: Free courses across digital marketing, including social and content.
73. Search Engine Journal: Social Media: Social media news and practitioner advice.
74. Marketing Brew: Free marketing news and analysis by email and on the site.
75. The Drum: Social: Campaigns, industry news and social marketing coverage.
76. IAB UK research: UK digital advertising research and reports.
77. Think with Google: Consumer and marketing insights from Google.
78. LinkedIn B2B Institute: Research and thinking on B2B marketing effectiveness.
79. CMA influencer marketing guidance: UK guidance for influencers and brands on endorsements.
80. CAP Code: social media and influencer marketing: The rules for advertising and promotions in non-broadcast media.
Free creative and production tools
A free tool doesn’t automatically make every post beautiful. It does, however, give you a place to start before someone suggests hiring a film crew for a 12-second Reel.
81. Figma Starter: Design and collaboration tools on a free plan.
82. Photopea: A browser-based image editor for quick design and photo jobs.
83. Google Fonts: Browse open-source fonts for digital projects.
84. Adobe Color: Create and explore colour palettes.
85. Coolors: Generate and save colour palettes; some features require a paid plan.
86. Pixabay: Free images, illustrations, video and audio. Read the licence before use.
87. Mixkit: Free stock video, music and templates, with licence terms to check.
88. Freesound: A library of sound effects and recordings; licences vary by file.
89. Meta Sound Collection: Music and sound effects for content on Meta platforms.
90. TikTok Commercial Music Library: Music cleared for commercial use on TikTok.
91. Audacity: Free, open-source audio recording and editing.
92. OBS Studio: Free software for recording and live streaming.
93. Microsoft Clipchamp: Video editing with a free plan.
94. DaVinci Resolve: A powerful video editor with a free version.
95. Google Sheets: Build a content calendar, campaign tracker or reporting sheet without buying another tool.
96. Notion Free: Organise content ideas, briefs and project notes on a free plan.
97. Trello Free: A visual way to track content from idea to published.
98. Airtable Free: Organise content and campaign details in a flexible database.
99. Miro Free: Map out campaigns, brainstorm ideas and run collaborative workshops.
100. Google Campaign URL Builder: Create UTM-tagged links so you can tell which campaigns are sending people to your site.
You do not need all 100. Start with the resource that helps with the thing currently making you mutter at your screen. Then close a few tabs and make something.