5 tools for producing visual content on a shoestring budget

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Jun 3, 2016 / by
5 tools for producing visual content on a shoestring budget

Research by Kissmetrics indicates that content with relevant images gets 94% more views than content without relevant images. Additionally, 65% of senior marketers state that visual assets are essential to brand storytelling. In the age of mass information and rapidly declining attention spans, visual content is an essential part of any successful content marketing campaign.


For better or worse, excellent visual content usually comes with a hefty price tag (as does any work from skilled professionals). However, there are plenty of tools available which allow startups with limited budgets to utilise visual content for their own benefit.

1 – Piktochart

Although infographics aren’t quite as appealing as they were when they first became popular in 2012 (mainly due to the influx of bad infographics), 60% of marketers predict the use of infographics will increase in 2016 compared to 2015! Piktochart is an excellent tool for creating high quality, affordable infographics. Although they may not have the same level of uniqueness and style as you would get if you paid a designer, Piktochart infographics can still be high quality and are perfectly adequate for conveying complex data in a compelling visual context.

2 – Haiku Deck

In recent years, presentations have become incredibly important as a form of visual content, perhaps due to the growth of Slideshare. While Powerpoint is the typical application that most people use to create presentations, there is one slight problem – it’s pretty difficult to make something unique and stylish! Enter Haiku Deck, an easy-to-use program which is perfect for making beautiful presentations, even with zero design skills. Whether you want to make a presentation to showcase your latest product or to pitch to investors, Haiku Deck is affordable and effective.

3 – Canva

For social media images and branded quotes, there’s no better tool out there than Canva. Free to use and featuring a simple drag-and-drop interface, Canva is a must-have for those who want to include unique images in their blog posts and social media updates. Recently, the team at Canva even added a functionality specifically for making infographics – check it out here.

4 – Wordswag

Want to create cool images for Instagram? Wordswag is an excellent smartphone application that allows you to add text to images, quickly and effectively. It is amazing how coherent the images look, yet you don’t need to shell out any money for an expensive designer. An absolute must-have for those who use Instagram to promote their business.

5 – PowToon

Animated explainer videos are all the rage at the moment. Legendary marketer Neil Patel states: “You see them everywhere… and companies are using them to explain what their product or service is in hopes that it will boost their conversion rate.”

From the script work to the audio engineering and the animation itself, the entire process of creating an explainer video can run up a very high cost. Although a DIY video is probably never going to be as good as one from a professional agency, it can definitely still be effective. With a simple drag-and-drop interface, PowToon allows you to make a cool explainer video to brighten up your landing page and inform your audience about your products and services. Although creating a decent video does take time using PowToon, it doesn’t take money – the service is free although there are upgrades if you want access to a comprehensive amount of effects.

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