What tools did we love this year?

With so many devices, platforms and apps available, it’s hard to pinpoint which to use and which to say goodbye to. So here are the handy tools WE LOVED using this year to help boost our content creation, marketing efforts, productivity, team happiness, and more!

Quip.
We use Quip at OITC and is our preferred way of file sharing and collaborating across all teams. It enables you to create, view and edit documents, spreadsheets and task lists. Leave comments and have discussions within a single document. You can access it on any device and can import and export records.

LastPass.
It is a lifesaver for anyone who has multiple accounts and passwords they need to remember daily. LastPass stores usernames and passwords for all of your online accounts securely and allows you to safely and conveniently share passwords with others.

SurveyMonkey.
Offers free questionnaire templates written by survey research experts to gather data/feedback from employees, customers and broader groups. Right now, a survey could be helpful to collect feedback, opinions, criticism and suggestions from the general public and customers.
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Adobe Photoshop.
Photoshop can open up new opportunities and create a more authentic design with its countless options, tools, and settings. We use photoshop for web graphics, photography, image optimisation, social media graphics and basic video editing.

Hootsuite.
Manage multiple social content streams from Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. It is one of the most popular social media tools in the market. Keep track and manage your many social network channels, monitor what people say about your brand, and help respond instantly.

Iconosquare.
A handy social media analytics tool for Instagram and Facebook. You can get detailed reports on your accounts’ performance. It also enables you to analyse which content performed well and which didn’t.

BuzzSumo.
This research tool can help you quickly form your social media content strategy and find the highest-performing content on any topic or keyword. You can also see what others within the industry are doing and which content of theirs is doing well.
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Adobe Photoshop.
Photoshop can open up new opportunities and create a more authentic design with its countless options, tools, and settings. We use photoshop for web graphics, photography, image optimisation, social media graphics and basic video editing.

Adobe Indesign.
InDesign is the best choice to design and publish multipage documents containing text, vector artwork, and images. We use it for creating flyers, brochures, magazines, posters, white papers, e-books.

Pexels.
Pexels is a free stock photo, video website, and app supporting designers, bloggers, and anyone looking for visuals. With an easy-to-use search function, you can quickly find and download great images and videos – for free! Using stock photos can really spice up your social media and website. The platform lets you Create collections so you can organise your work for separate projects, access every photo you’ve ever downloaded and follow photographers you love.

Zoom Free.
One of the leading video conferencing software apps has a free option. Zoom allows you to interact with co-workers or employers virtually, making communication seem much more human. You can hold an unlimited number of meetings and group meetings with multiple participants for 40 minutes in length.

Social Pilot.
If you are looking for a social media resource that provides various tools, such as analytics and scheduling and a single easy-to-navigate dashboard. Social Pilot is for you; it’s intended to curate, suggest and gather content from various industries, such as education, tech, fitness and health.
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Team Canvas.
Get your team on the same page with the Team Canvas business model. It is a free tool for leaders, facilitators, and consultants to organise team alignment meetings, bring members on the same page, resolve conflicts, and build a fast, productive culture.

Miro.
Miro is a cloud-based collaboration tool excellent for Startups. The platform features a digital whiteboard for shared research, creativity, developing customer journeys and user story maps, wireframing and a range of other collaborative activities, making it super easy to collaborate without the constraints of physical location, meeting space, and whiteboard.

Clockify.
Easily track your time or the time of your people with Clockify. Boost productivity by setting deadlines for micro-tasks within a project. Create better estimates for future projects by analysing the time it usually takes to finish projects. Keep track of your billable hours so you can invoice clients and determine whether they’re profitable.

Remember The Milk.
Remember The Milk is the smart to-do app for busy people and supports startup founders categorising, prioritising tasks and getting reminders pretty much to any device connected with the account. Get reminded via email, text, IM, Twitter, and mobile notifications, share your lists and give tasks to others to get things done faster and so much more.

Headspace.
This free app is the perfect addition to your culture-building strategy. First, it takes you through the basics of meditation, with progress pages to track your stats and reminders to help you with your practice. Then, it offers a wide range of meditation and mindfulness programs to lower stress, improve focus, and encourage positive workplace behaviours.

Skillshare.
This e-learning platform is for those who want to develop new skills or improve existing ones while working and is an excellent addition to staff workplace initiatives. Skillshare classes are designed for real life, so you can find inspiration that fits your routine, moving your creative journey forward without putting life on hold. One of the best aspects is you can take classes as a team or as an individual.

Salesforce
Salesforce Is perhaps one of the most prominent names in the CRM platform. Adopted by businesses of all sizes all over the world – including Startups. The Salesforce app and platform enables you to track and manage customer profiles across areas, develop personalised marketing strategies, effectively respond to customer concerns, and more.

Lately
With the amount of content we push out daily, this AI-based social media management tool has helped us turn our content into excellent social media posts across our multiple platforms. Lately, intelligently lets you syndicate the content you create across numerous accounts, making it one of the advanced social media management tools.

Mailchimp
Are you looking for an all-in-one marketing platform that helps you manage and communicate with your customer/audience? Mailchimp marketing focuses on strong contact management practices through designed email campaigns and robust data analysis. The free package includes all the basics you need to start marketing, plus essential reporting tools.

Shopify.
A unique platform with all the e-commerce and point of sale features you need to start, run, and grow your business, designed to help people create their scalable online store and integrate with most platforms. As a business, you can sell products directly on your website and across multiple marketplaces and social media.

Google Hangout Meets
Meet their answer to video conferencing to all G Suite users and G Suite for Education consumers globally until the start of July. Companies can now host meetings with up to 250 members, live stream to up to 100,000 viewers within a single domain, and record and save meetings to their Google Drive.