Oct 11, 2019
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5 min read
5 Useful Free Marketing Tools That Anyone Can Use
If you are a small business owner, then you are very likely looking for strategies to get your leg up on the competition. You want your business to succeed, despite your limited marketing budget. The good news is that you do not have to fork out a fortune to get your services or products “out there”- you simply have to know which free marketing tools are available and how you can use them to their maximum potential.
In this article, we will mention various tools that can boost sales, make life easier, and empower you to get the most out of your investment. With these tools, you do not need to outsource your marketing – you don’t even have to have in-house marketing staff. As an owner of a small or new business, you can manage these tools yourself and we will give you insight into how, when, and why.
Here are 5 free marketing tools that can help you to increase your resources and do more for your business:
1. Canva
When it comes to creating visually appealing marketing material, then Canva is fast becoming the most popular free graphic designing tool. Whether you are looking to design a logo, a brochure, an infographic, a sales proposal or a social media post, this platform allows you to easily design visually appealing content.
What we like most about this platform (apart from it being extremely user-friendly) is that it gives you templates, ideas, and suggestions to draw inspiration from. So, even if you don’t have a creative bone in your body, you can still produce something that looks both professional and attractive.
Canva pretty much works using a “drag and drop” approach. You simply move your images, text, and elements around until you are happy with the layout. It also has a massive library of free fonts and stock images you can use.
With visual content becoming an increasingly important form of marketing collateral, a tool such as this could become indispensable to your business.
2. MailChimp
When considering email marketing campaigns, then know that MailChimp has your back. This platform currently has an average of 12 million users and with this type of support to back up our claim, we can confidently say that this software remains one of the best free email marketing tools out there.
What’s important to note is that this software only remains free for those who have less than 2000 subscribers. As a new or small business, however, it’s safe to assume that you have not yet built such a huge contact list where your customers are willing and happy to be added as recipients.
The software is simple to use and with tons of templates to choose from, designing an attractive newsletter, an advert, or even a survey is hassle-free. Emails can also be set-up to be sent automatically at your preferred times or you can batch emails according to your different target audiences.
Did you know that according to Hubspot, 80% of business professionals believe that email marketing increases customer retention? 59% of marketers also say that email is their biggest source of ROI[1].
Learn more about email marketing and how it works here.
3. Grammarly
Few things are as off-putting to your audiences as badly written content that hasn’t been revised adequately. When you are trying to draw audiences in and impress them so that they stick around for more, then be advised that blatant spelling mistakes and grammar issues can create a huge barrier.
Enter Grammarly. This software helps you to avoid critical mistakes without much effort from your side. Simply copy and paste your content into the relevant site section and then the programme will review your work and give you editing suggestions. If you use Microsoft Office to do your writing, then you can also use the even more convenient downloadable version.
Some food for thought –
58% of marketers claim that “original written content” is their most important digital asset [2].
4. Hootsuite
Hootsuite is a tool that works really well for marketers who want to tap into a central social management platform and streamline the posting of content. It’s a programme that helps marketers to create a consistent voice for multiple audiences with ease.
Hootsuite allows you to schedule social media posts in advance and can free up tons of valuable time. It also manages social media profiles for more than 30 platforms (just imagine having to post the same content 30 different times on 30 separate platforms). To add, you can also reply to comments and mentions through the dashboard without, once again, having to open up different platforms on your browser.
This social media marketing manager works extremely well at automating social media content. It can be a little tricky getting used to the functionality but once you have a firm grasp of the ropes, this tool makes marketing online a breeze!
5. Bit.ly
Bit.ly has gained quite a positive reputation among marketers and it is also extremely easy to use. The main purpose of this programme is to shorten links, so it’s helpful anywhere you don’t want a URL that goes on for a whole mile.
But while Bit.ly makes your links look more attractive to readers, its purpose is far more powerful. It’s also an amazing online marketing tool that can follow clicks, view site referrals, and generate an idea of which geographical areas most clicks are emerging from. These features are very useful when you want to collect data on how your marketing strategies are performing. This data can then be used to refine your techniques – resulting in more customer conversions.
In Conclusion
We understand how frustrating it can get when you are a small business trying to compete with bigger fish who have marketing budgets beyond measure. The good news is that with these free marketing tools (and the many others found online), you have the opportunity to get your feet wet and who knows – you too could soon be swimming along with your competitors at the very same level.
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