You own a small business, and it seems the world around you is too fast-paced? Do you feel overshadowed by larger competitors? Does everyone have a bigger budget than you? But here's the thing: you don't need a massive budget to make a big impact. With the right marketing tools, even the smallest businesses can stand out and thrive.
Marketing isn't just for the "big players".
Small businesses need to make their mark, too, but often face the challenge of limited resources.
The good news? You don't need a huge budget to create impactful marketing campaigns.
As a small business owner, you're probably juggling multiple roles.
You're the CEO, the secretary, the shopkeeper and yes, the marketing department.
But here's the thing - effective marketing can be the difference between thriving and barely surviving.
You're probably thinking, "Great, another expense I can't afford."
But what if we told you there are powerful marketing tools out there that won't break the bank?
In fact, many of them offer quite extensive free plans that can take your digital marketing to the next level.
Let's see seven affordable (yet effective) marketing tools that can help you outperform your "expected" capabilities.
Email marketing is still one of the most effective ways to reach your audience.
MailChimp is a user-friendly platform that has become a go-to for businesses of all sizes.
Make sure it's your go-to as soon as possible. Why?
For one, MailChimp's free plan is surprisingly generous.
You can have up to 500 contacts and send 1,000 emails per month. That's enough to get a quite solid email marketing strategy off the ground.
MailChimp also has other features and benefits, such as:
As a small business, you can use MailChimp to send weekly newsletters featuring your special offers, new products or service items, or news and tips.
Set up automated welcome messages for new subscribers, introducing them to your brand and offering a first-time customer discount - the possibilities are endless (and you can do it all without spending a cent).
Social media is a powerful tool, but managing multiple platforms can be time-consuming. Hootsuite streamlines this process - you can manage all your social media from one place.
While Hootsuite's free plan is limited, their Professional plan is $99 per month and allows you to manage 10 social profiles (with a 1-month free trial). This is more than enough for many small businesses to cover their needs.
Benefits of Hootsuite are:
If you own a small fitness studio, you can use Hootsuite to schedule motivational quotes, workout tips, and class announcements across Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X (Twitter), LinkedIn...
The analytics could help you understand which posts resonate best with your audience, so you can refine your strategy over time.
If you're using WordPress for your website (and many small businesses do), Yoast SEO is "the thing" to improve your search engine visibility.
Yoast SEO integrates seamlessly with WordPress, appearing right in your post editor.
The free version of Yoast SEO is good enough for most small businesses.
It includes basic SEO analysis, readability checks, and sitemap functionality.
The premium version adds features like internal linking suggestions and redirect management, but some are often not necessary for smaller sites.
Yoast SEO's main benefit is:
For instance, if you run a small online boutique, Yoast SEO could help you optimize your product descriptions and blog posts. It might suggest using your target keyword in your title, first paragraph, and throughout the content, improving your ranking.
You don't need to know how to do wonders in Photoshop to create eye-catching visuals. Canva makes graphic design accessible to everyone.
Canva's free plan gives you access to various templates and design elements. While some premium features are locked, you can still create professional-looking designs without any expense.
Canva's main benefits are:
Your small business can use Canva to create Instagram stories, design any or even posters and whatever comes to your mind. The platform's pre-sized templates ensure your designs look great on any platform.
Managing customer relationships is central for small businesses. HubSpot CRM offers a great solution (that won't cost you a thing).
HubSpot's free CRM is surprisingly extensive. In the starter plan, you can store up to 1,000 contacts with their marketing, sales, content (etc.) Hub starters.
The top advantages of HubSpot are:
With HubSpot CRM, you can track potential clients from initial contact to closing a deal. The email tracking feature can help you gauge interest and follow up at the right time, thus increasing your conversion rates.
One thing is elemental – you must understand your website's performance. Google Analytics provides this insight - for free.
With Google Analytics website traffic insights, you can see how many people visit your site, where they're coming from, and which pages they view.
Here are just a few (of many) Google Analytics advantages:
Let's say you own an online craft supply store. Google Analytics can help you identify which product categories are most popular, which blog posts drive the most traffic, and whether mobile or desktop users are more likely to make a purchase.
This data could lead everything, from inventory decisions to website design improvements.
Video content is increasingly important but doesn't have to be complicated. InShot makes video editing accessible, even on your smartphone.
The free version includes most features, though your videos will have a small watermark. For many small businesses, this is a fair trade-off for the functionality. And for just a small monthly fee, you can edit your photos and videos as much as you want, add effects, stickers, and so on.
Benefits of InShot are:
If you are, for example, a personal trainer, you can use InShot to quickly edit workout demonstrations, add text overlays with exercise instructions, and share these videos on social media.
The ease of use means you can create content regularly, helping to keep your followers engaged.
These seven tools offer powerful features at price points that work for small businesses.
In short - you have a complete toolkit at your fingertips.
The key is to start small. Pick one or two tools that align with your most pressing marketing needs and get to it - sign up for a free account and take that first step towards an impactful marketing campaign.
As you get comfortable and learn more, you can expand your toolkit and strategies - effective marketing is all about consistency and creativity.
With these 7 tools in your arsenal, you're well-equipped to create marketing campaigns that will resonate with your audience and drive your business forward.
Need help in any step of your marketing campaign or instructions on how to use these tools?
Contact us; we'll be glad to help.