In the ever-evolving landscape of digital marketing, effective digital tools are crucial for success. Fortunately, a plethora of free marketing tools are available to empower entrepreneurs and small business owners to create a robust online presence without breaking the bank. Let’s explore a range of these tools across different marketing categories to help you strategically market your business.
You might be wondering why a Marketing Agency like Xponent would encourage its readers to use free tools. The answer is simple. We often get requests from business owners who need help, but can’t afford to pay a monthly retainer. We want to help those businesses succeed, so we’ve written this article to get them on the right path.
Social Media Management Tools
Hootsuite
Hootsuite is a social media management platform that allows you to schedule posts across multiple platforms. With its user-friendly interface, you can streamline your social media efforts and maintain a consistent online presence.
Buffer
Similar to Hootsuite, Buffer lets you schedule posts and analyse their performance. Its simplicity makes it a valuable tool for those new to social media marketing.
Pro tip: We’ve found that most of the social media management tools struggle to schedule video posts and links. Links often break and videos will often fail to load, so you might want to double check those features before you really commit.
Content Creation Tools
Canva
Canva is a graphic design tool that enables users to create visually appealing content with ease. From social media graphics to presentations, Canva provides a range of templates to suit various marketing needs.
Pixabay and Unsplash
Email Marketing Tools
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is a popular email marketing platform that offers a free plan for businesses with a limited number of subscribers. It provides essential features such as email campaign creation, automation, and analytics.
Pro tip: Xponent is an approved Mailchimp Partner. If you need an expert to help you create and send highly personalised direct email marketing or to set up custom automations, Xponent can help.
Sender
Sender is another excellent choice for email marketing, offering a free plan with features like a drag-and-drop editor, automation, and detailed analytics to track the performance of your email campaigns.
Website and Blogging Platforms
WordPress
WordPress is a versatile platform for building websites and blogs. Its extensive library of free themes and plugins allows you to create a professional online presence without the need for advanced coding skills.
Medium
Medium provides a platform for publishing articles and blog posts. It’s an excellent way to share your expertise, connect with a broader audience, and establish your business as a thought leader.
Video Marketing Tools
DaVinci Resolve
For video editing, DaVinci Resolve offers a powerful solution with a free version. Create engaging video content to share on your website and social media platforms.
Shotcut
Shotcut is an open-source, cross-platform video editor that is beginner-friendly. It allows you to edit and produce compelling videos without the need for expensive software
Collaboration and Communication Tools
Trello
Trello is a project management tool that uses boards and cards to help you organise tasks. It’s an effective way to keep projects on track and manage your team’s workflow.
Slack
Streamline communication within your team with Slack. This messaging platform enhances collaboration and ensures everyone is on the same page.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Tools
Google Analytics
To understand your website’s traffic and user behaviour, Google Analytics is indispensable. It provides insights that can guide your SEO strategy and overall marketing efforts.
Google Search Console
Enhance your website’s visibility in search results with Google Search Console. It helps you monitor and optimise your site’s performance on Google’s search engine.
Oviond
With Oviond, you can consolidate all your client data in one place. Monitor performance, simplify reporting, and keep your clients informed with white label reporting from your agency.
Microsoft Power BI
Microsoft Power BI offers free versions for creating interactive reports and dashboards. Leverage data visualisation to make informed business decisions.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Tools
HubSpot CRM
Manage your customer relationships effectively with HubSpot CRM. It’s a free and intuitive tool that helps you organise and track your interactions with customers.
Social Media Tools
Facebook Meta for Business
Meta for Business gives you the latest news, advertising tips, best practices and case studies for using Facebook to meet your business goals.
Instagram marketing is a type of social media marketing, which involves promoting a brand on Instagram. This social media platform helps brands connect with an enormous audience, increase brand awareness, and boost sales.
LinkedIn marketing is the process of using LinkedIn to make connections, generate leads, improve brand awareness, foster business relationships and partnerships, share content, and drive traffic to your website. LinkedIn is an integral part of many successful marketing strategies today because of how effective it is in expanding professional networks.
Honourable Mentions
Inkscape
Inkscape is a Free and open source vector graphics editor for GNU/Linux, Windows and macOS. It offers a rich set of features and is widely used for both artistic and technical illustrations such as cartoons, clip art, logos, typography, diagramming and flowcharting.
Adobe Color Wheel
The Adobe Color Wheel free custom colour palette creator is an easy-to-use tool that generates palettes with colour combinations fit for any need.
What Font
With the What Font extension, you can inspect web fonts by just hovering over them. It is that simple and elegant. It also detects the services used for serving the web fonts. Supports Typekit and Google Font API.
Gmail
Gmail is a free web-based email service that provides users with 15 GB of storage for messages and the ability to search for specific messages. The Gmail program also automatically organises successively related messages into a conversational thread.
Pro tip: Xponent is an approved Google Workspace reseller. If you’re ready to say goodbye to your @gmail.com address, Xponent can help you set up a professional Google Workspace. It’s just as convenient as all the Google Tool’s you’re used to, but offers more features, more storage and the ability to customise your emails with your own domain name to send from.
In conclusion, these free digital marketing tools provide a solid foundation for growing your business without straining your budget. Even though these tools are useful, you might need something more as your business grows. You may consider making use of Xponent, for a turnkey business development solution. With the right combination of resources and tools, we can build you a strong online presence, connect with your audience, and automate your business growth. Book a free discovery call with us today!
