Are you looking for ways to improve your marketing strategy? Want some handy tools that can make your current efforts more efficient?

In the competitive landscape of small business marketing, success hinges on your ability to efficiently reach and engage your target audience. Fortunately, the digital age has brought forth a treasure trove of affordable marketing tools that can help you achieve your goals without breaking the bank.

In this blog post, we’ve compiled a list of 64 affordable small business marketing tools that you’d be mad not to try. These tools span various aspects of marketing, from social media management to email marketing, SEO, analytics, and more. Let’s dive in and explore these gems that can supercharge your marketing efforts without draining your budget.

Hatchbuck share 64 recommended tools to try in this infographic.

64 Affordable Small Business Marketing Tools You’d be Mad Not to Try

 

Social Media Management

  1. Buffer: Buffer simplifies social media management by allowing you to schedule posts across multiple platforms, analyze performance, and collaborate with your team seamlessly.
  2. Hootsuite: Hootsuite is another robust social media management tool that helps you schedule posts, engage with your audience, and track your social media performance from a single dashboard.
  3. Canva: Create stunning social media graphics and visual content with ease using Canva’s user-friendly design platform.
  4. Pablo by Buffer: Pablo is a simple tool by Buffer for creating engaging social media images with text overlays, perfect for sharing quotes and promotional content.

Content Creation

  1. Grammarly: Ensure your content is error-free and polished with Grammarly’s writing assistant, which checks for grammar and spelling mistakes.
  2. Hemingway Editor: Hemingway Editor helps you simplify your writing and make it more reader-friendly by highlighting complex sentences and suggesting improvements.
  3. Google Docs: Collaborate with your team on content creation in real-time with Google Docs, which offers cloud-based document sharing and editing capabilities.
  4. Unsplash: Access a vast library of high-quality, royalty-free images for your blog posts and social media content on Unsplash.

Email Marketing

  1. Mailchimp: Mailchimp offers an easy-to-use email marketing platform with automation features and detailed analytics, perfect for reaching your audience directly.
  2. SendinBlue: SendinBlue is a cost-effective email marketing solution that includes email campaigns, SMS marketing, and transactional emails.
  3. MailerLite: With MailerLite, you can create beautiful email campaigns, build landing pages, and automate your email marketing at an affordable price.
  4. Benchmark Email: Benchmark Email provides email marketing tools with automation, A/B testing, and engagement tracking to help you optimize your email campaigns.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

  1. Google Analytics: Monitor your website’s performance and track visitor behavior with Google Analytics, a must-have for any small business looking to improve its online presence.
  2. Google Search Console: Gain insights into your website’s search visibility, indexing status, and performance on Google Search with this free tool.
  3. Yoast SEO: If your website runs on WordPress, Yoast SEO is a powerful plugin that helps you optimize your content for search engines.
  4. Moz Local: Moz Local assists with managing your online presence and local SEO efforts, making it easier for customers to find your business.

Social Media Marketing

  1. TweetDeck: If Twitter is a key part of your social media strategy, TweetDeck helps you monitor and engage with your audience in real-time.
  2. Later: Later is a visual social media scheduler primarily designed for Instagram, but it also supports other platforms, making it perfect for visual businesses.
  3. SocialBee: SocialBee offers social media automation and content categorization, helping you maintain a consistent posting schedule.
  4. BuzzSumo: Discover trending content and influencers in your niche with BuzzSumo, which can inform your social media strategy.

Content Marketing

  1. BuzzFeed: BuzzFeed offers a variety of tools and resources for content marketing, including quizzes, polls, and branded content creation.
  2. CoSchedule Headline Analyzer: Improve the click-worthiness of your headlines with this tool that provides feedback on your titles.
  3. Trello: Organize your content marketing efforts with Trello boards that track your content calendar, tasks, and collaboration with ease.
  4. Evernote: Capture ideas, research, and inspiration for your content marketing campaigns with Evernote’s note-taking and organization features.

Graphic Design

  1. GIMP: The GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) is a free, open-source alternative to Adobe Photoshop for graphic design and image editing.
  2. Snappa: Create graphics for your blog, social media, and marketing materials with Snappa’s user-friendly design tools and templates.
  3. Crello: Crello is an online graphic design tool that offers thousands of templates and design elements for creating eye-catching visuals.
  4. Pixlr: Edit photos and create graphics directly in your web browser with Pixlr’s free online image editing tools.

Video Marketing

  1. Animoto: Easily create professional-looking videos for your marketing campaigns with Animoto’s drag-and-drop video builder.
  2. InVideo: InVideo is a versatile online video creation tool that simplifies the process of making engaging videos for social media and other platforms.
  3. Promo: Promo provides access to a library of video templates and stock footage to help you create attention-grabbing marketing videos.
  4. Lumen5: Turn your blog posts into engaging video content with Lumen5’s AI-powered video creation platform.

Analytics and Data

  1. Google Data Studio: Create custom reports and dashboards that visualize your marketing data from various sources, all within Google Data Studio.
  2. Hotjar: Hotjar offers heatmaps, session recordings, and surveys to help you understand how visitors interact with your website.
  3. Kissmetrics: Track and analyze user behavior on your website with Kissmetrics to make data-driven marketing decisions.
  4. Ubersuggest: Ubersuggest is an affordable keyword research tool that provides insights into keyword difficulty and content ideas.

Social Proof and Reviews

  1. Trustpilot: Collect and display customer reviews on your website with Trustpilot to build trust and credibility.
  2. Yotpo: Yotpo helps you generate and showcase customer reviews, photos, and Q&A content to increase conversions.
  3. Fomo: Use Fomo to display real-time notifications of recent customer activity on your website, such as purchases and sign-ups.
  4. ProveSource: ProveSource is a social proof platform that displays notifications of recent actions and interactions on your site.

Website Development

  1. Wix: Build a professional website without coding using Wix’s intuitive website builder and hosting platform.
  2. Squarespace: Squarespace offers visually stunning templates and an easy-to-use website builder for businesses looking to create a stylish online presence.
  3. Weebly: Weebly is a user-friendly website builder with e-commerce capabilities, making it ideal for small businesses.
  4. WordPress: If you prefer flexibility and customization, WordPress is a powerful platform that allows you to build and manage your website.

E-commerce and Online Selling

  1. Shopify: Launch your online store with Shopify, a comprehensive e-commerce platform that provides everything you need to sell products online.
  2. BigCommerce: BigCommerce is another excellent e-commerce solution that offers customizable online store options for businesses of all sizes.
  3. Ecwid: Ecwid is an easy-to-integrate e-commerce solution that can turn your existing website into an online store.
  4. WooCommerce: For WordPress users, WooCommerce is a popular plugin that adds e-commerce functionality to your website.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

  1. HubSpot CRM: HubSpot’s free CRM tool helps you track and manage customer interactions and provides insights to improve your sales and marketing efforts.
  2. Zoho CRM: Zoho CRM is an affordable CRM solution that offers contact management, sales automation, and analytics features.
  3. Pipedrive: Pipedrive is a user-friendly CRM designed for sales teams, helping them manage leads and close deals more efficiently.
  4. Freshsales: Freshsales offers CRM and marketing automation tools, making it easier to nurture leads and convert them into customers.

Advertising and Pay-Per-Click (PPC)

  1. Google Ads: Create and manage pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaigns on Google Ads to drive targeted traffic to your website.
  2. Facebook Ads Manager: Promote your business on Facebook and Instagram with Facebook Ads Manager’s powerful advertising tools.
  3. AdRoll: AdRoll is a retargeting and performance marketing platform that helps you reach potential customers across the web.
  4. LinkedIn Ads: For B2B marketing, LinkedIn Ads offers targeted advertising options to connect with professionals in your industry.

Project Management

  1. Asana: Streamline project management and collaboration with Asana’s task tracking and team communication tools.
  2. Toggl: Toggl is a time-tracking tool that helps you monitor and analyze how you and your team spend time on various tasks and projects.
  3. Monday.com: Monday.com is a versatile work operating system that allows you to plan, track, and manage projects and workflows.
  4. Basecamp: Basecamp is a project management and team collaboration platform that simplifies communication and task organization.

Customer Support and Communication

  1. Zendesk: Zendesk is a customer support platform that offers ticketing, chat, and knowledge base solutions for better customer service.
  2. LiveChat: Engage with website visitors in real-time and provide instant support using LiveChat’s chat support software.
  3. Freshdesk: Freshdesk offers a helpdesk and customer support software suite that streamlines customer communication.
  4. Mailgun: Ensure reliable email delivery and engagement with Mailgun’s email API and email marketing solutions.

Conclusion

The world of small business marketing is constantly evolving, but you don’t need a bottomless budget to stay competitive. These 64 affordable marketing tools cover a wide range of essential tasks, from social media management and content creation to SEO, email marketing, and more. By harnessing the power of these tools, you can optimize your marketing efforts, reach your target audience effectively, and drive growth for your small business. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to supercharge your marketing strategy while keeping your budget intact—give these tools a try and watch your business thrive.

 

Mark Walker-Ford

Director, Red Website Design