Must-have marketing tools to consider for your local business to make your life easier
Staying on top of your marketing can be tough! It can seem like there are hundreds of balls in the air at once that you are trying to juggle. Luckily, there are some fantastic online marketing tools for small businesses to make your life easier.
What are the best marketing platforms for small businesses?
There are many different platforms available for you, so I have compiled a shortlist for you to help you get on top of your marketing. Some of the key tools to look at include planning tools, email marketing platforms, social media scheduling tools, customer relationship managers (CRMs) and proposal software.
If you want to take the next step and have someone manage your marketing for you, feel free to reach out for a chat.
Planning apps
Monday.com
Are you looking for an easy-to-use planning app for all aspects of the business, including marketing? Monday.com is super easy to set up and use as an individual or a team. I have worked on Monday.com through my various corporate roles and now, including C Angel Marketing, and it works great every time.
If you are a business owner that is on the go, working on job sites, between your cafes or visiting clients, Monday.com has a phone app as well as a desktop version, so you can access it wherever you are!
Monday.com has a free plan for basic tracking abilities, or you can upgrade for a monthly fee to get more features.
Microsoft planner
If you already pay for an Office365 license, you could look into Microsoft Planner. Similar to Monday, you can create different projects and tasks with different people in your business. Taking advantage of something that is already available to you, such as Microsoft Planner, is a smart way to go about choosing marketing tools for small businesses.
Google tasks
Likewise, Google Suite has a simple task manager. Unlike Monday and Microsoft planner, it doesn't give you a visual representation of upcoming tasks. Despite this, it works well to keep track of jobs you need to do on a day-to-day basis.
You can sign up for G Suite online. I am part of the G Suite referral program, and therefore you can access 10% off the first year on either a G Suite Business Starter plan or Business Standard Plan. To take advantage of these savings, please contact me and I will share the promotion codes with you.
Email marketing platforms
Email marketing platforms let you send out an email to multiple people at once. They track who you send it to, who opens it and who clicks on links inside the email. Many of the platforms out there let you build different lists or segment your email list.
Mailchimp
Historically just for email marketing, Mailchimp keeps on expanding its offering into a more holistic tool! On top of its fantastic email marketing features, you can also build automation campaigns and now create a basic website all from one platform.
Mailchimp does have a free version for email campaign creation for when you are starting.
Hubspot
Hubspot's email tool is also a great one to use if you are a small business or a growing business. If you prefer to have your CRM and email marketing tool in one platform, then this might be the way to go, I am a Hubspot Partner so if this seems like a logical way to go, please get in touch.
Social media scheduling tools
Later
If Instagram is one of your primary channels for social media, definitely consider Later. It has a visual planner for your posts, you can schedule in Instagram stories and can also schedule Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest posts.
Plann
Plann is an Australian software product and is one of the great marketing tools for small businesses that live mainly on Instagram. They do have a free plan that you can use when you are starting.
Publer
Publer is a new(ish) kid on the block. I have been using it for a while now and for the price I think it is good value.
CRMs
Hubspot
Hubspot has free plans with paid upgrades. With the free CRM plan, you get access to Hubspot's sales pipeline and also their chat software which you can put on your website. Hubspot also integrates with a lot of other tools out there.
Proposal software
Improving your marketing-to-sales process is a large part of effective marketing. I have highlighted two online proposal marketing tools for small businesses to try below.
Better Proposals
Better Proposals integrates with Hubspot and allows you to create several proposal templates that you can customise for each client. Better Proposals integrates with Stripe, PayPal, and GoCardless for ease of payment.
Proposify
Similarly, Proposify also integrates with Hubspot. Like Better Proposals, clients can digitally sign or approve your proposal online for a seamless experience.
In summary
Whatever your need, there is a tool to help! Lots of them are cost-effective for small, local businesses; it's just about finding the right one for you. If you need some assistance setting up marketing systems such as planning tools, schedulers or CRMs, reach out to organise a time for a coffee.
If you are looking for information on apps for design - check out this blog article.
Heads up, I receive a commission via some of the links above.
