One of the most important factors in running a successful business is having an effective marketing strategy that generates leads and builds your brand’s reputation. If you’re not a marketing expert then it can be hard working out where you need to start off with your marketing strategy, and you may even want to outsource the work if you don’t have the in-house marketing skills. However, if you are looking to keep costs to a minimum, you will be pleased to hear that there are several tried and tested tools that are available,and completely free.
Here are a few great examples of the readily available tools you can start using today, all without spending any money at all:
Social Media – For easy management of multiple social media accounts, there are a number of great tools that you can use to make life easier. Both Hootsuite and Buffer offer some great features that will allow you to manage several accounts at the same time, saving you valuable time which can be spent on other tasks.
Websites – It is essential for any business to have an online presence, allowing potential customers to find them. There are website providers that will allow you to build a website completely for free, such as Wix and WordPress. The site builders are fairly straightforward to use and you can have a website up and running in a day. There are a few restrictions with the free hosting options,like not being able to use your own domain name, no customer support available, and limited storage. The provider can also use your website to display ads, so if you want a professional looking website you might be better paying the monthly fee for a webhost package that has less restrictions. You can normally get a good quality, shared hosting package for around $5 per month.
Email Marketing – MailChimp is a standout free service, ideal for any email marketing campaign, and many marketing professionals use MailChimp to construct professional email campaigns with powerful monitoring tools. The free package is great for small businesses who are starting off their first email campaign. Check out MailChimp Alternative!
Content Creation – The key to any successful marketing campaign is the content, so if you are looking for a tool that will enable you to design quality content then there are plenty of great options available. For marketing material such as posters, infographics and brochures, Canva is a great free option that provides loads of templates and free images for you to use on your campaigns.
One of the most effective marketing channels at the moment is video, so being able to use this channel is great for increasing lead generation. There are free options available through both Facebook and YouTube that will help you to build great video content without needing to buy expensive video editing software.
Marketing can either be costly,or as cost saving as you want it to be. We highly recommend trying these great free tools before you start spending money, as they are highly useful and readily available.