6 free marketing tools for every entrepreneur

“A good leader should focus on making sure everyone is being given the tools to do their job, not just expecting – poof! – that they're going to produce great work.” – Anne Sweeney

As an entrepreneur, it is imperative for you to use effective marketing strategies to grow your small business. Marketing is the backbone of any startup’s success. However, with a stipulated budget for almost every activity of your startup, marketing your products or services can feel like a long shot. When you’re bootstrapping your startup and have limited resources to market your business, you can rely on free digital marketing tools to get the word out. Here’s a list of free tools that you can utilise as a part of your strategy to maximise your marketing efforts.

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Buffer – Social media management

Social media is a powerful platform when it comes to marketing. A social media management tool, Buffer helps you make your social posts more efficient to build your brand, increase your followers and engage your target audience. One of the benefits of Buffer is that it allows you to connect many accounts to one dashboard and schedule your posts. You can also create campaigns and analyse the success of all your posts using Buffer’s free plan.

Spaces – Logo maker

A logo is an essential part of any company and plays a crucial role in your branding efforts. Save resources by not hiring a graphic designer and use Spaces instead. The free logo maker from Spaces has a library of icons, fonts, and frames that you can use to create the perfect logo. You don’t need any design training as this tool is incredibly easy to use.

Canva – Graphic designing

Visually attractive marketing content, such as infographics and custom illustrations, is becoming increasingly popular. Not only does visual content give you a professional appearance, but it also helps your startup achieve credibility amongst your audience. Canva is a free, intuitive tool with a library of fonts, templates, images and illustrations that you can drag and drop to create stunning graphics. You can create anything from brochures and flyers to infographics and social media images using this easy-to-use tool.

SurveyMonkey – Customer feedback

For any startup, surveys are an excellent way to engage customers, get consumer information and gain insights into your business from the customers’ perspective. One of the most popular survey tools online is SurveyMonkey. It is free and simple to use. You can create and publish your study in a matter of minutes. SurveyMonkey also allows you to analyse the results of the survey you’ve published.

MailChimp – Email marketing

Email marketing is essential for most startups’ success. It provides for an intimate interaction between your brand and your consumer that helps you generate leads. Compared to other marketing methods, email marketing offers more control when it comes to moving consumers through a funnel leading to conversions. MailChimp is a free and easy-to-use tool for effective email marketing.

Rapportive – Information

A free digital marketing tool, Rapportive helps in securing the information you need to pitch your brand to the right person – their email address. It connects to your Gmail account and helps you find anyone’s email address through trial and error.

From generating ideas and creating logos to graphic designing and surveying, there is a lot you can do with the many free digital marketing tools available online. Make the best of these and other free online tools to catapult your start-up to success.