Digital marketing is one of the fastest-growing fields, and for a good reason. The global digital ad spend in 2021 reached $389 billion in 2021 and that number is likely to grow in upcoming years [1].
Along with the rise of digital marketing, we are also seeing a significant increase in the number of small businesses around the world. However, one of the biggest challenges startups face is getting their digital marketing strategy right.
A lot of upcoming companies and startups struggle to find their footing in the digital marketing space.
If you are a small business owner or working in a startup, you might want to consider using some digital marketing tools. These tools are designed to help marketers achieve their marketing goals including increasing brand awareness, boosting engagement, tracking customer behavior, and more.
In this article, we have compiled a list of some of the most useful digital marketing tools for your business.
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Top Digital Marketing Tools for Small Businesses
1. Slack
The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way companies operate and paved the way for new trends.
One of the main trends which have emerged as a result of the pandemic is remote and hybrid working. As more and more companies come to terms with the advantages of remote working, the perspective seems to have changed.
As remote working gains acceptance, companies need to ensure that their internal and external communication flows are in place. Today, as companies use different modes of communication including email, WhatsApp, Skype, and more, it is easy to get lost in the mess.
This is where Slack helps as it organizes all your communication in one place. Besides, it is flexible, accessible, and one of the best online tools to manage multiple projects.
If you work in a small business, you should consider using Slack. The best part is that the tool is completely free to use.
2. Canva
If you are not well-versed in photoshop and other advanced graphic design tools, Canva is the perfect tool for you.
Posters, social media post imagery, presentations, and logos give your brand credibility and create an identity for your business.
However, creating aesthetically pleasing visuals is not a piece of cake unless you are a professional graphic designer. Small companies that are generally operating with a tight budget may find it difficult to hire a graphic designer.
This is where Canva can help your small business.
Canva enables you to create amazing visual marketing material. Besides, it is very easy to use as most tasks can be done by dragging and dropping your mouse.
Canva also allows users to share the links of the designs they are working on to boost collaboration. It comes with more than hundreds of illustrations and photos which you can use to create engaging and appealing designs.
There is a wide variety of templates that can be used to design different types of graphics.
Canva’s basic package is completely free, and the paid packages are very affordable. This is why Canva is a very hand digital marketing tool for a small businesses.
3. HootSuite
Social media has taken over our lives and how. Today, people are hooked on their smartphones due to social media and in some cases even addicted to it.
Love it or hate it, you cannot ignore the impact of social media in our lives.
On the business front, it is becoming increasingly important to have a social media marketing strategy to break through the clutter and stand out.
A well-created social media strategy can help you drive more engagement and understand the pulse of your audience. Besides, social media can also help brands boost conversions and sales.
However, there are plenty of social media platforms out there, and managing your page on all platforms can be very time-consuming. HootSuite addresses this problem and allows you to manage different social media pages from a single place.
Besides, you can easily schedule posts across different social media platforms in advance on Hootsuite. Every post can be monitored effectively and you can also reply to mentions and comments.
There is a lot more you can do with HootSuite making social media a breeze. However, you will need to pay for the advanced features. The free plan is ideal for small businesses and startups.
HootSuite is arguably one of the most popular digital marketing tools for small businesses and startups.
4. Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a digital marketing tool that provides you with in-depth analytics of how your customers engage with your business.
It gives you a deeper understanding of whether your digital marketing strategy is paying off or not. Once you connect Google Analytics with your website, it lets you know who is viewing your site, how did they find you, where they came from, and how they engage with your website.
These insights help businesses amend or discard their strategies that are not working out. If you are a small business owner, you should start using Google Analytics immediately to get the best results.
Are you wondering how much it costs? It is a free digital marketing tool.
Final Words
One of the main reasons why startups fail even after coming up with an excellent idea is their lack of understanding of what their customers are looking for. Some of the most successful businesses owners are ambitious, innovative, have foresight, and are very creative.
However, they do not have enough time to do it all. They are time-poor and desperately in need of some of these top digital marketing tools to make their digital marketing strategy more successful.
Startups cannot let their digital marketing strategy take the back seat. If their strategy is on point, it will drive conversions and boost sales.
The digital marketing tools for small businesses listed in this article are just a few of the hundreds of online tools that are available. These tools add significant value and do an excellent job to help your business grow.
If you run a small business, it is a good time to start using these top digital marketing tools and stay ahead of the competition.
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Feature Image Source: rawpixel.com
Image 1 Source: Slack
Image 2 Source: Canva
Source:
[1] B. Monojoy (2020) “Robust growth to resume in 2021”: Global digital ad spending to bounce back, reports eMarketer” WNIP [online] [Accessed April 2022]