Top 10 Marketing Software and Tools for Small Businesses

Marketing Software and Tools

By 2027, the value of the marketing automation software industry may be worth $11.46 billion with a projected compound annual growth rate of 17.67% as reported by Finances Online. Marketing automation involves using software to automate marketing tasks and gives companies a way to manage and track marketing campaigns at scale.

The COVID-19 pandemic is said to have significantly contributed to the stellar growth of digital marketing tools, with the constant rise of social media usage also leading to a surge in the adoption of digital marketing software.

Nowadays, digital marketing tools are highly powerful and sophisticated. There’s also no shortage of marketing automation tools that small businesses can choose from to help them in their marketing efforts.

For one, these tools are effective in personalizing customer service thanks to their ability to collect customer data that marketers can use when delivering branded or promotional messages to specific audiences. As such, they help manage customer relationships and understand customer needs better through data analytics and AI algorithms.

This type of marketing software also enhances business workflows by ensuring that everything is done on time. Besides these functionalities, marketing software is also ideal for crucial tasks such as content creation and lead generation. Ultimately, these digital marketing tools allow businesses to save on labor costs as these tools do a lot of heavy lifting for them.

Best Digital Marketing Tools for Small Businesses

Digital marketing tools are especially helpful for small businesses with crucial marketing tasks, including email campaigns, social media posts, and website content. They are equipped with features for tracking the success of these efforts through analytics and reporting capabilities, maximizing the company’s ROI.

With the time saved by marketing teams in using these tools, everyone can focus more on building and growing the business while cementing their online presence.

There are different categories of marketing tools that suit every business’s digital marketing needs. Some tools are specially made for digital graphic design, social media and email marketing, and SEO, among a few. Speaking of the last item, the good news is that using these tools means you can maximize your SEO strategies without spending too much.

So, whether you own a start-up or you are a digital marketer collaborating with various clients, using digital marketing tools is a must. Here are the best digital marketing tools for small businesses.

1. Google Analytics

Featuring both free service and paid service, this digital marketing software offers valuable insights into your website performance and user behavior. Google Analytics works best with Google Search Console, which helps detect any issues on your website and optimize it to improve site traffic.

Using Google Analytics lets you view your website’s performance and understand your target audience. Some important data you can access via Google Analytics include:

• Keywords used by Google users to find your website
• Where your visitors found your website – organic search, Google ads, other websites, social media, etc.
• Number of visitors in any given time
• Users’ information – demographics, interests, etc.
• How long do users spend time on your site
• Pages on your website with the most visits or views

These crucial pieces of information will help you improve your website. For instance, you could optimize the web pages that do not get as many views as the others—whether by adding more compelling images, using tabs to organize content, and the like.

2. Canva

It would help if you had eye-catching graphics to keep your target readers engaged. Don’t worry, you don’t need to be a professional graphic designer to create engaging visuals. You can get started by using Canva.

It is one of the top digital marketing software every small business should have. You can use the Free version, but better if you avail the freemium version to have unlimited access to photos, palettes, and templates for your designing needs. From social media posts, infographics, e-books, and other graphics, Canva is a user-friendly marketing tool that can help grow your business.

3. Mailchimp

E-mail marketing should be part of your overall campaign strategy, as it can help you reach your target audience. Through e-mail marketing, you can get ROI that is comparable to or even higher than if you were to use other digital marketing strategies.

But to get started with email marketing, you need software to help you create e-mails that will help achieve your business objectives. Mailchimp can help you with that.

You can avail of Mailchimp’s free service until you hit 2,000 subscribers. It is a user-friendly digital marketing software that will help craft your email campaigns without the complicated technical jargon. Some features and tools Mailchimp offer include:

• CRM tools
• Landing page builders
• Audience and predictive insights
• Form builders

4. HubSpot

Running and managing multiple marketing campaigns across various channels is no walk in the park. You have to identify what’s working and what needs improvements. This is where HubSpot enters the picture. It is a one-stop-shop for all your marketing solutions to help your website increase traffic, secure conversions, and achieve better ROI.

Some essential HubSpot features include lead management, marketing automation, social media management, email templates, and content optimization tools, among a few. These tools and features can help increase customer engagement and convert site visitors into buying customers.

Availing a subscription with HubSpot could be quite expensive, but small business owners can benefit from the basic package to help them get started. Nonetheless, HubSpot is one of the best investments to grow your business.

5. Trello

Sometimes, you also need an extra hand to help you run the business. That means you need an effective communication and project management tool for smoother and more efficient business management. When it comes to content management software, Trello is one of the most popular and well-used tools.

Trello is a project management tool that helps in more efficient project planning, whether for marketing and sales, customer support, or HR. You can assign multiple tasks to employees and see their progress in real-time. You can easily see who’s in charge of content writing and web designing, as well as whether they need revisions, etc. Trello helps team members worldwide remotely manage the business.

6. Slack

Slack is another essential digital marketing tool every small business owner should have. They say that the success of a business lies in good communication among team members. As such, business owners should invest in user-friendly digital marketing tools for hassle-free data sharing and team interaction.

Slack integrates with other project and office management, design, and sales tools that help you stay on top of your digital marketing campaigns. So far, it has won the hearts of digital marketers worldwide for its simplicity and user-friendliness.

7. Yoast

What’s the use of keywords if you don’t know how to optimize your content? You can get your content out there by using Yoast. It has a free version if you want to test the waters, but it is also one of the most suitable digital marketing tools for those just getting started with their business. The paid version lets you search for semantic keywords within Yoast, add related keywords, and get instant insight.

It is a WordPress plugin that helps improve content quality readability by helping you determine where to place your keywords. Another benefit of using Yoast is it lets you stay updated according to Google’s algorithm. You can also audit your site’s content assets to help them reach the top of search results.

8. KWFinder

Digital marketing is incomplete without SEO. It is one of the foundations of digital marketing, ensuring that your website is fully optimized across all platforms. One of the most important elements of SEO is choosing the right keywords if you want to rank higher in search results.

KWFinder is an affordable digital marketing tool that offers accurate and useful insights to help with small business growth. Put in a seed keyword, and you will get hundreds of keyword suggestions along with trends, search volume data, and ranking difficulty score for every word or phrase. It also offers plans for individual or full suite tools, including a website analysis and backlink tool to maximize your SEO strategy.

9. Ahrefs

Business is not only about selling and gaining profit but also identifying your competition and how you can get ahead of them. Here, Ahrefs can help you with competitive analysis and what keywords your competitors use to rank in search results. Knowing your competitors’ strategies can let you create better techniques and be ahead of the game.

Ahrefs is a one-stop site that offers amazing tools for the following:

• Keyword research
• Website audit and analysis
• Rank tracking
• Content explorer

10. BuzzSumo

Your content strategy should be well-planned to achieve positive results. It would help if you also did your research properly, and BuzzSumo can help you with that. This content marketing tool shows trending content across social media, and knowing what’s trending could spark a light bulb moment for your next content to achieve your marketing goals.

Aside from content research and viral posts, this digital marketing tool also lets you do:

• Brand monitoring
• Content analysis
• Influencer and keyword search
• Crisis management

Why do small business owners need these digital marketing tools?

Be it sales calls or content creation, everything is digital nowadays. That is why business owners should be able to adapt to today’s competitive and ever-changing digital marketing landscape. Aside from being in the know with the latest digital marketing trends and tricks, you also have to learn to use a slew of digital marketing tools.

The abovementioned digital marketing tools can help you save time and money and make tedious tasks easier and more efficient. As such, it’s easier to achieve marketing goals that can greatly help with business growth.

Author

Rintu Biswas