Digital marketing is one of the best, most cost-effective ways to attract new customers and drive awareness for your startup. SEO, social media, email, and content can help you tell your story and invite your customers to take part in it.
Researching, designing, implementing and tracking your startup digital marketing efforts is difficult if you do not have tools to help you execute on your strategies and consistently deliver results.
The best digital marketing tools can be expensive, and during the start-up phase of your business, you need to be thrifty with every dollar you spend. We compiled this list of free digital marketing tools that will help you grow your startup without wasting money.
Google offers this free to everyone, all you need to do is connect it to your startup website with a little line of code (don’t worry, no developer required for this task). Google Analytics tracks your site visitors, what pages they spend their time on, and suggests ways to improve your site’s performance.
Another great tool by Google that tracks your startup’s website performance in Google searches is Google Search Console. This tool shows you the specific queries that people use to find your website, identifies links to your website that are bad or come from unreputable sites, and allows your site to show the SEO love towards Google. It connects with Google Analytics so you can view the search queries that people perform to get to your website without switching between platforms.
This is probably one of the best free research tools for SEO & Google Ads. Keyword Planner is housed in your Google Ads account and allows you to see estimated search volumes for certain keywords and keywords that are related. It won’t give you exact numbers, however, it will provide a range of monthly search volume for the keywords your startup is targeting and give you budget recommendations when using Google Ads.
GMB for short, this tool allows you to monitor how your startup shows in localized search results (“near me” or “...... in city” searches), and it houses the Holy Grail of SEO, Google Reviews. If your startup works with people virtually or travel to their location outside of your city or DMA, you still need to claim your listing, ensure it has accurate information, solicit reviews from your customers, and add content to your GMB listing
If your startup is in sectors such as Home Services, Legal, Medical, or any other business that focuses on attracting local business, it’s crucial that you manage and optimize your GMB on a regular basis.
SEMRush helps your startup get the most accurate search data so you can make excellent decisions. This is a paid software, however, their free option gives you limited access to the tool, perfect for focusing on your growth in search rankings as an early-stage startup. Take advantage of SEMRush Academy’s free top-notch, well-curated digital marketing courses to expand your knowledge as well, it’s free!
Before sharing these startup email tools, you must not use these tools for cold email. ONLY EMAIL PEOPLE WHO HAVE REQUESTED TO RECEIVE EMAIL FROM YOU! If you are caught doing this through Mailchimp or HubSpot’s Marketing Hub, they will shut your account down and flag your URL for email spam.
Possibly the most recognizable name in email marketing, Mailchimp allows your startup to start your email marketing efforts and grow the size of your email audience. Capture your contacts, segment them into separate lists, schedule emails ahead of time, and track your email campaign performance. You’re limited to 2,000 contacts and 10,000 email sends per month under the free version, however, that’s all you need as you’re growing your startup’s email list.
HubSpot’s all-in-one marketing platform offers a free usage plan that includes access to free email marketing for up to 100 contacts. This is significantly less than Mailchimp, however, the benefit to HubSpot is having access to their free CRM synced with your email marketing, keeping it all in one platform for your startup.
This content scheduling and social media management tool lets you manage your startup’s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other accounts. Hootsuite allows you to set schedules for your posts, respond to messages, and monitor all of your social media accounts. Hootsuite’s free version is limited to 1 user and 10 social accounts.
Very similarHootsuite, Buffer allows startups to manage their LinkedIn, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, Pinterest, and other social media accounts. Buffer also lets users compose and schedule posts for later. Like Hootsuite, there is a free version of the tool available.
Free Graphic Design Tools
A free cloud-based graphic design software that gives startups the ability to create designs for social media, blog posts, and other marketing materials. Canva has thousands of free design elements that allow you to create stunning designs for your startup with just a few clicks.
Startups are always looking for ways to stretch their marketing dollars, and you can lose money fast paying for marketing software. These free marketing tools will enable you to accelerate your startup’s digital marketing efforts, attract your ideal customers, and grow your revenue.
