25+ Advertising and marketing Instruments For Small Companies

You must have a social media presence—period. There are a number of platforms where you can have a presence, but they all require consistent content creation. Social media necessitates a certain level of organization to design, post, and manage content, and social media tools serve to simplify that process. No matter where you decide to create a profile, there are some tools that make creating content, posting, interacting, and analyzing easier.

Content Creation

Canva 

Canva is a much-loved design website with design templates that enable you to make engaging designs quickly—no design experience required. You can upload your brand’s fonts and colors to make the templates match your branding while relying on the expertise of the templates to create a visually pleasing design.

Unfold 

This mobile app tool lets you create visually intriguing Instagram Stories, which can help your content stand out as users click through their feeds. It includes filters and effects, templates, and brand customization. You can also visually plan your Instagram feed with Unfold, which is a great feature if you prioritize having a visually cohesive grid.

CapCut 

This free video editing app to create videos for all social media platforms. While most social media platforms offer video editing in-app, many find external editors easier to use. You can export your edited video from CapCut directly into Instagram or TikTok to post. 

Content Calendar Tools

Buffer 

Buffer offers up to 10 scheduled posts per month across three social channels for free. It has many other features, like analytics, photo editing, and integrations. Buffer boasts an intuitive interface and even has approval flows for social media teams. 

Hootsuite 

This is another popular content management tool that offers bulk scheduling, custom URL creation, content recommendations, and more. It also features AI for caption generation and content ideas. Hootsuite can integrate with Canva for you to share your designs directly into the platform to schedule or post.

Meta Business Suite 

This software offers its own proprietary content tool for Facebook and Instagram. You can manage your direct messages and mentions from the dashboard, while also planning and scheduling content. 

Keep in mind that not every tool works for every platform. Explore the features and limitations of each tool before fully diving in, especially if you are going to create a paid account. Each social media platform has ever-changing rules and restrictions on third-party tools, so it’s smart to check on the latest recommendations as well. You want to be sure that it will be a worthwhile investment. 

Conversion Optimization

While keywords and content are an important part of SEO, so is site design. Users make a decision in a matter of seconds if they’re going to keep scrolling and stay on your website, and conversion tools can help you see what’s working and find opportunities for improvement.

HotJar 

This tool creates heat maps of site visitors’ actions. These visuals enable you to see where people are (or aren’t) clicking, and you can even watch real-time visits to see exactly how each user explores your site. This information can help you restructure web pages to improve engagement and conversion. And there is a free version! 

Unbounce 

Unbounce is one of the best tools for testing web content. It offers built-in variant analytics and A/B testing, so you can ensure your site pages are as optimized as possible. Unbounce has plenty of templates for you to choose from, so you don’t have to design a web page from scratch. This makes it ideal for the standard small business owner who doesn’t have web design experience. 

Optimizely 

This is another great testing tool, and it can be run across a number of platforms, including mobile apps, making it an ideal option for companies that rely on more than just one channel to conduct business. It enables you to track the entire content lifecycle, from creation to experimentation, monetization, and analysis.

Online Ads 

Paid advertising can be a great way to grow your small business. There are several ways you can share digital ads: social media, video, pay-per-click, native, search, and more. Whatever you choose, you need to take a data-driven approach to ensure you get the best ROI possible on your ads. Here are a few tools that can help both create and launch your digital ads.

Meta Business Suite

If you want to run ads on Instagram or Facebook, you’ll have to use Meta’s tool to do so. Meta ads run on a daily budget, which will depend on your targeting placements. The Meta Business Suite gives live results, so you can always see what’s working and tweak your approach based on the metrics. And with their thorough analytics, you’ll have great insight into the effectiveness of your placements.

Google Keyword Planner

Planning to run Google ads? Get your targeting right with their keyword tool, which works for both organic and paid strategies. You can either input your existing keywords to see their forecast, or you can use the tool to find new keyword ideas and create a campaign based on the results. 

TapClicks

Give your PPC ads a boost with this cloud tool. TapClicks offers thorough reporting, automation, and a lot more. It has seemingly countless integrations, making it an easy tool to use alongside other platforms you already know and love. TapClicks can simplify and boost conversions, especially for those who are new to the paid side of marketing.

AdRoll

If you’re looking to run ads on multiple platforms, AdRoll is the tool for you. In fact, it supports over 500 platforms. AdRoll enables you to manage ads for Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, email, and display. For a one-person or small team, this can be an ideal option to avoid having to use several different tools. 

Project Management

How will you get all of your marketing goals accomplished? You could try to keep a mental list or use a pen and paper. Or, you could use a project management tool to track all your to-dos and projects. These platforms are particularly useful if you need to assign or collaborate on tasks with other team members. 

Todoist

If you like your to-do lists—but are looking for something a little more functional—Todoist is a great option. Their free version has plenty of functionality, including reminder schedules, individual project lists, and task labels. Todoist is best for individuals or small teams.

Trello

This project management tool offers a more visual approach to task lists. Trello employs Kanban-style boards where you can create individual task lists, attach files and links, and move cards around as projects progress. You can assign cards and/or tasks, making it a good option for teams.

Asana

One of the most robust project management options, Asana has multiple views, including Kanban boards, lists, and timelines, making it a good choice for teams with varying working styles. Asana is ideal for larger projects or teams and offers both free and paid versions.

Data Analytics

It’s crucial to know if all your marketing initiatives are working, and data analytics are the best way to do so. Data removes human subjectivity and gives concrete numbers to prove what’s working and what isn’t. There are a number of tools for each marketing channel, but here are a few options to try. 

Google Analytics

This is your home for all your website analytics—and then some. This is the primary tool to track your website traffic and learn more about your site visitors. You can find significant audience information here, including demographics, location, behavior, and more. You can also see where your web traffic comes from and analyze your conversion efforts. Google Analytics can have somewhat of a learning curve, especially when it comes to adding custom goals, but the effort is well worth it for the information you get in return.

Google Search Console 

Google Search Console is the first place you’ll go once your website is set up. There, you can submit your sitemap to be crawled and indexed, so it can start showing up on Google. This tool is important for technical SEO. It will indicate any issues with your website that might be affecting your SEO, like site speed or broken links. It also has insight into the exact keywords people are using to reach your site (which might include some you’re not targeting, giving you a new strategy).

SurveyMonkey 

This product is a great way to conduct research and get more data about your customers. Surveys provide invaluable information for both new and existing businesses that want to ensure their marketing and targeting efforts are as precise and data-driven as possible. You can use them to get product feedback, compare your customer satisfaction to industry averages, conduct market research, or even analyze employee engagement. 

What are the Best Marketing Tools For Small Businesses?

The answer depends on your priorities and your budget. Any of these tools can be an excellent addition to your stack if it suits your digital marketing strategy and overall business goals. But, if you’re not planning on running ads online, for example, you don’t need to spend time looking into ad tools. Only pursue the marketing tools that align with your set business strategy. 

And don’t feel like a failure if you can’t figure out a tool. Not every option works for everyone! It’s most important that your tools of choice work for you in terms of functionality, organization, and cost—not that you’re using the trendiest tool of the moment.

_{Information provided on this blog is for educational purposes only , and is not intended to be business, legal, tax, or accounting advice. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Lendio. While Lendio strivers to keep its content up to-date, it is only accurate as of the date posted. Offers or trends may expire, or may no longer be relevant.}