Welcome to our third and final instalment of Software to help Start-ups, Entrepreneurs and anyone in Business. This week we will be discussing the marketing tools you can use to support your business. Branding also plays an important part in any business and, if done correctly, ensures you stand out in any crowded market place. There’s so much software to help you in most areas of your business and our aim is to highlight some of the tools on the market.
Marketing Tools
Marketing is one of the areas of your business which you know you should be concentrating on. However, it doesn’t come naturally to many and it’s easy to become overwhelmed with all the different approaches available. Marketing strategies are expensive and this is why it’s often overlooked when you start out on your business journey, or if you are running a small business. Being short on money and time is tough and marketing mistakes can be devastating for any business. So, we understand why many business owners try to avoid it, or do it themselves. Most businesses are using social media in some way to promote their business. If you’re not, then you are missing out on a massive audience by using this free marketing tool. If you want to find out more read our blog explaining why social media is important and how it can work for you.
There are so many tools that you can utilise to get your business out there gaining the recognition it deserves. We will concentrate on a few of the free ones that are available.
Tools to help you with your marketing strategyGoogle My Business
We can’t impress on you enough how important Google is to your business. If your website is set up with SEO in mind and you have made an effort to get Google reviews, but haven’t set up your Google My Business (“GMB”) page then you are missing a trick. If you have a Gmail account then it’s really easy to set up from there if you are logged in on a desktop. There’s also a really handy app you can use for set up and to keep the page constantly updated.
You can add photos and videos to your page and also create posts similar to posting on any social media platform. We all know that content is king in the world of marketing and google loves content. If you concentrate on keeping your GMB page updated then Google will reward you. This will assist you by moving you up the rankings of their search engine. Not only that, a GMB profile will add credibility to your business. And, if you make a little extra effort by asking your customers to leave you a review this will also build trust. We all know that trust is a key factor when it comes to making purchasing decisions.
If you don’t currently have a GMB page then you can easily set one up here: https://business.google.com/create
Email Marketing
Email marketing can play an important role in any business if done correctly. It is an essential tool for attracting and retaining customers. We will compare a couple of the most popular apps currently out there and free to use.
Mailchimp
If you run any sort of business Mailchimp has probably cropped up in conversation now and again. It’s packed with features which give you the ability to create and manage mailing lists, newsletters, automated campaigns and more. Mailchimp has a really intuitive interface which holds your hand throughout the whole process. This makes it really simple for even the most tech inept person.
Mailchimp has a fantastic free plan that is perfect for most small businesses. You can send up to 10,000 emails per month to up to 2,000 contacts.
Mailerlite
Mailerlite is a worthy competitor to Mailchimp and is similar software to help create marketing emails and newsletters. Some businesses are leaning towards it because it’s aimed at the smaller business sector and solopreneurs. The features are simple and use a step-by-step approach to completing tasks. It has an abundance of in-app help and digital marketing tips.
It also has enough features for businesses that prioritise email marketing and want to create complex campaigns to drive significant return on investment.
The only drawback is that it doesn’t include any templates in its free plan. You therefore have to spend a bit of time designing and laying out your emails. Its interface isn’t the most attractive we’ve seen but if you can get past that you’ll find a user-friendly solution.
Mailerlite’s free plan is excellent and includes 12,000 emails per month to up to 1,000 subscribers. You can also use the full segmentation, subscriber management, form building, and autoresponder functionality.
How on point branding can help your businessBranding Tools
Effective branding can promote recognition for your business. If your brand is consistent and easy to recognise, it can help people feel more at east purchasing from you. It’s so easy now to create a strong brand for your business with lots of tools at hand and here we will compare some of the popular ones.
Adobe Spark
Spark is a great piece of software to help you create graphics with impact for your website, social media posts, photos, videos and more. You can access a handy mobile app so you can design anything on the go.
It’s so easy to use as you are guided through the image creation process. The built-in design tools will ensure you end up with a good-looking design that’s properly balanced. There are even features that help you choose the right colour schemes and fonts, add filters, and much more.
Spark has been built with beginners in mind. A lot of their other software offerings have fairly steep learning curves. However, Spark has been minimised to the bare essentials, so it’s accessible for all.
Adobe offers three different pricing tiers for Spark. There is a free version, as well as two paid versions. However, if you use the free version you cannot remove the Adobe branding that’s added to all Spark created content.
Canva
We currently use Canva to create some of our graphics and absolutely love its ease of use and abundance of free content. It has a really intuitive drag and drop interface with a ton of templates for those who aren’t confident starting from scratch.
You will find a library of templates, images, shapes, icons, charts and more. If you’re a beginner in terms of graphic design then Canva is definitely worth exploring. The software can help you be creative for any area of your business and the list of designs that you can create are endless. From social media posts, flyers, business cards and logos to videos, newsletters, postcards, invoices and so much more.
The free plan has enough content to support most small businesses. If you’re looking to share designs and branding within a team then an upgrade to one of their paid plans would need to be considered.
We hope you’ve enjoyed our three-part blog discussing some of the free software that can support Start-ups, Entrepreneurs and anyone in Business. If you’ve missed the prequals to this blog please have a read of part 1 and part 2.
As always if you need any help or advice then please don’t hesitate to contact us.