Even if your company publishes high-quality content on a regular basis that's effective enough to get leads, there's always room for improvement, after all, content matters. Besides that, you also need ways to promote your brand, measure the ROI and continuously research buyer search trends. Marketing Insider Group writes that free marketing tools help with this, and some of the names may be familiar. Remember that all usually offer free and paid options, so you can start simple and build up from there as your budget allows.
Free Online Marketing Tools
One of the best-known free marketing tools online is Google Keyword Planner, and it is easy to use. It helps users find the best search engine optimization keywords (SEO) to use in their online content. These keywords make posted information more relevant to specific search queries; with the right ones, your content will rank higher on Google search results pages (SERPs). You can find this planner through the Google Ads homepage: set up an account and then click on "Tools and Settings."
SEMRush is also free to start and provides keyword research as well. It also has other tools for domain analysis, tracking, and backlink research. You can use all of these for your main page, other pages, and blog posts. If you're interested in doing more with SEMRush, you can always customize the plan you've chosen. If your writing and grammar skills aren't as good as you want them to be, Grammarly can polish up your content on your website, social media, emails, and important documents.
More Free Marketing Tools
If you want to extend your marketing efforts to social media, Hootsuite is a great way to get started. This platform manages all your channels and offers live chat, SMS, and other features. You can join Hootsuite for free, but you'll be limited to one user, two social accounts, and five scheduled messages. Duct Tape Marketing recommends Canva, which helps users create professional-grade, free marketing design tools. It also lets you connect and publish on social media channels; the free versions provide access to some good premade templates.
Many companies develop their brand identities through Facebook business pages, and you should not overlook the effectiveness of Facebook as a free marketing tool. WordStream explains that the pages allow companies to identify themselves through listings of what they offer, plus images, links, and posts on the highly customizable pages. It's also an excellent place to share videos, links, and social media images; they also offer paid ads.
Instagram differs from Facebook, and you can also see it as a free marketing tool. You'll need to create an account and work hard to establish a strong presence. This process involves creating a bio consisting of just 150 characters that should revolve around your SEO strategy. Since Instagram is a highly visual platform, this is the area of concentration. Include appropriate links and hashtags, and interact with users daily, as this will help you update your strategy and gain more followers.
Three More for the Road
You can also manage your marketing activities with free tools like Asana. Its software is designed to manage marketing projects in more simplified ways, so everyone involved will be clear on their responsibilities, workflows, approvals, and deadlines. There's no charge for their basic plan, and their business plan is currently priced at $24.99 per user per month.
Yoast also gets good reviews because of its helpful free version. It teaches users the secrets of SEO by showing them where there is room for improvement. It indicates where to insert keywords and ways to improve readability. Finally, there is Slack, a collaboration platform that allows teams to integrate their work through message search options and data sharing. Like the other tools, the free plans have limitations, and you can always upgrade to access more features.