In today’s competitive market, small businesses have it the hardest when it comes to exposure. Luckily, marketing tools for small businesses exist to perform diverse functions, such as keyword research, brand monitoring, email automation, and more — all to boost brand awareness, scale small companies, and increase revenue.
But how do you choose the right tool for your small business? Don’t worry — in this article, we’ll go over the 12 best marketing tools for small businesses, their features, pricing, and pros & cons.
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Top 12 Marketing Tools for Small Businesses
Every company, whether a small business SEO agency or a large marketing firm, uses different business marketing tools to improve their online advertising. Today, the top 12 software for the job are:
1. Google Analytics
One of the best marketing tools for small businesses is unarguably Google Analytics. It is completely free software that provides insights and an overview of website traffic and engagement. It also helps track and analyze customer data.
What sets Google Analytics apart from other small business marketing tools is its being highly customizable. One of its best integrations is Google Search Console, also a free digital marketing tool, that optimizes your website and helps identify problems.
Google Analytics can help you with:
- The number of website visitors (sort by day, week, month, or any chosen time)
- PPC ads (pay-per-click)
- Source of the website visitors (can be organic search, referrals, social, direct, or ads)
- Keywords used to find the website
- Users’ interests and demographics
- The time spent on the website and the pages visited
- These insights are helpful for website optimization and highlight the areas to focus on.
Category: Web analytics service
Key Features:
- eCommerce tracking
- Landing pages
- Web traffic reporting
- Customer analysis
Pricing:
- Free
- Paid version with Google Analytics 360 that depends on different factors and the certified reseller
Pros:
- Free to use
- Provides detailed reports
- Allows managing multiple platforms from one place
Cons:
- Takes time to adjust to using it
- Google may do data sampling from your information
2. HubSpot
HubSpot is a one-stop marketing tool that brings marketing channels together, allowing you to handle multiple campaigns. Much like inbound marketing agencies, HubSpot helps you create valuable content to drive traffic and offers lead-generation solutions and a valuable CRM tool.
As one of the top online marketing tools for small businesses, HubSpot includes free and paid sales hubs, customer service hubs, content management, and learning resources. It has optimized templates for landing pages, along with other features such as user action events and live chats. These features can amplify engagement and conversion rates.
Additional features include:
- Optimized Landing Pages
- Content Optimizations Tools
- Email Templates
- Lead Capture Forms
- Lead Management
- Marketing Automation
- Social Media Management
- Analytics Reports
- Schedule Sales Meetings
- Live Chats with Visitors
While the full version is expensive, small businesses or startups can begin with a free or basic package. However, overall content management is only available through a paid platform.
Category: Marketing and CRM software
Key Features:
- CRM integration
- HubSpot AI
- Enhanced personalization
- Multichannel marketing
Pricing:
- Free
- Starter at $20/month per seat
- Professional at $890/month with 3 seats
- Enterprise at $3,600/month with 5 seats
Pros:
- Over 1,500 integrations
- Easy to use
- Separate education section to learn how to use the tool
Cons:
- A bit expensive for small businesses
- Customizing email templates requires prior CSS knowledge
3. Zoho
We placed Zoho on our list of the top marketing tools for small businesses simply because of its all-in-one marketing solution. It features tools that target different sections, from sales and marketing to legal management. Its integrations include Canva, Facebook LinkedIn lead ads, and Zoho CRM for marketing automation.
Further, brands can get an overview of their marketing campaigns with Zoho Campaigns, Zoho SalesIQ, Zoho Social, and Zoho marketing hub.
The tool encapsulates productivity tools, customer experience monitoring, human resources, reporting, and analysis. Other features include creating landing pages, reporting capabilities, capturing and managing contacts, and building automated marketing campaigns.
Its pricing differs depending on the product. However, Zoho Campaigns have a free version that allows you to send emails to up to 500 contacts.
Category: Business management and productivity software
Key Features:
- All-in-one social media management
- Creating and tracking email campaigns
- Online website builder
- Landing page builder
Pricing:
- Depends on the Zoho tool you want to use
Pros:
- Truly an all-in-one business management solution
- Allows customization
- Sales automation allows for streamlining operations
Cons:
- Dashboards are not very user-friendly
- AI tools need improvement
4. Trello
What makes Trello one of the best online marketing tools for small businesses is that it’s a brainstorming and project management platform largely built around Kanban boards. It helps create a digital marketing plan and editorial calendars and is ideal for visual thinking aspects.
It helps individuals and teams collaborate and share ideas effortlessly through functions like notecards for article topics or marketing campaigns. These cards let users take notes, write instructions, update project status, and assign tasks to people.
Category: Productivity software
Key Features:
- Project management through boards, cards, and lists
- Assigning tasks to different members via cards which may have deadlines
Pricing:
- Free
- Standard at $6/per month
- Premium at $12.5/per month
- Enterprise which depends on the number of users
Pros:
- Real-time updates
- Excellent use of the Kanban model
- Affordable
Cons:
- Limited chance to customize
- Offline alerts need improvement
5. Ahrefs
Ahrefs helps brands rank higher on search engines by providing insights into their customers, competitors, and the industry. This is among the marketing tools for small businesses that can identify millions of keywords and topics, ranking difficulties, and traffic potential.
It can help enhance performance and identify gaps through rank tracking and website audits. Ahrefs also lets you check keyword rankings on desktop and mobile.
Its most popular tools include:
- Site Audit
- Keywords Explorer
- Rank Tracker
- Content Explorer
- Backlink Checker
- Alerts
- Site Explorer
Category: SEO & SEM
Key Features:
- Site audits
- Rank tracking
- Backlink analysis
- Keyword analysis
Pricing:
- Starter at $29/month
- Lite at $129/month
- Standard at $249/month
- Advanced at $449/month
- Enterprise at $14,990/year
Pros:
- A comprehensive SEO tool
- Page content quality and word count analysis
- Conducts competitor research to give more info on traffic and backlink profile
Cons:
- Expensive for small businesses
- PPC features need more robust improvements
6. MailChimp
Considering there are over 4.4 billion email users, we have to consider email marketing. Hence, our list of the best marketing tools for small businesses includes MailChimp. This tool helps brands communicate with their customers, clients, stakeholders, and other parties effectively.
Regardless of the business size, this software works well for a simple digital marketing tool or an advanced solution. Its best features include brand emails, building landing pages, designing digital ads, and more. MailChimp also has over 250 app integrations, which unlock additional features.
Other MailChimp features include:
- Email Capture
- Email Automation and Scheduling
- Engagement Data
- Segmentation and Personalization
- Website Traffic Tracking
- Drip Campaign Design
- Widespread Software Integrations
- Audience Insights
- Predictive Insights
- CRM Tools
The pricing plans may vary. Businesses may choose from monthly billing or credit depending on the use. Its basic service is free for businesses that have less than 2,000 subscribers.
Category: Email marketing and automation software
Key Features:
- Branded emails
- Building land pages
- Designing digital ads
Pricing:
- Free
- Essentials at $13/month for 500 contacts
- Standard* at $20/month for 500 contacts
- Premium* at $350/month for 10,000 contacts
*Customers can increase the number of contacts which will influence the price
Pros:
- Gets content from WordPress website
- Constantly introduces new features to improve the service
- Easy to use
Cons:
- No yearly email schedules
- A bit expensive for small businesses
7. Slack
Slack is a team collaboration software that helps with easy communication for cross-platform teams. It features easy data-sharing options and message search options, making it more efficient than emails. Such transparency may even help wave off unnecessary meetings.
Communications on Slack run on #channels, so individual or specific team conversations remain uninterrupted and segregated. Slack can also integrate project and office management functions, productivity, sales, design, and developer tools. This makes it one of the top business marketing tools that enable marketers to manage every marketing aspect.
Category: Communication and collaboration software
Key Features:
- Channel organization
- Workflow builder
- Video meetings
- Slack AI
Pricing:
- Free
- Pro at $8.75/month
- Business+ at $15/month
- Enterprise Grid has a custom price
Pros:
- Efficient communication via channels
- A comprehensive chat feature
- Integrates with over 2,600 apps
Cons:
- Random updates without notice
- Voice recording transcripts are not entirely accurate
8. Hootsuite
Hootsuite allows you to handle social media activities more easily with its bundle of business marketing tools, such as its post-scheduling tool, analytics, and monitoring features. It also helps manage time, resources, and operations effectively which can considerably streamline workflows and inefficiencies.
Hootsuite also offers advanced reporting solutions to ensure social media campaigns are working effectively. You can also track brand mentions and manage responses on a single dashboard.
Its integrations include Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Twitter, LiveChat, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and WhatsApp business API.
Category: Marketing expense
Key Features:
- Social media analytics
- AI content creation
- Engagement tools
- Social advertising
Pricing:
- Professional at $99/month
- Team at $249/month
- Enterprise has a custom price
Pros:
- Great customer support
- Easy to use
- Targets the desired audience
Cons:
- Expensive for small businesses
- The reporting interface may require a learning curve
9. BuzzSumo
Content marketing requires in-depth research, and this is where an all-around tool like BuzzSumo comes in. It is a comprehensive content marketing tool that connects influencers with companies. This platform is an excellent solution for firms that don’t know how to reach their audience.
It helps discover content ideas and data insights, view past trending topics, and identify passionate influencers on social media. Plus, BuzzSumo shows content trending across social media channels based on the searched topics. This search helps analyze the results to emphasize the appealing aspects of the current topics and shortlist interesting ideas to write about.
Category: Content discovery, content curation, and influencer marketing
Key Features:
- Keyword Research
- Influencer Search
- Crises Management
- Content Analysis
- Brand Monitoring Tools
- Topic-Based Social Media Feeds
Pricing:
- Content Creation at $199/month
- PR & Comms at $299/month
- Suite at $499/month
- Enterprise at $999/month
Pros:
- Provides insights about different types of content
- Conducts good competitor analysis
- User-friendly
Cons:
- Expensive for small businesses
- No data for every social media platform
10. Canva
Graphic design is a must for all new businesses because it’s a prominent aspect that drives significant results. And what better business marketing tool for that than Canva?
Canva helps create appealing visual content with various tools and templates, which is useful for firms with short-term projects or those that can’t afford a graphic designer. It allows you to create social media posts, infographics, business e-cards, e-books, marketing posters, and so much more.
Businesses with a small budget can use templates and photos from the Canva library with the premium version. Canva works on a simple drag-and-drop feature, which makes it easy to use even for amateurs. It also includes photo editing features, font combinations, color palettes, and custom images.
Category: Graphic design
Key Features:
- Image enhancer
- Video background remover
- Curved text generator
- Instant animation
Pricing:
- Free
- Canva Pro at $120/year for one person
- Canva Teams at $100/year per person (minimum requirement of 3 people)
Pros:
- Thousands of templates to choose from
- Free and easy to use
- Easy to share across different platforms
Cons:
- AI-generated photos need improvement
- All graphics are created on a thin line between new content and breaching intellectual property rights
11. Yoast
Another excellent business marketing tool is Yoast. It helps with keyword research and topics for content optimization and offers a free version making it an ideal option for small businesses and startups.
It assists with keyword placement, improves readability, and flags problem areas that require improvement. The paid version allows adding keywords, searching for semantic keywords within the plugin, and getting instant internal link suggestions, insights, and more.
Category: SEO
Key Features:
- AI-generated meta titles and descriptions
- Schema integrations
- Inclusive language analysis
- Replacement of complex words
Pricing:
- Free
- Yoast Pro at €99/year
Pros:
- Very affordable
- Easy to use
- Accurate keyword findings
Cons:
- Limited support
- Adds a lot of unnecessary code to your WordPress page
12. Mangools
Mangools is a comprehensive suite of SEO tools that is great, accurate, and cost-effective, making it perfect for small businesses. It includes KWFinder which allows users to use a seed keyword and get endless suggestions, trends, search volume data, and a ranking difficulty score for each one.
With Mangools you can also track your ranking on SERPs and find good backlinks you can use to boost them. Additionally, it offers competitor analysis so small businesses learn a few tricks to beat the competition.
Category: SEO
Key Features:
- Keyword research
- SERP analysis and rank tracking
- Backlink analysis
- Share of search option
Pricing:
- Mangools Entry at $29/month
- Mangools Basic at $49/month
- Mangools Premium at $69/month
- Mangools Agency at $129/month
Pros:
- Affordable
- Easy to navigate the dashboard
- Useful keyword data
Cons:
- The info from a competitor analysis needs to be more in-depth
- Lacks bulk exports and comparison features
Small Business Marketing Tools – Key Takeaways
Surviving in the current industry requires businesses to be proficient with the latest strategies, practices, and tools, as well as offer on-demand marketing services. The above-mentioned marketing tools for small businesses amplify benefits, are affordable, and are user-friendly.
For a start, we suggest beginners opt for the free version which can be upgraded once you are comfortable. And if you need help navigating the world of online marketing, turn to the best digital marketing agencies for small businesses. They’ll help you leverage the use of these tools to their full potential.
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