The Best Small Business Marketing Tools - Cheat Sheet

By:
Declan
November 26, 2022

With today’s crowded market, small businesses need a way to stand out from the crowd—this is where the marketing department takes the lead. Every business has shifted toward digital marketing now as it makes spreading the word about a brand ten times easier. 

However, the digital marketing arena is packed with tools, platforms, and systems offering everything you can think of, so it’s no wonder users get overwhelmed by the options that exist. Keeping up with all the novelties and finding what fits your needs is often not only time-consuming, but it doesn’t provide you with the right option. 

So how do you find the best tool suitable for you? 

Fortunately, we did our research and created this shortlist of useful digital marketing platforms that many small businesses can relate to. 

Read our cheat sheet to learn more about what these digital platforms are, what they do, how you can benefit from them, and their price. At the same time, we offer some alternatives that you may find better serve your needs.

For your Copywriting & Content Needs…

Content creation is not an easy task; it requires writing skills and engaging the creative side to produce content that will be eye-catching. And while many think that it is simple, not many know that writer’s blocks are a frequent challenge to overcome.

So how can copywriters and content writers help themselves when they face a writer’s blockage? Or maybe you are dangerously approaching deadlines and desperately need help. 

Enter AI technology and content assistants!

These assistants will deliver content fast in a crucial time. Let’s see what the top digital tool for copywriting and content assisting is.

Jasper.AI 

Use cutting-edge AI technology and let this robotic writing assistant provide original and fast content. Jasper AI is an excellent companion when facing creator blocks or fast-approaching deadlines. Plagiarism-free and accurately written original content are the perks of this high-end tool. 

Jasper offers a clean, simple, and user-friendly interface that allows easy navigation and supports over 25 languages. There is a bundle of excellent pre-written templates that any user can find useful. From emails to blogs, website copy, and social captions, Jasper is known for the hours it can save you to complete the work. 

Providing content 10x faster than any writer can manage, Jasper is also a great assistant that can help boost your social media engagement. Creating posts regularly to keep your audience engaged can be tiresome; however, using Jasper will make the whole content creation process much easier. 

Jasper AI offers three pricing plans targeting different writing options. The Starter plan begins at $29 per month ($24 if billed annually) and is intended for hobbyists. The $59/month Boss mode ($49 annually) is great for content marketers and bloggers. Teams and agencies who have a lot of demand for content should opt for a Business plan with a customizable price.

Trusted Outsourced Option

If Jasper AI does not meet your requirements and you are looking for human assistance, Fiverr may be helpful. They offer numerous freelance services to aid the smooth running of your business. 

Choose from website design to content creation, WordPress, video editing, and much more. 

Fiverr has a diverse selection of experts and professionals that can help in the content department. One highly recommended blog post writer is bookfordshire – a professional editor, ghostwriter, and copywriter specializing in literature and linguistics and the creation of educational content and resources.

Another high-ranking professional from Fiverr is anthonycheadle, who specializes in blog posts and website content. A researcher and editor that possesses technical expertise, this expert is a great option for tech startups, Metaverse companies, cryptocurrency businesses, and more.

For your SEO Needs…

Making the business website visible is what every company is aiming for. A good SEO ranking means appearing in top search listings, which leads to more website traffic. Additionally, it presents opportunities to convert prospective visitors into loyal customers.

But how does one become a top-ranking company on search engines? Simple—with a little help from tools that know Search Engine Optimization. 

Not everyone is familiar with the ins and outs of SEO, how important website traffic quality and quantity are and how to improve it. This is where the use of SEO tools comes in handy to help target the right audience. 

Below we have placed the best SEO tools on the market that you can use to boost your online ranking.

Surfer 

Surfer is one of the top available SEO tools on the market that can help improve your SEO content. To understand what content you’ll need to create to outrank competitors, Surfer examines the ranking of the best pages and the given keywords. It’s a tool that may be used by anyone and is widely favored by SEO specialists to improve content. 

This cloud-based on-page optimization tool offers data-driven analysis and provides what is missing on your site or page. Aside from comparing your site with the sites trending currently on SERPs, it comes with a clean and easy-to-use UI and numerous helpful features.

Surfer offers three price plans to choose from. The Basic plan starts at $49 per month, Pro for $99 per month, and Business for $199 per month – all billed annually. If you are just starting, you can use the Free plan, which comes with some limited options.

Google Search Console

Google Search Console is a free tool that helps monitor, maintain, and correct your website's presence in Google Search results. It basically assists you in understanding how Google sees your website and helps you improve it. 

This tool is widely used by SEO specialists, marketers, web developers, site administrators, and even business owners. It helps to create a sight that will shine in SERPs by measuring the search traffic and performance. And the best of it all, this tool is completely free!

Trusted Outsourced Option

We have provided a free and paid option to improve your site’s SEO rankings, but there are always other alternatives you can consider. Below are some outsourcing options for Surfer and Google Search Console that you might want to try out.

Fiverr

Being one of the biggest platforms offering freelance services, Fiverr has a list of highly skilled and experienced SEO experts who can help with all CRM and email marketing needs. 

One of the recommended Fiverr experts having extensive experience with digital marketing agencies is jacob21. He uses his expertise to reach targets by offering expert SEO audit reporting and monthly services, video reviews and analysis of competitors’ websites. Other skills include on-page SEO, keyword research, link building, and website analysis.

For your CRM & Email Marketing Needs…

Mailchimp

Mailchimp is an excellent tool that offers great features for basic conversion with automation. With proper eCommerce nurture flows, simple customer timelines, and segmenting, a business can target the right customers and boost customer loyalty.

There is a possibility of gauging the email effectiveness through the provided reporting allowing you to make necessary adjustments. It has an easy-to-use email interface and is a cheap platform when compared to enterprise competitors. 

You can opt for a free forever package with limitations or choose one of the three available paid plans. Select the Essential for a starting price of $11/month, the Standard plan starting at $17/month, or go big and select the Premium starting at $299/month.

Hubspot

Hubspot is a great tool you can use for cross channel attribution, view customer timelines, build email campaigns and optimize your SEO content for your business. 

This marketing software is a slightly pricier content management tool that allows you to measure the real ROI. Begin with the Starter plan starting at $45/month and upgrade to the Professional ($800) or Enterprise ($3600), depending on your needs. 

Use more in-depth automation, timelines, lists, reporting, and customer segmenting, to improve your SEO ranking. At the same time, supercharge your business email marketing through integrations with platforms like Zapier, Twilio, and others.

It integrates seamlessly with GoogleAds, LinkedIn Ads, and Facebook Ads and offers reporting ROAS of the business marketing activity. Simply put, it shines in simple cross-channel attribution.

For your Social Posting Needs…

Having a business in an era of social media is challenging as that is where all the marketing happens. The audience is constantly hungry for more content which needs to be creative and engaging. 

That is why it’s important to keep the content coming. And the simplest way is by using some of the tools we’ve presented below.

Meta Business Suite

This free tool is a great way to save time by integrating Instagram, Facebook, and messaging tools. It provides businesses with better results and helps create more connections, with the organic insights section and social scheduling being introduced recently.

Meta Business Suite allows the creation of ads and scheduled posts across platforms while, at the same time, businesses can track insights and trends.

Later

Later is a social media management platform with a solid user interface that allows you to analyze, plan, and publish your content in advance. With a Starter plan at an affordable $18/month and two other more advanced pricing plans, it offers great insights and a useful set of photo editing tools.

You can choose to post on your Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest accounts, but the strongest emphasis is on Instagram. Later has a built-in link-in-bio feature (rivalling Linktree) that may be used for all social networks.

For your Website Building Needs…

As we said, online presence is essential in today's era, which is why businesses should have their own website. Building a website is a time-consuming task that requires knowledge and dedication. To reduce the stress and get your site up and running in no time, luckily, some platforms can help. 

Webflow

Webflow is a popular and highly customizable website platform that is trusted by millions of designers, developers, and marketers. The UX ranks highly, as the platform offers powerful and easy-to-use features and numerous integrations.

Flexible website services are used by many, from freelancers to large enterprises. There is a slight learning curve to get Webflow up and running, but once it’s all set, you’ll discover that it is truly the future of web design. 

A free Starter Site plan offers users the option of trying out Webflow. To publish, host or unlock any other additional features offered by this platform, you’ll need to choose one of the three affordable paid plans: Basic ($14/month), CMS ($23/month), or Business ($39/month).

Squarespace

An ideal option for creating professional and creative websites, it has introduced some excellent off-the-shelf designed templates and useful additions to the editor. It is a great choice for small businesses that are just starting. 

Positioning itself as the website builder for online stores, bloggers, and portfolio sites, Squarespace has an intuitive interface. It requires no training to get started, but if you need assistance, you can always use the live chat support.

You can choose between one of the four pricing plans ranging between $16 and $49 per month, billed yearly.

For your Web Analytics Needs…

Analytics is essential if we want to keep track of traffic and engagement. While analytics has always been a difficult task, there are tools available today that can help make things simpler. And the best one of them is Google Analytics 4.

Google Analytics 4

This free platform offers real-time site analytics by measuring the traffic and engagement on your website and apps. It offers powerful insight with revenue and conversion tracking and data collection for understanding the customer journey.

It's a powerful tool that allows seamless integrations with other Google products, including Google Ads and Google Search Console. One of the many advantages, aside from it being a free tool, is access to tons of information and online classes that you will find useful.

laptop and tablet on table

For your Design & Graphics Needs…

Websites require textual and visual presentation of content; this is where graphic design comes in. Having a good product or offering good service is simply not enough – it’s not rare for a customer to choose a product just because of the label design. 

So to get customers’ attention here is more on the best tool to help you design the best logo – Canva.

Canva

Canva is one of the most talked about tools and is the simplest option for small businesses that cannot afford a graphic designer. A user-friendly and cost-effective option, it offers a great number of pre-made templates that may be adapted for any needed design. You can add some flare to any marketing material, posters, or social media graphics.

Individuals and small groups can use the free forever plan for their marketing needs. Those in need of more advanced features can upgrade to the Pro plan for $9.95/month (billed annually). 

But if you’re a large enterprise with advanced collaboration control needs, then Enterprise may be the best option. For $30 per user per month (billed annually), you can get access to everything Canva has to offer.

Trusted Outsourced Option

If Canva is not the tool you are looking for, there are always possibilities that you can outsource your graphic design to trusted partners. 

Fiverr

Finding the right collaboration partner is often difficult, but Fiver makes things much easier. In this freelancer pool, talents from a variety of industries in the world are right at your fingertips. There are experts in social media, logo design, WordPress, SEO, and other fields of interest. 

If you require visual and textual presentation of content, you can outsource this task to Fiverr. This platform can offer you the best graphic designers that will listen to your needs and bring your ideas to life. The years of experience in product label and packaging, fascinating foldable brochures, professional logos, and more speak for themselves.

Design Pickle 

A pricier outsourcing alternative to Canva is Design Pickle. Offering a choice of three paid plans, you can pay between $499 per month to as high as $1,695 per month, depending on your needs. 

This flat rate outsourced on-demand design team platform offers a great UI and access to several graphic designers. They will do anything from banners to media images, brochures, t-shirts, and more.

They have fast turnaround times and a very responsive, well-organized, and highly skilled team. Based on the offered quick briefs for designers (with a Slack integration also!), you will get what you asked for with the possibility of unlimited revisions.

Summing Up

Marketing may be one of the most demanding tasks for small businesses. Many are confused about where to start, but luckily some great digital tools can give the needed push forward.

With so many available marketing tools like Jasper, Canva, Hubspot, and Google Analytics, to name a few, things are much easier now to achieve the desired results and boost your small business on the market. But if you find these tools challenging, you can always turn to other options like freelance professionals. 

One way or another, marketing is key for increasing revenue and customer traffic. Give one of the suggested options a try and scale your business up in no time!