When you're launching a startup business, there are hundreds of tools out there to help you with your productivity and marketing. These tools will not only make your life that much easier, but they are also crucial to stay competitive in today’s digital world. Utilizing the right online tools is key when it comes to marketing for a startup, but with hundreds available, the question becomes - which ones should you choose?
To help you get started, here are five of some of the best free online tools we recommend:
1. Facebook
It may be obvious, but you need to use social media to maximize your online presence in today’s virtually-dependent world! If you’re asking which platform to focus on, you’ll want to figure out who you want to target for your startup business and find out where they hang out.
For example, Instagram or TikTok might be ideal if you’re targeting millennials and Gen Z’s, and if the services you provide has potential marketability to the many eyes scrolling through these feeds. However, for most cases, Facebook is the most accessible way for the public to find and learn about your business. Not only is it free, but almost every person has access to it.
While organic reach is also free and can result in a large reach depending how you engage, buying Facebook promotions can be effective on a competitive platform as such. You will eventually want to invest in campaign ads. But first, the next on the list should help with your online marketing strategies.
2. Hootsuite
When marketing for a startup, social media presence is extremely valuable. That is why being able to connect all your social media accounts in one platform will be to your advantage. With Hootsuite, you can strategically schedule your posts, keep track of the engagements, as well as follow the metrics on how they perform. This will help you learn which content is most effective with your audience. There is a free 30 day trial to get you started and then you have the option of purchasing one of their plans.
3. ClickUp
Of the many project management tools available, our team operates on ClickUp because it's customizable, simple, and easy to use. You can start a task, assign a due date, add other team members, communicate across tasks, and attach documents or files. You can also give clients access to the project so they can watch the progress.
While some project management tools are either too simple or incredibly complex, ClickUp can be customized to fit to your particular team's needs. You can have a bird's eye-view of what everyone is working on, prioritize tasks, organize, plan, and collaborate.
ClickUp aims to eliminate inefficiencies caused by using multiple task management tools and increase productivity by providing one platform that does it all. In one of their blog posts, they state, "We believe you shouldn’t have to perform two clicks in places where you could just perform one. You shouldn’t have to use multiple platforms and solutions when you could just use one." ClickUp continues to provide innovative improvements to offer the perfect user experience.
4. Zoom
A popular way of connecting even before it became a household commodity during the pandemic. Video chats today are much more normalized (especially with younger generations) and proven to be an improved way to connect with potential clients as an alternative to phone calls or texts.
Some people may also be uncomfortable giving out their phone numbers upon inquiring about your startup business. With Zoom, all you would need is share a join link. It’s free for everyone and is simple to use.
5. Hubspot
An alternative if you want to avoid relying on promotional emails or spam when marketing for a startup. Hubspot comes with a free CRM software which can quickly assist in finding leads by staying connected with all your potential customers. You can set up sales automation using a variety of tools including third parties, automated customizable workflow that’ll respond to your potential customer’s actions when they’re browsing your website.
There’s a free version that offers an already wide variety of features for communicating with your customers, and you can always go for the standard or higher later on to get more functionalities.
There are of course hundreds of other tools out there that will also help when it comes to your startup business. You can’t go wrong with Wordpress when it comes to building your website. From Wave for accounting, Square for simplifying sales to things like Tailor Brands when you’re designing the logo for your startup business.
The top 5 we’ve provided above are what worked for us and some of our clients when building a business. Once they’ve helped you with early strategizing and landing some leads, you can experiment with the many other helpful tools out there to find which ones fit your workflow. Best of luck!
Article by Richard Walsh
As a certified inbound and content marketer, Richard believes in the need to create high-quality compelling content, that drives engagement and interaction. Richard has been developing brands and high-quality web experiences since 2001. Book a meeting with Richard to talk about your branding and marketing efforts.
