It’s virtually impossible to accomplish your marketing goals without the right tools. In today’s digital landscape, there is a huge selection of marketing apps that can take your business to the next level. Take a look at the 10 best apps for small business marketing.
1. Enji®
Unlike some marketing tools from the past that required you to be constantly logged in and actively working, Enji works with you to develop a plan and then uses AI to put that plan into motion. Enji also offers different services, allowing you to focus on what you know works for your small business. For instance, if you want to focus primarily on social media marketing, check out the free social media scheduler. If you want a more extensive online marketing approach, you can access the full suite of marketing services for $29 per month.
Pricing: Options range from $0 to $29 per month. A free trial is available as well.
Website: https://www.enji.co/
2. Canva®
Canva has seemingly limitless applications in marketing. You can use it to create eye-catching Instagram posts or devise your new logo. Its pre-built templates keep the platform usable even for small business owners or marketers with minimal graphic design experience. It also comes with integrated social media sharing tools so you can go right to Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter with your stunning new visuals.
Pricing: Canva offers a free introductory tier. Its Pro tier costs $120 per year per user while the Business tier costs $200 per year per person. Canva also offers an Enterprise tier that allows you to build a suite of services designed for your needs, though you need to contact Canva for pricing information.
Website: https://www.canva.com/
3. Zoho Marketing Plus®
Zoho is one of the most popular names in small business management, thanks to the huge suite of products it offers. Within that framework, you’ll find Zoho Marketing Plus, which offers a comprehensive approach that allows you to market across multiple platforms. No matter what type of business you’re running, Zoho has the tools you need. From scheduled social media posts to surveys and webinars, every small business owner may be able to find the right tools with Zoho Marketing Plus.
Pricing: Prices range from $25 and include a free 14-day trial.
Website: https://www.zoho.com/marketingplus
4. Facebook Ads Manager®
Facebook is still the most widely used social media platform in the world. If your business hopes to have an online presence, you should consider advertising on Facebook, which offers an Ads Manager. It is a simple tool where you can create and manage your Facebook ads. You can view, make changes, and see results for all of your Facebook campaigns.
With Ads Manager, you can:
- Create ad campaigns: Design ads in a step-by-step process. You can identify your marketing objective, the people you want to reach, the places to show your ad, and the ad format.
- Manage multiple ads at once and duplicate them.
- See how your ads perform with up-to-date data.
Pricing: Varies depending on campaign.
Website: https://www.facebook.com/business
5. Klaviyo®
As a small business owner, forming relationships with potential clients while fostering existing bonds is crucial. Eighty-eight percent of consumers say that trust is important when they’re choosing a brand, and the best way to build trust is through relationships. Klaviyo uses real-time data from your business to create and manage marketing strategies, using AI to service and grow relationships with your customer base. Klaviyo’s software may be integrated with more than 350 other apps to ensure that you’re providing accurate data.
Pricing: Plans range from $0 to $2,300 per month.
Website: https://www.klaviyo.com/
6. YouTube Studio®
YouTube Studio is a great tool for engaging your audience and finding new followers. Its analytics tools will show you how effective your videos are at reaching people and provide actionable insights. You’ll also get customization tools with which you can alter your YouTube channel to include your branding and other key materials.
Pricing: YouTube Studio is free.
Website: https://studio.youtube.com/
7. MailChimp®
MailChimp has been helping businesses get clicks, opens, and sales for more than two decades. By combining email and SMS services, MailChimp reports a 30x ROI for companies that subscribe to the standard plan. Much like some of the other options on our list, MailChimp can be integrated with more than 300 other platforms, allowing you to capture data from customers and clients no matter what platform they’re using.
Pricing: There’s a Free tier that allows you 250 monthly contacts while other plans range in cost from $13 per month to $297.50 per month. Both the Essentials and Standard packages come with a 14-day free trial.
Website: https://mailchimp.com/
8. Adobe Photoshop®
Adobe Photoshop is the industry standard for advanced graphics editing. It can play a vital part in helping your company create ads and other marketing materials with compelling photos. It also has numerous applications in logo development and other visual marketing needs.
Pricing: Adobe Photoshop costs $22.99 per month for the single-app Photoshop plan.
Website: https://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop.html
9. Drip®
Drip is one of the newer names in the online marketing industry, but that makes it one of the best choices for small businesses. The company isn’t trying to position itself as one of the biggest or most popular marketing companies, choosing instead to offer personalized services based on the needs of each small business, aiming to start what Drip calls a “digital marketing revolution.”
With a heavy focus on email marketing, Drip gathers and organizes customer data, allowing small-business owners to create a personalized, omnichannel journey for each customer. With more than 6,000 brands already on board, Drip is making a fast impact in the digital marketing world.
Pricing: Prices start at $39 per month.
Website: https://www.drip.com/
10. Google Analytics®
Information is the most important part of any marketing campaign, and Google Analytics provides some of the most accurate, real-time data in the world of digital marketing. By evaluating your company’s website and other platforms and then thoroughly analyzing customer behavior when they interact with your company’s online presence, Google Analytics provides the data that you need to make decisions with customers in mind. Not only has Google Analytics shown to speed up reporting time for small businesses, but a testimonial on the website reports that one business improved its conversion rate by 18x.
Pricing: Free
Website: https://marketingplatform.google.com/about/analytics/
How can marketing help small businesses?
Marketing is essential for small businesses because it:
- Helps grow your audience. Marketing is the process of raising awareness of your products and services while attracting customers to your business. If you neglect to make marketing efforts, you might artificially limit your customer base and face revenue challenges.
- Develops your customer relationships. Marketing targets both potential and current customers. When it focuses more on those already buying from you, it can result in increased customer loyalty. This loyalty results in more sales, each of which costs far less to obtain than purchases from new customers.
- Establishes your brand. The more you get your business out there, the more people engage with your company. This increased level of interaction spreads brand awareness and can help you determine what is and isn’t working about your logo, brand voice, and other branding concerns.
- Establishes a content cycle. Creating your own unique content and sharing that of others is important to spreading the word about your offerings. Marketing inevitably involves this content creation along with the sharing of content from other channels. This content cycle results in a continuous stream of material that keeps new and longtime customers engaged with your company.
- Manages your social media. Your business’s Facebook®, Twitter®, Instagram®, LinkedIn® and TikTok® are inevitably part of the above content cycle. As such, marketing is great for managing your social media posts. In fact, many marketing apps are social media management tools that allow you to schedule posts promoting your content. As you share this content and market your company, your social media presence will appeal more strongly to customers.
- Enhances project management. Internally, implementing marketing strategies results in the development of project management workflows that you can use for all types of projects. Once you’ve set up a series of steps and a chain of command for marketing projects, you can adapt that workflow to your product development, inventory management, and other processes.
- Streamlines communication among team members. You can’t successfully market your company without several people working together and discussing the steps they’ve taken. Marketing thus develops internal communication channels. These channels can become important for everything from project management to just casually chatting with co-workers. Having a channel for the latter can result in a positive company culture.
FAQs
Do I need multiple marketing apps, or can one platform handle most of my needs?
Depending on the marketing app that you choose, you may be able to get all of the services you need in a single app. Many modern online marketing apps combine email marketing, social media posts, and CRM data in one place. If you decide to use multiple apps, be sure to choose those that integrate well with one another.
What marketing apps are best for attracting local customers or nearby clients?
Marketing apps that focus on SEO, online reviews, and location-based ads are the best when it comes to attracting local customers. Social media apps with geographic targeting also help promote offers to people in your service area. The best tools make it easy to track local engagement and digital foot traffic.
Are marketing apps difficult to set up if I don’t have a marketing background?
Most modern marketing apps are designed for people who don’t have extensive training in marketing. Not only do they typically include a guided setup and tutorials, but most of them offer templates that allow you to simply plug in your company’s information. From there, the app does most of the work for you. Many apps provide data and information about how you can make some changes to your marketing strategy to either pivot away from what’s not working or focus more on what is.
How do I know if a marketing app is really helping my business grow?
Reputable marketing apps provide analytics that help you get a detailed look at what’s working and what isn’t. If an app isn’t helping your business grow, look for ways to change your strategy, or consider moving on to another app. Since most marketing apps operate on a monthly subscription, you can make a change whenever you see that something isn’t working.
