10 Digital Marketing Tools to Boost Your Small Business

Check out our compilation of 10 must have digital marketing tools for small businesses in 2022. Improve your marketing strategy with these top tools.

It can be challenging for small businesses to hire marketing help to plan, build, and implement a campaign. Not only is it a hefty investment, but it may not be where you need to prioritize your hiring efforts or budget at the moment.

That's where digital marketing tools come in handy. This blog will take you through what digital marketing tools are and why they're important. We'll also list some tools that are essential to small businesses.

What are digital marketing tools?

Digital marketing tools are apps and software that help you plan, collaborate, and implement your digital marketing strategy.

Whether you're planning a campaign, creating digital assets for social media, or tracking your results, digital marketing tools will help make your efforts more efficient and convenient.

For example, you don't need to spend hours making a video with a tool like Animoto. Digital marketing tools set you up for success and teach you along the way.

Why digital marketing tools are important

Nowadays, consumers no longer want to be sold to, they want to be informed.

If you think that's only true for online shoppers, prepare to be surprised. Even when visiting a store in person, 83% of shoppers said they did some online research beforehand.

Digital marketing tools are essential to small businesses because they help build your online presence without hiring someone to do the work.

Even without a degree or any training, these tools fill in the gaps so you can plan, build, and implement your own campaigns.

Below we'll outline 10 tools to help you grow your online marketing strategy.

10 essential marketing tools for a small business

1. HubSpot - inbound marketing and sales platform

Inbound marketing is intended to attract customers to your business by getting in front of them where they already are. It has a strong focus on content and delighting your customers so they become your advocates.

HubSpot offers a suite of marketing tools that keeps all of your content and data in one place. Manage your blog and social media, focus on SEO, track your digital advertising efforts, and more.

Additionally, you can pair HubSpot's marketing tools with its sales software to help build customer relationships using email templates and tracking, manage sales documents, create and send email sequences, and manage communications in the user-friendly CRM.

2. Google Analytics - web and marketing analytics

Like any goal, one of the most important parts of your marketing campaign is tracking your key metrics.

Google Analytics gives you an overview of your website's traffic to gain insight into who is visiting your site and which strategies work best.

Let's say you notice you're getting a lot of high-converting traffic from an Instagram campaign. You'll definitely want to spend more on Instagram ads instead of gambling on Facebook or Twitter.

You don't need to know exactly what you're doing to get started, but the sooner you activate it, the better. It will immediately start collecting valuable information that you can use to your advantage.

3. Google Ads - paid online advertising

Google Ads is the collective name for all the ads you see across the search engine.

These can be text-based ads in search results, images displayed on websites, video ads on YouTube, product listings within search results, and others that get a little more specific.

Here, you can manage everything to do with your ads. The Google Ads platform allows you to target by keyword, location, device, and so much more. That’s why they're an excellent way to get the right people on your website.

4. BuzzSumo - social media marketing

This content marketing tool will help you level up your content marketing strategy. BuzzSumo not only assists with content planning, but also helps to monitor content performance.

Additionally, you can use BuzzSumo to help you identify the best influencers to team up with—beyond who has the most likes and follows. It analyzes useful metrics so you can build meaningful relationships.

5. Animoto - online video maker and editor

A recent survey found that 69% of people who want to learn more about a product or service prefer doing so by watching a short video. Animoto takes the guesswork out of creating videos by offering user-friendly templates, paired with a vast stock content library.

There's no need for a large budget or hours of time spent on video editing. All you need is a camera, a little bit of planning, and you can get started. This video marketing tool is free to use, with no limits on the number of videos you can make.

Additionally, it offers plenty of resources, like this tutorial, to help set you up for success.

6. Ahrefs - keyword research and competitor analysis

Ahrefs is a suite of SEO tools for beginners and pros alike. Not only does it help your website rank higher in search engines, but it also teaches you how it's done.

It offers tools to help you optimize your website and gain insight into your customers, competition, and industry. It will also track your ranking along the way.

While SEO may seem intimidating, Ahrefs is there to show you how you can master it too. In addition to its tools, you'll also gain access to its community and support.

7. Slack - team communication and collaboration

Want to save a ton of time? Slack is an excellent tool you can use to communicate with your team and contractors. Since you can send long-form instant messages, it's much quicker than working within an email thread. In some cases, it can even eliminate the need for meetings.

Slack is free to use and you can sign up anytime to start sending messages to individuals, groups, and channels.

8. Hootsuite - social media scheduling

Hootsuite is a social media marketing tool that helps you create, schedule, and track posts. It's a fantastic collaboration tool and helps you seamlessly view, manage and respond to comments and DMs from potential clients.

Hootsuite also compares content performance across various channels so you can identify posts that resonate the most with your audience.

9. Mailchimp - email marketing

Email marketing is another way to stay in front of your customers. With Mailchimp, you can create and send branded emails, build landing pages, design digital ads, and more.

It's more than sending out a monthly newsletter. This email marketing tool also offers features that will help you build marketing assets in each step of your customer journey.

10. Canva - graphics and image design

Alongside your marketing campaigns, you'll need some excellent graphics—or at least some images that clearly communicate your message.

You don't need to hire a graphic designer to do the work. Canva offers a variety of free templates that will help you create digital images for every need.

Get started with these small business marketing tools

Now that you have some tools in mind to help you boost your small business's digital marketing efforts, it's time to plan your next campaign.

Keep in mind, you don't need any special training in marketing or design to use this lineup of essential small business marketing tools. Like Animoto, each one offers plenty of resources to help you get started.