Many small business owners have conflicted feelings about marketing. They know they need to be doing it, but all the different types of marketing and approaches to marketing can make it overwhelming. And then there’s the price. Small business owners are a frugal lot. They have to be. And marketing can be expensive. Marketing mistakes are even more expensive.
The combination of being short on time and on money is tough. But there’s yet another layer to the problem. It’s the classic friction small business owners face between the work of running their business versus the work they went into business to do. Pizza guys want to make pizza – not run Google Ads campaigns. Florists want to arrange flowers – not master email marketing.
Apps will save you time and money
Fortunately, we live in a world with apps. Many small business owners have figured out that using them can save them a lot of time. That’s what the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council discovered when they conducted a survey for their report, “Saving Time and Money With Mobile Apps.”
According to that report, “78 percent of these small business owners believe that their company’s use of mobile apps saves time for the owner. On a weekly basis, these small business owners estimate that they save an average of 5.6 hours (a median of 4.0 hours) due to their firm’s use of mobile apps.”
4-5 hours! That’s half a day each week. That’s a huge win for a time-pressed small business owner. To help you free up half a day in your week, we assembled a short list of essential digital marketing tools for small business owners. These cover all the basic marketing tasks, with one or two added in for marketing outsourcing and marketing project management.
1. The GetResponse app
Of course, you’ve got to have your email marketing planned out, too. If you’re on the go and want to check how the morning’s email promotion did, it’s a few clicks away if you’ve got the GetResponse app installed. You can also see dashboard stats, check how your list is growing. You can also see individual emails in an autoresponder series and thumbnails of past emails.
So go fire up your GetResponse app and have at it. Maybe the stats from your last email have gone up since you last checked them…
For Android and iOS click here.
Editor’s note: Want to run webinars from your phone or tablet? Do it with GetResponse Webinars mobile apps. Available for Android and iOS.
2. Trello
Marketing involves a lot of project management. Trello is another app that makes that easier. The feature that really helps with marketing tasks is the checklist you can add to cards.
If you create a checklist for your most common marketing tasks, you can save time and reduce errors. Trello is also helpful for managing employees.
Some checklist-friendly tasks might be:
- Writing blog posts
- Scheduling the week’s social media updates
- Sending newsletters for various occasions
3. Yelp
Just last week, I met a small business owner who thinks it is more important for her to have a presence on Yelp than a website. While I don’t agree with that, her assertion shows how critical Yelp is to local businesses. Ignore it at your peril.
Fortunately, having it in app form makes editing and updating your Yelp account easy. You can also check and respond to reviews.
4. Brand24
Brand24 is an indispensable marketing app for small business owners. It tracks brand mentions, monitors online reputation, and provides valuable customer insights. With its analytics tools, businesses can make data-driven decisions.
Brand24 empowers entrepreneurs to engage with their audience, respond to inquiries, and manage reviews efficiently. Its user-friendly interface and customizable alerts ensure a strong online presence and brand loyalty. Drive business growth in the competitive digital landscape with Brand24.
5. X (Formerly Known as Twitter)
X is less important for small local businesses, but it should definitely be part of the mix. And, like all these other apps, you’re far more likely to use it if it’s in your back pocket.
6. LinkedIn
If you’re in B2B, this is the place to be. Whether you want to follow up with a prospect or contribute to a group discussion, this is a nice app to have on hand. Many small B2B businesses get a sizable chunk of client work from LinkedIn. And the more active you are, the more likely you are to see some of that action.
7. Canva
Canva is an easy-to-use online graphic design platform that helps small businesses create professional visuals without needing to hire designers. With its user-friendly interface and extensive template library, even non-designers can produce stunning graphics for social media, presentations, and more.
Canva’s affordability, including a free version and reasonably priced premium features, makes it accessible to businesses on a budget. It enhances brand presence, attracts customers, and contributes to small businesses’ success in the digital landscape.
8. Visme
Visme is an all-in-one content creation tool that equips small business owners to create stunning and engaging content without the need for a designer or previous design skills. Access thousands of professionally designed templates and brand assets, along with brand management, collaboration, and workspace features.
Enjoy integrations with the best apps in marketing and sales, as well as AI-powered tools to streamline your content creation process.
Visme offers a free version plus affordably priced plans that grow with you as your business scales.
9. Fiverr
Why add Fiverr to this list? Because it’s a great way to get small, simple marketing tasks done for very affordable prices – like $20-30 for a logo nice enough to actually use. Once you’ve found three or four Fiverr pros who can help you with routine, repeating tasks like
- designing an ebook cover
- converting an epic blog post into a SlideShare
- writing a few product descriptions
- editing a video
then you can outsource that work without worry. Given how short on time most small business owners are, that’s quite a deal.
10. Clover
A loyalty program is one of the most frequently used marketing tactics for a local business. Usually, these are fulfilled with business card-sized punch cards. The way they work is that every time you go to the sandwich shop, nail salon, or coffee shop, you get your card punched. When your card is all punched up, you get a free sandwich, free coffee, or free nails.
Clover takes that tried-and-true model and makes it digital. In addition, they’re a point-of-sale system that can help you process payments, monitor your inventory and ales, oversee employee activities, and more.
11. Google Ads
If you’re doing any pay-per-click advertising, you’re probably doing it with Google Ads (f.k.a. Google AdWords). Local businesses often decide to add a little oomph to their website traffic with this channel. The trouble is, it’s pricey, and there are no refunds. I’ve seen small businesses blow an entire year’s worth of marketing budget in one month due to a runaway Google Ads account.
Don’t let that be you. Keep close track of your account by always having this app on hand. You can check your daily spending, get campaign suggestions, edit your budget, and much more.
For Android click here, for iOS (AdWords Express only) click here.
Want to ensure your Google ads perform well and bring you a positive ROI? Learn why Google ads worth it and join our free Google Search Ads for Beginners Course.
12. Google Maps
I don’t have to tell you how important Google is. If you’re a local business, you know. Local businesses that are well-optimized for local searches can clean up, especially if their reviews look good and their Google Business profile is correctly filled out.
The Google Maps app (which partially replaced the Google My Business app) will let you do nearly everything you could do from a desktop. It’s an excellent way to claim, check, and edit your profile, manage your reviews, analyze your performance metrics, and much much more.
13. Proofhub
ProofHub is a project management and team communication solution that will help you manage your marketing projects and teams more effectively. It provides all of the tools you’ll need to plan, communicate, manage, and complete projects on time together in one place.
ProofHub’s Kanban boards allow you to break your work into stages based on your marketing requirements and track their progress, while their Gantt charts provide a visual depiction of the overall project timetable. Online proofing makes it simple to evaluate, proof, and approve designs and documents for marketing campaigns. With ProofHub’s built-in timers, keeping track of time for each task your marketing team is working on becomes super easy.
14. Bordio
In marketing initiatives, product launches, meetings, and different promotions may have highly severe deadlines attached with them. Effective time management is critical for marketing teams to be able to properly organize and oversee campaigns while staying on track and meeting targets without last-minute rushing or potential campaign quality decrease.
Bordio assists in prioritizing various tasks, collaborating with the team, creating the most suitable calendar, and planning personal and professional projects in the most efficient way possible by assigning different colors to different activities.
15. Google Drive
Google Drive is a cloud-based storage tool that lets you save and access your business files from anywhere, on any device. It simplifies teamwork by allowing multiple people to view and edit documents simultaneously, no matter their location.
Starting with a generous amount of free storage, Google Drive is both secure and cost-effective, with options to expand space affordably as your business grows. This makes it an excellent choice for small businesses looking to stay organized, collaborate efficiently, and protect their important data without overspending.
Back to you
That covers the essential apps, but it’s not everyone. Did I maybe miss your favorite marketing app? If any of your favorite apps aren’t mentioned here, please, give us a shout out in the comments. Make your contribution to this list.
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