When I work with startup and SMB clients, it’s really hard to see them struggle with their marketing. Startup marketing has various challenges but the most important among them is the need for continuous development of content pieces for their value proposition. Many startup teams struggle to come up with content ideas and develop the outputs to communicate the right message to their target audience.
So I always advise them to have a repertoire of awesome tools which can come in handy anytime they have an idea for content. I have developed a list of tools (will publish soon) over a period of time which are either free or pocket-friendly for your content development needs.
In this post, I am sharing my top 5 tools for startup and SMB marketing. So below are my 5 favourite tools which are very useful for startups and SMBs due to its user-friendliness and costing. These tools are:
Canva: I think this design tool will be on every marketer’s list of tools. Canva is a graphic design tool which can help you develop all your creative collaterals. It’s a simple tool with ready to use templates which one can customize to suit their needs. You can use canva to make your social media graphics, infographics, presentations, flyers, social media headers and much more. It literally eliminates the efforts to hire a designer or spending heaps of money on designing. You can visit Canva here.
Piktochart: Every marketer has realized the value an infographic can bring into your content marketing efforts. There’s enough proof to prove that infographics are a powerful tool to be used for getting your message across to your audience. As a startup or SMB, you don’t need to be lag behind when it comes to infographics. Thanks to Piktochart. Piktochart is an awesome easy to use tool which can help you develop your own infographics at a good price. Whereas designers charge a bomb for designing infographics, Piktochart can help you develop yours at a price of USD 29 per month. It has a good collection of templates which one can use to customize for their needs. Check out Piktochart here.
GoAnimate: Animated intro videos have taken the content marketing field by a storm in recent times. According to HubSpot, the inclusion of a video in a landing page boosts conversions by 80%. That’s mindblowing, isn’t it? That’s one of the reasons animated videos like explainers, intros etc. have become part of modern-day marketer’s armoury. Getting an animated video done for your startup can burn a hole in your pocket. The best alternative to that is GoAnimate. It is a simple and user-friendly animation video maker which can help you create unlimited videos at USD 39 per month. Visit GoAnimate here.
Feedly: You know that everyone hates a self-obsessed marketer who talks about his products, company etc. In today’s scenario, every marketer should play the role of a help manual for their audience. It’s difficult to meet those demands by producing own content. One must rely on content curation for easing that task. Content curation is the process one sifts through vast amounts of content available and handpicking the right ones for their audience and presenting it in the best way. Sounds easy, but it isn’t. You will have to rely on some awesome tools for the same. My best recommendation for this is Feedly. Feedly will help you find awesome content according to your area of interest which you can use to share with your target audience. Check out Feedly here.
Buffer: Ok, you have managed to produce all the content you need for your startup marketing. Now, what? Imagine the amount of time you will spend sharing it on social media. Manual sharing will waste heaps of your valuable time which you can invest in other tasks. Enter Buffer. Buffer is one of the best tools which can help you schedule your content for social media. It supports almost all social media channels including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. And it also provides you a free account with up to 10 posts per day or even you can upgrade to their awesome plan which is priced at USD 10 per month. Find more about Buffer here.
So these are my top 5 tools which can help you in your startup marketing. The reasons why I selected them are user friendliness and cost-effectiveness. So go ahead and check it for yourself.