As a small business, it can be challenging to set aside the budget for the various tools and platforms your business needs. And in some cases, you might have to opt out of using a platform to redirect funds to other parts of the organization. Not enough budget can lead to cutting efforts as well, and marketing often takes the fall. Do not worry; we are here to help! There are many free B2B marketing resources out there that you can utilize to kick-start your marketing and use in the long term. Check out some of these free B2B marketing resources and platforms.
General Marketing Tools
These free tools might not be specifically marketing-related, but they are important to operations and business.
- Google My Business: This tool gives you a profile on Google so when people search for your organization, your profile appears in search results. It is also a way to manage your online presence across Google, helping increase visibility and reach more customers.
- Google Analytics: This free tool helps you track website traffic. How many people, where they are viewing your website from and how they are getting to your website are all things Google Analytics uncovers. Add a small snippet of code on your website and the tracking begins.
- Asana: You most likely have a lot of projects going on at the same time, and it can be difficult to keep things organized. Asana is a free project management tool that helps you keep tasks organized, set alerts on important deadlines, collaborate and more.
- Google Search Console: This free tool is another widely used Google platform. Google Search Console helps you improve how Google sees your site. It’s a useful tool for understanding what updates can take place to bring more traffic to your website.
Customer Relationship Management Tools
For small businesses, customer relationship management (CRM) tools are often overlooked, but they bring a lot of value in keeping your leads, contacts and accounts organized as you continue to grow. Check out some of these free tools for contact and customer management.
- HubSpot: With HubSpot’s free CRM tool, you can manage contacts, deals, pipeline activity and more all in one location.
- Zoho CRM:This free tool allows you to manage leads, deals, contacts, workflows and more in one platform. You can also build sales automations and different processing rules for advanced usage.
Social Media Tools
The great news about social media is that the platforms are free to use! LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube are some of the most used platforms for B2B marketers, and they are all excellent options for promoting your content. These platforms offer paid advertising, but you will have to put some budget behind that. Here are a few extra tools to ensure your social media content stands out.
- Canva: This tool is your one-stop shop for all things graphics. Create an account, and you will unlock a library of templates for presentations, posters, videos and even websites. It is a touted resource for graphics, especially for social media.
- Buffer: If your organization uses many platforms a free tool like Buffer can help you organize posts in one place. It also allows you to schedule posts in advance, leaving you more time to work on more projects.
Social Media Tips: Check out this guide about social media marketing for small businesses.
Content Marketing Tools
Content marketing happens in different phases, everything from ideation to creation and distribution. Here are a few free tools to help in that process.
- AnswerThePublic: Looking for ideas on what to write a blog about? AnswerThePublic has you covered. This free tool helps you uncover questions people might be asking. It generates a list of questions and supporting words or topics. The results can serve as a starting point to develop a piece of content.
- Hemingway App: This free tool helps with editing your content. It can help you improve terms used, define sentence difficulty and using proper tone of voice.
- Semrush: This tool helps with search engine optimization purposes. Perform keyword research, check out the competition and more with Semrush. This tool can ensure your content includes the best possible keywords.
Content Marketing Tips: Check out this guide about B2B content marketing basics.
Email Marketing Tools
Email marketing is a widely used channel for B2B marketers, and there are a few free options to use.
- Mailchimp: Mailchimp is a well-known tool in the marketing community, and the free version provides a lot of essential features. In the free plan, you can have up to 500 contacts and send 1,000 emails per month, which is a great start for a small business.
- Hubspot: The free version of Hubspot, like Hubspot CRM, allows you to perform basic actions which can fit into what a small business does. With free Hubspot Marketing Tools, you can send 2,000 emails per month, build list segments for different email sends and much more.
Email Marketing Tips: Check out this guide about B2B email marketing basics.
While this is not an exhaustive list of all free B2B marketing tools, these are some of the most popular and ones we have even recommended before. Check these tools and their features to help kick-start your B2B marketing efforts.
Looking for something more to improve your marketing efforts? Check out our courses. They cover everything from content marketing to messaging and buyer personas. These courses will build your understanding of key B2B marketing components at your own pace. See what our on demand courses have to offer your small business.
