5 Marketing Tools You Should Be Using for Your Start-Up

5 Marketing Tools for Start-ups, Entrepreneurs, and Freelancers 

If you run a start-up, or you’re a freelancer trying to stay afloat in this gig economy, the last thing you have time to worry about is your marketing strategy. Yet, everyone knows that one of the many keys to a successful business is a strategic marketing plan. How can you best get the word out and grow your audience? 

Creating a marketing strategy from scratch can be intimidating, thats why Workspace has put together a list of tools we love to get you started on the right track. Spend less time planning and more time doing with these marketing tools: 

Squarespace 

One of the first steps of creating a business is building a website: if you cant easily showcase what you do on the web, a marketing strategy is useless. 

Create a clean, all-in-one website with Squarespace. Use pre-built website templates, drag and drop elements, and create a flawless, beautiful website without needing to know how to code or any of that other fancy computer stuff. Squarespace allows you to create professional websites, portfolios, or even an online store. The flexibility of the platform is one of the reasons we love it so much — no matter what your business is, Squarespace has a template for you. 

Whats more, Squarespace has its own set of marketing tools built in. From email campaigns to built-in SEO tools, Squarespace has everything you need to get started with a new website and elevate your business to the next level. 

Grammarly 

Grammarly is second on this list because, as you may have learned in grade school, grammar matters. There is nothing worse (for me at least) than reading through a website or email and stumbling upon the wrong “there.” It makes you look instantly less professional. Good news, though, it is super easy to avoid! If you don’t yet have a copywriter or proofreader as a part of your team, or you're looking to avoid one altogether, Grammarly has got your back. 

Grammarly is a free tool your can use to check spelling, basic grammar, and plagiarism (the deadliest of all writing sins.) Plus, Grammarly gives you explanations of errors, so you never have to make the same mistake twice! 

Use grammarly for web content, email marketing campaigns, social posts, blogs… pretty much everything. It’s a super easy add on and something every serious professional should use. 

Canva 

Graphics are important. We want to make sure any visuals we put out on our website or social media pages are clean, clear, and embody our brand image perfectly. At Workspace, we love to use Canva, an online design platform that makes graphics easy. Best part? Many of the Canva elements are completely free! If you want to step up your game, you can unlock millions of premium photos through Canva Premium for only $12.95 a month. 

Mailchimp 

Mailchimp is one of the more renowned platforms for email marketing; it allows your audience to subscribe to email  lists on your website’s sidebar. Email marketing is critical to boosting brand awareness and keeping your target audience in the know — with mailchimp, you can “put your audience first, bring your brand to life, create integrated campaigns, and turn data into insights.” 

Tired of looking for leads? Mailchimp can do it for you: “Mailchimp’s lookalike audience finder works with social ads and postcards to help you reach more people. We use your Marketing CRM data and our large audience network to find new people who are similar to your contacts.” 

Growing your audience has never been simpler than with mailchimp — the platform pretty much does all the work for you. No more cold calls or awkward sales pitches. Mailchimp is super easy to use and its free. What’s not to love.

Google Analytics

Consumer behavior should be one of the main elements driving your marketing strategy, but who has the time to gather this type of data on their own? We want the data, without the hassle. Fortunately for us, Google came up with a solution to give us just that. 

Google analytics is a free digital analytics software that allows you to analyze detailed data about your website’s visitors. The great thing about Google Analytics is that it shows you just who is visiting your website and what they are doing on it. Insight into what makes people click and what makes people stay is priceless; it shows you what you can do to reshape your website and boost your ROI, without hassle. 

If you want to learn more, this recent article on Medium does a great job of explaining the top 10 reasons you should use Google Analytics for your business. 

No matter what digital platforms you choose to use to boost your SEO or marketing ROI, it is important to remember that one of the most important aspects of marketing is creating a strong brand voice. Starting with a strong mission and creating an authentic brand persona sets your business up for success regardless of what marketing platforms you choose.