Right now, there are more than 6,000 marketing tools available. That’s a lot of tools to pick from!
And while you’ve probably heard of the giants in this space: MailChimp, Moz, Hubspot, and the like, there are plenty of smaller, more nimble companies ready to blow you away. These are the companies I’d like to share with you today.
Why?
Because the bigger known tools aren’t necessarily the best choice for startups. And startup founders tend to be great early adopters. They’re more willing than the average Joe or Jane to put up with a few minor nuisances as long as the payoffs are worth it.
It also helps that many tools are freemium or offer free trials, allowing startups to experiment and find the best solution for their specific needs.
So without further ado, here are 9 (lesser-known) tools any startup can use to take their business to the next level:
1. FreeLogoDesign
FreeLogoDesign makes it possible for anyone to design their ideal logo. This 100% free design tool helps you create an eye-catching logo for your brand with just a few clicks.
No experience is necessary when you use FreeLogoDesign. Created for amateurs and experts alike, this site includes a drag-and-drop editor and a vast collection of templates for seamless logo creation.
With FreeLogoDesign, free doesn’t mean low quality. This site allows you to produce a high-resolution logo that looks just as professional as a paid version of the same logo.
And FreeLogoDesign is (you guessed it) free.
2. Squarespace
If WordPress were a PC, Squarespace would be Apple. That’s because it’s very well designed and has everything you need beautifully built into the product.
Unlike WordPress, which relies on a community of third-party plug-ins. While that may give WordPress more options, if you are looking for a turnkey website builder, Squarespace is what you want.
Squarespace has stunning templates for every industry, e-commerce tools, blogs, SEO, forms, newsletters, and social media tools all standard. Whatever you need to do, Squarespace makes it easy.
Squarespace starts at $23 per month.
3. GatherUp
GatherUp is an online review and customer experience platform that empowers marketing, enables insights, and converts customers. With the platform, you can obtain customer feedback and reviews in one place to drive sales for your business.
GatherUp provides a robust solution for cultivating and managing customer feedback and other online reviews. Being a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution, the company behind GatherUp constantly adds and improves features.
Plans start at $99 per month per location.
4. Statusbrew
Statusbrew is one of the leading social media marketing tools for big organizations and small businesses. It allows you to schedule, collaborate, and track your social media accounts.
The platform is an excellent choice for social media managers to simplify workflow. It offers to connect the popular social media channels- Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google My Business, and LinkedIn.
With Statusbrew, you can:
- Recycle your old posts that worked best
- See all the messages, mentions, and comments in a single inbox
- Stay updated with the latest blog posts and share them
- Integrations with Slack, Box, Google Drive, etc.
- Add your team members and grant specific permissions
- Get free stock images and other media to share on social media
- Create categories according to post types to analyze which works better
- Check different post metrics, such as engagements, likes, comments, impressions, etc.
5. SocialPilot
Social Media is a place where startups can connect with their first customers, introduce their brand’s personality, and boost their leads and sales. But social media takes time and resources to get right, something startups are in short supply of. So, what do you do?
You get SocialPilot.
SocialPilot is a simple, affordable, all-in-one social media marketing and management tool. You can schedule posts, manage your mentions, and engage with your community from one simple interface.
It works across all social media channels with no limits on sharing. You can reply to all your comments, messages, and posts in real time – so you never miss an opportunity to build a relationship with a prospective customer.
6. SendPulse
Being a multichannel marketing platform, Sendpulse helps marketers automate email, SMS, and web push notifications. What makes this platform stand out is their Facebook messenger chatbot builder, which you can use to design a chatbot for free with no coding experience.
Messenger chatbot allows users to:
- Generate leads by requesting an email address and a phone number.
- Respond to customer requests 24/7
- Schedule messages to be sent at a specific time.
- Send news and alerts from your RSS feed.
- See detailed statistics on a chatbot’s performance.
7. Rebrandly
Rebrandly is a link management tool that helps marketers improve their brand visibility and link trust by shortening and branding the links that are created and shared online.
This tool also provides a detailed analytics feature that enables you to learn who’s clicking on your links — such as what country the clicks are coming from, the most popular times and days, and what social media platform the clicks originated from.
It is a very easy tool to use with features including QR codes, link retargeting, and UTM builder, to name a few. You also have the option to create custom-branded URL links along with the power of remarketing in one tool.
8. Unitel
Your business phone system can be one of your most powerful marketing tools. When customers call your business, you want to sound professional. If it sounds to your customers like they are just calling someone’s cell phone or some random Google Voice number, you won’t leave a good impression.
That’s where Unitel comes in. It’s a virtual phone system for small businesses that lets you set up an auto attendant with a professional-sounding greeting to impress customers when they call.
The best part is you and your startup team can still run your businesses from your cell phones, but instead of giving out your numbers, everyone on your team can use the Unitel mobile app to make and receive calls using your business’s phone number. It’s like having your office phone built into your smartphone.
They also offer other cool features that can give your marketing a boost, such as:
- Toll Free Numbers
- Custom Vanity Numbers
- Free Voice Talents
- Call Tracking
- Call Recording
- SMS Texting
- And More
9. SE Ranking
SE Ranking is an SEO tool that includes useful functions for startup founders and marketers, first and foremost they offer a competitor research feature, which allows you to see what keywords and content your competition is targeting.
They also offer social media management functionality, perfect for when you’re looking to get started with social media but don’t have much time or resources to dedicate to it.
SE Ranking is ideal for small businesses looking for an all-in-one tool covering SEO, content, and social functionalities. It also suits agencies, offering multiple accounts, white-label, and sub-accounts.
In our own experience, using SEO to generate organic site traffic is one of the most important/cost-effective marketing channels for startups.
Editor’s Note: The article is part of the blog series Grow Your Business brought to you by the marketing team at Unitel, the virtual phone system priced and designed for startups and small business owners.
