2018 Most Affordable Digital Marketing Tools for SMEs and Startups

With the rise of mobile platforms, digital marketing has taken the world by storm, and the year of 2018 promises to be a big year for digital marketers. Customers can now access information from any place and anytime whenever they need it. Due to the vast technological advancements made over the years, new communication modules and platforms provide ample opportunities for companies to target new customers bases.

 Companies have also evolved to combat their in-deficiencies in the market by effective use of digital marketing tools. These tools are highly specialized and segregated according to the various segments of digital marketing. Nevertheless, certain questions still linger on the effectiveness and the affordability factor of the digital marketing tools. In this article, we will discuss the various digital marketing tools present in the current market and how they will assist the entrepreneurs in dominating the digital marketing industry.

SEO &  Analytics tools:

Otherwise known as Search Engine Optimization, SEO is an online marketing strategy which is being practiced by many eminent firms all over the world. Basically, SEO is a process of attracting attention from organic, free and natural search results on search engines. Search engine websites such as Google uses a complex algorithm which assigns a score to every website which people search for the most. This ranking enables the website to be displayed in an order. Usually, search engine ranking can be improved by getting high scores in certain parameters such as quality index, trustworthiness, and authority. However, there are certain tools which can assist in improving your ranking.

Google Keyword Planner :

One of the best research tools available in the market out there, it is ideal for SEO purposes. It will definitely let you know which of the potential keywords you have used pack the biggest punch. You can also check how often the keywords are searched and if there is any change over a period of time.

Google Webmaster tool:

A powerful tool from Google. The Webmaster is incorporated with potent tools which facilitate advanced search expert another perspective and helps you in planning and evaluating his search efforts. If your website is active in webmaster tools, it has a much better shot at being ranked well and fully indexed.

Google Analytics:

Another interesting tool from Google. This is a completely free analytics tool that tracks and prepares reports on the web traffic. Currently, it’s the most preferred web analytics service available on the Internet. Recently Google has updated it’s analytics tool and have included additional features which are extremely useful to business owners

Alexa:

Relatively new, Alexa was launched by Amazon a few years ago primarily to serve as an SEO tool. Alexa’s unique model assists you by giving vital stats and info about your competitor. In other words, you can basically improve your SEO results by focusing on your competitor’s website traffic stats.

Social media marketing tools:

Social media marketing is also known as SMM, is a form of digital marketing that diverts traffic through social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter. This usually involves creating and sharing content on social media networks to achieve your marketing goals. Apart from just content, attractive images and videos can also drive audience engagement. There are some powerful tools out there which can assist you in SMM.

Hootsuite:

Originally started for managing content, Hootsuite immensely became popular in the social media circles as it offers an easy way to schedule your posts and status updates. Using this tool you can manage all your social media accounts in one place, interact with users who comment and even track hashtags.

Zoho Social:

Zoho social was launched two years back with a primary task of helping individual organizations to expand and manage their presence across popular social media networks. Using Zoho social you can integrate the social media content with your organization’s marketing strategy and business goals.

Email marketing tools:

Ever since the introduction of the Internet, Email marketing has become an essential tool for businessmen. It is a form of direct marketing that use electronic mail to communicate business-related messages to your target customers. It is basically done to target new customers and to keep the existing customers in the loop. Email marketing allows you to attract new consumers with customized, dynamic messages. Many companies are now using strategic tools to boost their email marketing techniques.

Mail Chimp:

A valuable email marketing tool that helps in crafting, sending and tracking emails. Integrated with various dynamic features it will perfectly suit your email marketing needs. A mobile version is also available which will assist you in viewing your email campaign stats and managed your subscribers from your mobile device

Mailup:

An intriguing email marketing platform used exclusively for sending emails and newsletters. With a customer base of more than 10,000 companies,  Mailup is entirely web-based. By using Mailup you can automate most of your marketing campaigns and monitor these campaigns remotely without any assistance.

Sendinblue:

One of the most popular email marketing services out on the market currently. Ideal for large and medium-sized firms, you can send up to 9,000 emails/month for free. It is preferred by most users for its transactional email tracking and highly responsive templates.

Zoho email Campaigns:

Another brilliant tool from Zoho exclusively devoted to promoting email marketing.  Using this tool you can automate your marketing process and engage your clients anywhere, anytime and run your marketing campaigns on social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Content marketing & curation tools:

Digital marketing in today’s world is all about promoting valuable content. Content marketing is the technique of creating and promoting effective content to attract and acquire new customers. In order to be successful in this field, continuous content delivery is a must and this can be made effective by using certain tools which can further elevate your potential.

On the other hand content curation is the process of shifting various sources of content on the web to assemble and compose a list of most vital info to share with your target audience. However, this is not to be confused with Content marketing as this involves the process of sharing content from various sources than creating and marketing your own content.  

WordPress:

A free and open-source content management system which allows you to create and even publish your content on the Internet for free. WordPress will allow users to have full control over files, documents and even the templates. Even though it’s completely free, there are certain plug-ins which come at an extra cost.

Quora:

Quora is an excellent model for effective enterprise and content management tool and is serving as a prototype for many new websites. Quora promote user-generated content questions and answers designed expertly to compile knowledge through a collaborative approach.

Curata:

Curata is a content curation platform that enables marketers to quickly search, combine, organize and share content on various issues or highly specific topics in order to generate web traffic. It optimizes your workflow and is enabled with various analytical tools to assist you in generating leads for the growth of your business.

Creative Design tools:

If you want to engage your audience on social media platforms you require excellent creative tools to produce authentic and vibrant templates to promote your brands. Having attractive designs and scintillating graphics will boost your chances of getting more traffic to your website. According to recent studies, 74% of social media marketers use visual media assets in their social media marketing. If you are intent on boosting traffic to your website you definitely need to check out these tools.

Canva:

Since it’s launch five years ago, Canva has been downloaded by more than 10 million people. Canva has been used to simplify graphic designs, create unique images, and design customized fonts that are ideal for sharing on social media. It has a straightforward, drag and drop interface which are highly useful for beginners and pros alike.  

Pablo:

A strong social media presence is integral to the promotion of your brand. Pablo, a tool created by Buffer, is highly minimalistic making it easy to operate in a typical drop and drag action. Its keyword search is quick and precise allowing you to pick the apt image for your post.

Freepik:

Founded in the year of 2010, Freepik is one of the leading search engines for free vector designs. It offers users high-quality graphic designs and extensive resources carefully selected by their expert designing team in order to provide you with the immersive content suitable for personal and commercial purposes.

CRM and Messaging tools:

The term CRM seemingly refers to a set of tools or applications that corporates use to manage their customer’s data, record customer interactions and receive crucial customer’s data in order to improve the overall customer relationship strategy. Most of the data collected provide useful insights into the customer’s activities, which will help your re-define your strategy. Even chatbots have been used by many firms to collect vital data and stats of customers, thereby allowing you to stabilize your digital marketing strategy.

Hubspot:

Founded by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah in the year of 2006, Hubspot aims to provide perfect tools for social media marketing, web analytics, and Search engine optimization. They launched a free tool called Hubspot CRM free in the year of 2014. This CRM tool tracks and records interactions of the customers in order to forecast and measure sales revenue.

Zoho CRM:

Zoho CRM is another innovative tool designed by Zoho to be exclusively used for CRM purposes. This CRM based tool has highly intriguing features that attract, retain and expand your customer base. Zoho CRM can automate daily tasks, create sales reports and engage customers through different platforms.

Zoho SalesIQ:

Zoho clearly understands the challenges faced by digital marketers and have released another tool exclusively for marketing pur