Marketing spans many different channels, and a varied skillset is required, if you don’t have the capacity for a large team to take care of your promotional activities. However, even the most versatile marketeer can’t do it all on their own.
So, what can you do about this? Fortunately, there is so much help out there. From outsourcing work to specialist agencies (like RED) to utilising the many tools on offer for free online. Here are a few of our favourite tools in digital marketing…
Scheduling tools, such as Hootesuite
There is a wide range of different social media scheduling tools that are completely free. We use a Hootesuite account, which allows us to publish to our clients’ social media channels daily. We will have the content created, approved and scheduled to post at the usual time – whether it’s the weekend, Christmas Day or just an average working day.
These types of platform are great if you’re snowed under. For example, you could set aside an hour or two every week to write up and gather media for your next set of posts, then schedule them all at once and not have to worry about it for another week (aside from checking in on comments and messages).
Platforms like Hootesuite also allow you to monitor all of your social media channels in one place. You can take a look at all your company’s mentions, comments and replies on one dashboard without having to log in and out of four or five different accounts.
Graphic design websites like Canva
If you don’t have an inhouse graphic designer, Canva is a handy way to create social media and other graphics quickly and easily.
Although for most marketing materials, we would recommend outsourcing to a professional designer or agency, for daily social media posts and blog headers, it can be an (almost) fool-proof way to create eye-catching graphics by using the free templates provided.
There is an abundance of free templates for all kinds of activities, and if you have the budget to upgrade to a pro account, there’s even more. They offer occasional free trials too.
Create infographics with Easel.ly
While we would again recommend using an experienced designer (or agency) for business marketing, Easel.ly has pre-set infographic templates. These are also relatively simple to use.
Even if you decide on using a designer to help create a more polished graphic, it can provide a great source of inspiration and help with planning.
Content generation tools, such as Answer the Public
So much time goes into idea generation and planning content topics. Free-to-use websites, such as Answer the Public, can help provide some insight into what your customers are asking. SEO tools such as Moz can also help with content ideas based on search volume and competitive research. Use their free keyword explorer to find keywords relevant to your industry.
Do you need help?
We can help with your marketing activities. Check out our digital services, or get in touch to find out more.