The digital marketing tools running my small business

Operations

Google Drive (Free, to a certain storage limit)

My first marketing job was with a tech startup so I’ve been pretty spoilt when it comes to cloud technology, it’s a natural park of my working life. I use Google Drive for everything. If I’m writing a blog post (just like this one) it’ll be in Google Docs, if I’m planning my content calendar or tracking my invoices I open up Google Sheets, if I’m putting a marketing strategy together it’ll be with Google Slides.

Why am I so obsessed? Well, not only do I take comfort in the fact that all my work is instantly backed up, I can access any file on the go from my phone or any computer with a solid wifi connection. It’s easy to collaborate on projects, I just need to send a link to a file and a client can instantly comment with their feedback – no longer do we need to send twenty versions of the same Word document between each other.

Quite simply, it saves me time. And that’s so important for all small business owners.

Adobe Creative Cloud (Paid)

Adobe is a natural digital marketing tool for most communications professionals, though I will admit it took a steep learning curve for me to get to where I am today. I never thought I’d say it, but I love InDesign for compiling ebooks and other resources, Photoshop is the home of my blog images, Illustrator is where the magic happens when it comes to detailed design projects and Lightroom is where I just have fun and edit my travel snaps.

That being said, I wouldn’t actually recommend Adobe for all small businesses. What you use will depend on your expertise and the amount of control you’re looking to have. This software doesn’t come cheap and requires you to invest a great deal of time to get started. If you’re looking for a more intuitive and accessible design tool, then Canva is a fantastic choice.

Trello (Free)

If you’ve met me, you’ll know that I love Trello. If you haven’t heard of it, Trello is a cloud based planning and project management tool that lets you easily manage tasks and assign projects out. You can use it as a tool to run your digital marketing or any aspect of your small business.

There are so many different ways to use Trello, and I’ve used it many different ways in the past. Right now I love using Trello to plan out my months, with a master list determining my theme for each month and then weekly goals set out under different themes. It helps me stay on top of my work, have a more long term vision (I plan per quarter and feed it through to Trello each month) and just get stuff done!

Calendly (Free option available)

This is a newer addition to my toolbox after I got tired of calculating changing timezones and balancing busy calendars to schedule every single meeting in my diary. So I signed up for the free version of Calendly and haven’t looked back since.

Now, when I want to book in a meeting all I have to do is send the attendee my url and they can view the time slots I have available in their local timezone and book an appointment straight into my diary. How helpful is that!

Whereby (Free)

I’ve played around with so many different video conferencing options since going freelance nearly three months ago and so far Whereby has been my favourite. It’s totally free to use and doesn’t require either user to download anything.

All you do is send your guests your unique URL and then meet in your browser at the time of the call. Bonus: your guests don’t need to sign up either, so far it’s the easiest video conferencing tool I’ve found!

Website

WordPress (Free)

I’m very proud to say that this is a WordPress website. In fact, all my owned websites have been WordPress sites and I’m pretty sure that they always will be. I like Squarespace and have used it a lot in other jobs, and it can be the perfect fit for many users, but WordPress gives me the control I need to run the type of I website I want to.

If you are thinking of signing up to WordPress, be sure to register for the self-hosted version as this will give you the full control that you’re looking for in your digital marketing.

Bluehost (Paid)

The caveat to using WordPress is that you need a hosting partner to essentially ‘house’ your website. I’ve always used Bluehost* and they’ve never let me down (yet!).

I buy my domain names via their platform and they host all the sites I’ve ever owned. They also have 24/7 support, meaning that when a problem does arise they’re pretty speedy in fixing it and my digital marketing can keep going no matter the time of day.

Google Analytics (Free)

If you run a website, you need Google Analytics. It’s that simple. This is such an important digital marketing tool for your small business.

Google Analytics enables me to track the countries my audience are visiting me from, their actions on my site and the content that makes them stick. I can then use this data to inform my content and marketing strategies, meaning that I can provide a lot more value for my visitors.

Stay tuned for a new blog post coming your way soon explain what web analytics to look out for, and what they mean for your small business’s marketing.

Mailchimp (Free option available)

I’ve talked about Mailchimp as a digital marketing tool before and my love for it continues. I use Mailchimp to manage all of my email marketing and my audience lists, it effectively acts as my CRM as well as a digital marketing tool.

You can design new templates, created automated workflows and manage your contacts all from one easy to use platform. Oh, and it’s free for many small businesses too!

Social Media

Tailwind (Paid)

I’m a little bit embarrassed to say that I only started using Tailwind a few months ago but now I’m wondering why I didn’t sign up sooner. Tailwind is a paid (but affordable) scheduling tool that enables you to schedule out all of your Pinterest content. You can sign up for Tribes, where your content will be shared with other users, tailor your scheduling times, take a deep dive into the world of analytics and so much more – much of which I’m still learning myself.

What I can say is this: I’ve already noticed the impact on my Pinterest traffic since making the switch and I haven’t even invested a tonne of time yet.

Hootsuite (Free option available)

I’ve used Hootsuite at different levels over the years. I’ve had the paid version when I worked in-house and now I use the free version to manage my Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts.

Social media can be such a drain on our time and we often don’t even realise it! Every digital marketing tool in this list has been included because it saves time, brings efficiency and makes more space for creativity – Hootsuite is no different. Using Hootsuite enables me to schedule all my content from one location, meaning I don’t have to spend my days switching between multiple platforms. Hurrah!

Planoly (Free option available)

Planoly might well be my favourite marketing tool on this list, purely for the fact that it’s a lot of fun. I plan my entire Instagram grid on Planoly, playing around with different layouts and orders to create a consistent gallery feel that still feels like me and the Unedited brand.

You can also schedule your Instagram content directly from Planoly, write your captions in advance and manage your different hashtag lists. Pretty nifty right?

Linktree (Free option available)

Think of Linktree as your Instagram sidekick. How often do you wish that you could put multiple links into your Instagram bio? Well, Linktree let’s you do just that.

I have links to my blog, resources page, services and contact info all in one place thanks to Linktree! Full disclosure, I am looking at different options that allow better customisation at the moment but for now Linktree does a pretty good job.

I’d love to hear from you, have I missed anything off this list? What digital marketing tools do you love to use in your small business?

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