Marketing on a shoestring budget?
Join the club. Most small businesses don’t have big agency retainers or fancy marketing tools, and honestly, you don’t need them (yet).
What you do need is a smart setup that helps you stay visible, organised, and in front of the right people, without adding 10 more tabs to your already chaotic brain.
So, here are 5 free marketing tools that are actually worth your time (and headspace):
1. Canva – your new best buddy for design
Canva is the GOAT of design tools for non-designers. Social posts, flyers, business cards, LinkedIn banners, pitch decks – you name it, Canva’s got a template for it.
📌 Why I rate it:
- Drag-and-drop simplicity
- Pre-sized templates for every platform
- Massive stock photo and icon library
- Free Brand Kit to keep your fonts/colours tidy
⚠️ Just watch out: design is easy to mess up if you go rogue with colours and fonts. Keep it clean and consistent.
2. Mailerlite – Email marketing simplified
No marketing tool list is complete without email. And MailerLite is an absolute gem, especially for beginners.
📌 Why it’s brilliant:
- Free up to 1,000 subscribers
- Automation, landing pages, and signup forms included
- Easy to use with a super clean dashboard
✅ GDPR-compliant, powerful enough to grow with you, and doesn’t treat you like an IT expert.
3. Metricool – One dashboard, all your socials
If you’ve ever dreamt of a place where your content, analytics, and scheduling tools live in harmony… meet Metricool.
📌 Why I love it:
- Schedule content across LinkedIn, Facebook, Insta, X (formerly Twitter), and more
- See what’s working (and what’s flopping)
- Spy on your competitors 👀
Even on the free plan, you get enough juice to streamline your week and avoid panic-posting at 9pm on a Tuesday.
4. Notion – The organised organiser
Ok, so Notion isn’t technically a marketing tool – it’s a workspace. But my god, it’s a game-changer if you’re juggling content, client notes, ideas, and a million to-dos.
📌 How I use it:
- Marketing calendars
- Campaign tracking
- Blog outlines
- Launch checklists
⚠️ It has a learning curve, but once you’re in, you’re IN.
5. Answer The Public – Free marketing research in 30 seconds
Don’t know what your audience is Googling? This tool does. Pop in a keyword and it’ll spit out actual questions people are asking online.
📌 Why it’s great:
- Brilliant for content ideas
- Helps you write posts and blogs that actually resonate
- Works for any industry
🧠 Marketing gold if you’re trying to get inside your customer’s head (which you should be).
These tools won’t do your marketing for you, but they’ll make it a hell of a lot easier to get stuff done.
Pick one or two. Get comfy. And remember, you don’t need to use everything all at once. Start small, stay consistent, and build from there.
You’ve got this 💪