The best free and paid marketing tools

You want to know what is free marketing tools. First, let’s discuss how marketing tools work.

E-marketing ( internet marketing ) is developing very fast. This pace is influenced by the development of modern technology, the Internet, changes in business models, and customer preferences. By reading the article, you will learn about the most popular types of internet marketing and marketing tools. I will present to you the most interesting solutions available on the market, both paid and free.

What is e-marketing?

E-marketing ( internet marketing, digital marketing ) is a series of activities that are carried out via the Internet in order to promote the company, brand, product, service, as well as their sale and build relationships with the client.

A few years ago, traditional marketing dominated the activities of American and global companies. Nowadays, especially after 2020, when we dealt with the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, companies are more and more willing to decide on promotional activities, selling products and services via the Internet. The pandemic forced many market players to change their business models, and online contacts, as well as the customer’s shopping path, almost completely moved to the Internet.

I have no doubts that this trend will continue. That is why it is so important to be able to choose the right marketing tools necessary to achieve the marketing and sales goals of the enterprise. As a website designer, I am still sometimes confused with basic concepts such as internet marketing tools (marketing tools) and types of internet marketing. The internet creates its own vocabulary in order to find niche areas to market.

Types of internet marketing

Speaking of types of internet marketing, I am talking about areas in which marketing activities are carried out and which are carried out by tools specific and characteristic to a given type of e-marketing.

For example, a type of internet marketing is content marketing, which is carried out through various solutions. And one of such tools is the keyword planner, thanks to which we are able to choose a group of keywords for our campaign in Google Ads or for our website.

As already mentioned, internet marketing is growing in strength and is developing at an extreme pace. I think that more types of e-marketing will appear soon, as well as a number of marketing tools.

MarTech (aka technological marketing), is an internet marketing tool. It is one of the fastest-growing areas of marketing and technology. In 2021, there are about 9,000 applications available around the world to improve the work of marketers.

Marketing tools

Marketing tools allow companies to effectively implement marketing activities in the area of ​​a given type of marketing. Tools are specific solutions and applications aimed at improving the implementation of activities in the area of ​​a given type of internet marketing.

What Kinds Of Internet Marketing Should You Know?

Positioning and optimization of websites

Online positioning should be a compulsory element of your internet marketing strategy. Why? Because properly implemented activities allow the company to appear on the Internet, to be in a high position, taking into account key phrases for a given industry, increase brand recognition and even build trust in the company.

High positions on the Internet guarantee traffic, greater customer interest, and thus a higher level of sales of products and services. In addition, it should be noted that this is an exceptionally positive form of marketing, as it is not intrusive – it is customers who are looking for – we, as companies, provide them with ready-made solutions and answer their inquiries.

In the case of positioning and optimization of websites, copywriting is of great importance. Good content positions and is also a response to the needs of the recipients. It is not worth creating content just for the key phrases. Internet users are not stupid. Perhaps they will find their way to your website because it is well-positioned, but they will run away from it immediately because the proposed content is not valuable to them.

Search engine advertising

Search engine advertising, and in the case of the USA, mainly Google, is very popular and appreciated by marketers. The key advantage of Google Ads advertising is the ability to reach an unlimited group of recipients, anywhere in the world and at any time. It all depends on your company’s budget.

I often hear the question: which is better – search engine advertising or positioning. In my opinion, the activities should be carried out in parallel. Search engine optimization doesn’t get immediate results. When introducing a new product, a website, to the market, we must be aware that the effects will only be visible after a minimum of several months.

When you invest in Google Ads, you see the effects at the same time. Properly configured campaigns and a properly prepared landing page will allow you to achieve optimal costs, and your website will be visible at the top of the results.

The great advantage of Google Ads is the ability to strictly target the message, where your ad will be visible only to people looking for information related to the area of ​​your company’s activities. Additionally, you can monitor and optimize Google Ads campaigns on an ongoing basis. You have many analytical possibilities that will give you full control over the activities performed.

Email Marketing

E-mail marketing is known to everyone and has a rather pejorative meaning. For most of us, it is associated with spam and unwanted correspondence. And unfortunately, there is no improvement in sight despite the introduction of the GDPR provisions.

However, I still appreciate this form of e-marketing and I like it very much. It requires little financial outlay, and modern marketing tools such as Mailchimp, Optinmonster, Freshmail, or Salesmanago allow for quick emailing and detailed campaign analytics. In my opinion, it would be a pity not to take advantage of the opportunities. However, it is worth acting in accordance with the provisions of the GDPR, respecting the rights of recipients. It cannot be intrusive marketing, and the sending of messages should be carried out only with the recipient’s consent (i.e. permission marketing). Otherwise, we only damage our brand. You should also remember to properly care for your mailing database, remove inactive addresses, use the double-opt-in mechanism, perform A / B tests, analyze the results and personalize the message.

The issue of e-mail marketing is related to the contemporary trend, i.e. the personalization of messages that are designed to be adequate to the selected target group. Thanks to personalization, we significantly increase the conversion of advertising activities.

Marketing automation

Marketing automation is always the basis of my marketing activities. It significantly improves the process of communication with the client. It allows you to efficiently carry out sales, promotional and content activities. Marketing automation tools are becoming more and more effective and give marketers and sellers extraordinary opportunities.

The goal of marketing automation is to increase the efficiency of campaigns through the automatic collection and processing of data about specific users. On their basis, marketers learn about the expectations and interests of customers, analyze their activities, and thus can better personalize campaigns and advertising messages. Marketing automation tools are designed to turn marketing leads into sales leads. This means that as a result of the campaign, the user matures to purchase the promoted product or service.

Personally, I cannot imagine working without the use of marketing automation tools, although I know that they are still more popular, especially in larger organizations.

Content marketing

Nowadays, it is difficult to imagine a development strategy on the Internet that would not include activities in the area of ​​content marketing. Creating valuable content for the customer brings many benefits to the company:

• Builds trust in the company
• Creates the image of an expert
• It has a positive effect on the positioning of the website in search engines
• Generates leads,
• It attracts interest
• Increases website traffic

In my opinion, content marketing plays an extremely important role and is an element that influences the effectiveness of marketing activities in other areas. For example – the aforementioned beneficial influence on the position of the website in the search engine is achieved thanks to the appropriate optimization and the ability to create content compliant with SEO requirements (ie SEO copywriting).

However, I regret to say that, on the one hand, most entrepreneurs believe that creating content is the most trivial thing in the world, completely failing to understand the idea, and on the other hand, every average master of US studies is considered a good content marketer.

The most popular content marketing tools include:

• Articles and blog entries
• Photos and graphics
• Video
• Webinars
• Guides, reports, whitepapers
• Infographics
• Tutorials
• Audio and video podcasts

At this point, it is also worth mentioning viral marketing, which is one of the content marketing strategies. Its goal is to create intriguing content that will be spontaneously sent by Internet users, while becoming an element of the advertising campaign.

Social networks

Actions on social networks have several dimensions. They allow you to create the image of a brand, company, and product, are a communication channel between the consumer and the company, inspire, allow you to better know the recipient, and also enable the implementation of advertising campaigns. Nowadays, social media has enormous power that you should use and promote your business there.

Of course, social media is not equally effective in all industries and does not arouse the same emotions in all target groups. My experience shows that companies’ activities in the B2B area are much less effective than activities in the B2C segment. Nevertheless, it is worth using the potential of social networks to build customer engagement.

Business analytics

Internet e-marketing offers almost unlimited analytical possibilities. Much bigger than traditional marketing. Most of the activities carried out on the Internet are measurable. They can be carefully analyzed, drawing conclusions for the future.

The Internet is also a source of knowledge about the client – the recipient of messages and advertising. Thanks to the available tools, such as Google Analytics or marketing automation, the marketer receives accurate and detailed data about the target group, its behavior, predispositions, and expectations. And thanks to such information, it can personalize the content and meet the expectations of the recipients.

What marketing tools are worth recommending?

Marketing tools for positioning

Among the internet marketing tools aimed at supporting marketers in website positioning, the following are worth mentioning:

• Google Search Console – it is a free tool for website owners, through which they can analyze traffic on their website, and keywords, and also monitor the status of the website.
• Google Analytics is another free tool from Google that provides deep website analytics. From this tool, you will learn, among other things, who your audience is, how they reach your site, and how they behave on it. You can also analyze conversions carried out on the website and many other factors influencing the traffic.
• Another tool, also free, is Page Speed ​​Insights, which allows you to check how fast your website is running. This is an extremely important factor that Google takes into account when ranking sites. In addition to the speed score itself, the tool provides optimization tips.
• Another free tool is Ubersuggest. It is actually a set of several tools that allow the basic form of website analysis, traffic on it, and also enable keyword analysis.
• A very important tool when creating a website, as well as with a keyword map, is the Google Ads keyword planner. If you have an ad account and are an active advertiser, you have access to the average number of searches per month for certain phrases. Thanks to this solution, you are able to analyze which keywords are worth positioning for.
• We should mention WordPress and the Yoast plugin, which also comes in the free version. It is a great help for people responsible for website positioning, which allows you to easily manage SEO activities within the website. Analyzing, among others the frequency of using keywords, and the readability of the text, allows you to fill in meta descriptions, and titles, and – importantly – gives tips for optimizing the content.
• I heartily recommend Screaming Frog as a free tool in the basic version. This tool allows you to analyze the subpages within the website. It is a nice solution from which it is worth starting positioning activities.
• Of the paid tools, my favorite is SEMrush, which I use myself on a daily basis. It is a real combination for people who deal with positioning. In this tool, the user has the opportunity to analyze his website in detail as well as trace the website of the competition. Senato, Semstorm, Moz, and Ahrefs are similar solutions.
• Seoptimer is an application that I often use in class with my students. I show them how SEO analysis tools work. This is a very cool solution for beginners.
• A tool called Answer the Public is helpful in choosing keywords, in which, by entering a keyword, you receive suggestions and various types of variations of the next similar words.
• A very important factor that influences the position of a website is the originality of the text. It is worth using a free tool called Copyscape from time to time, which analyzes the Internet for plagiarism.

Marketing tools for advertisers

• When it comes to search advertising, the primary tool for marketers will be Google Ads and the Keyword Planner. Thanks to these applications, you will be able to analyze, among other things, which keywords will generate the most traffic within the campaign, and find out how much a click on an ad will cost. I will definitely write a separate article about Google Ads and its possibilities.

Marketing tools for email marketing

• Among the tools available on the market for e-mail marketing activity, it is worth mentioning: Freshmail, Active Campaign, GetResponse, Ipresso, Sare, MailLite, and SalesManago.

Some of these tools originally acted as email sending platforms. Over time, however, they were expanded to include deeper analytics.

I have experience in working with solutions such as Freshmail, Active Campaign, and SalesManago. Although it would be a huge distortion to call SalesManago a solution for sending mailings because it is a very advanced tool in the area of ​​marketing automation. E-mail sending is only 1% of the area of ​​operation. I will share my opinion about these and other e-mail marketing tools with you soon.

Marketing tools for marketing automation

• SalesManago is probably the most popular marketing automation system. This is the solution I use every day at work. I have mentioned marketing automation more than once in my articles, but I think that the topic is so interesting and extensive that it is worth exploring the topic of marketing automation. Soon I will introduce you to the tool of SalesManago.

Marketing tools for content marketing

• Among the tools that will be useful for content marketing specialists, it is worth mentioning Google Trends. It is a free Google tool that allows you to check the needs and expectations of Internet users. This solution will allow content marketers to find inspiration and topics that are eagerly read and searched for on the Internet.
• Quora is a similar solution. It is a Q&A service where users ask questions and also provides answers. Quora is distinguished by a very high substantive level of the answers that are given there. 
• Social media are a great inspiration for content creators. It is worth following social media and searching for interesting topics for articles there. It is also worth following the thematic groups and hashtags looking for interesting threads.
• When creating content for an article or report, use statistical data that will definitely have a positive impact on the reception of content by readers. An article based on verified data is more credible for the recipient. I recommend numerous reports of the Central Statistical Office, which are available on the website of the office. The obtained data can also be used to create various types of charts, tables, and infographics.
• WordPress should be mentioned when creating content. WordPress is an intuitive content management system. It is a free application that is based on an Open Source license. It is also the most popular blogging platform. What’s more, thanks to the Yoast plugin, you are able to carry out basic positioning activities on your own.
• If we are talking about WordPress, it is also worth taking a look at the  envato.com site. It is a platform that serves the digital product sales market. Here you will find WordPress website templates, scripts, videos, animations, animated logos, sounds and music, graphics, illustrations, presentations, stock photos, 3D models, visualizations, and many other content materials that can be useful in creating creations and campaigns.
• Canva is a great tool for content marketers and graphic beginners. It is an application available in free and paid versions. It allows you to create graphics without knowing the design for social media, but also presentations, posters, collages, invitations, logos, cards, films, and CVs. This is only part of the possibilities. You will find many more on the website.
• Unsplash is one of the many stock photo databases that are based on the CC, i.e. Creative Commons license, which you can use for free when implementing your projects.
• For “production” of infographics, I recommend you a tool called Piktochart, which allows you to create graphics in predefined formats. This will make your articles and content more interesting.
• Gifs, or several seconds-long moving animations, are probably familiar to all marketers. It is also still a fashionable form of expression, often used in projects. I recommend one of the tools that will help you create a gif for your campaign – giphy. You will find there not only ready-made projects, but you can also add your own.
• Emoji graphics are an indispensable element of posts on social media or meta descriptions of websites. I invite you to visit the emojicopy website, where you will find a number of emoji graphics.
• A cool tool for shortening links is bitly, which comes in both free and paid versions. By using the application, you can not only shorten but also personalize the link.
• LanguageTool is a tool I love. It allows me to proofread texts, not only in English but also in over 20 other languages. It is available in free and paid versions.
• As a content marketer, I use synonyms on an ongoing basis. I use synonyms.com in English. Synonyms are useful not only when creating content, but for me, they are especially helpful in creating brand names.
• Among the tools for creating webinars and online meetings, Click Meeting and Vimeo are definitely worth mentioning. Webinars can also be implemented using tools such as Microsoft Teams or Zoom.
• The created content must also be distributed, and the most popular methods of distribution are e-mails and mailings. And here I come back to such tools Mailchimp, Optinmonster, Freshmail, or SalesManago. The latter, as a marketing automation tool, allows not only to send mail to the client but also to create recipient education campaigns aimed at “warming up the lead” and persuading him to buy.
• The “produced” content should also be shared on social media, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Tik Tok, YouTube, and many others. Before you start sharing, check what times you have the best chance for your message to be read.
• Another tool that I will propose will be Whitepress, through which you can order content and publications on portals, and offer yours in a paid and free form (for example by posting press releases).
• In order to effectively manage social media, it is worth using a solution such as Hootsuite, which helps in managing and tracking activity on all social media accounts. It shows content streams that are posted on various social media sites and allows you to publish updates and replies to them, directly from the application.

Martech, or digital solutions for marketing

Technology and IT solutions develop at a dizzying pace. In fact, there are no longer any areas of activity that marketers implement that would not be supported by technology. Marketing departments have almost unlimited possibilities to choose systems and IT software that supports their daily work.

A perfect example of the extraordinary pace of change is the market of Martech products, i.e. digital solutions intended for marketing. Currently, it is estimated that their number reaches 9,000.

According to the Lighthouse3 report – CMO’s Guide to Influencer Technology & Trends for 2017, the size of the marketing technology market will grow by USD 25 billion in 2018, and the marketing departments will spend USD 32.4 billion on them. At the same time, it means that digital marketing budgets in large enterprises will increase by 10%.

Having experience in an IT company, I can clearly see the prevailing trends that are associated with the increasing market demand for solutions based on artificial intelligence, as well as marketing and business analytics. Ordinary CRM systems are a thing of the past. Now companies like Microsoft focus on deepening integration so that the tools they offer give even greater opportunities. They complimented each other for maximum efficiency.

In the case of Martech solutions, a similar trend is visible. Companies expect more and more integration between available digital marketing tools. According to the Walker Sands Communications State of Marketing Technology 2017 report, more than 50% of marketing departments currently use integrated Martech packages, and 42% only use fragmented Martech packages. Only 21% of companies admitted that they purchased Martech solutions from a single vendor.

To sum up

The development of the Internet, e-marketing, and information technology are closely related. It gives great opportunities but also sets requirements. However, it is worth using them, because the available internet marketing tools and IT solutions can increase the effectiveness of each campaign and each marketing department.

Read more articles on marketing in The Daily Blog.