49 Digital Marketing Tools for Small Businesses in 2024

Start exploring the world of digital marketing! Find out about more than 40 marketing tools made for small businesses, all aimed at helping you succeed.

Let’s face it. All enterprises, including small businesses, need tools to make their marketing easier. 

Digital promotional resources for small enterprises are software or online platforms designed to assist in online marketing activities, including promotion, engagement, and performance analysis.

These tools help save time and energy so businesses can focus on growing. 

They typically encompass social media management, email marketing, SEO, CMS, analytics, and advertising platforms. 

Generally, anything you could think of to provide resources to enhance online presence, attract customers, and boost sales.

That's why Portcities listed great digital advertising instruments for local businesses. With the array of options, business owners like you could pick the best marketing tools for small business to meet your dealings.

Using quizzes as one way to do digital marketing.

Importance of Digital Marketing Tools for Small Businesses

Digital marketing tools are essential for small businesses as they enable effective online promotion, engagement, and performance analysis. 

Small businesses require user-friendly, affordable, and adaptable tools that align with their specific needs. Ideally, the tools should also enable them to optimize marketing efforts and achieve growth. 

Here is why advertising instruments for local businesses are essential: 

1. Cost-Effectiveness 

Digital marketing platforms offer cost-effective solutions with impactful tools and strategies, enabling micro-enterprises to compete effectively without straining their financial resources.

2. Efficiency

Systematization offered by digital marketing software allows small businesses to allocate their resources more efficiently. By not having to perform repetitive tasks manually, business owners can focus on their core activities, such as repetitive tasks and streamlining workflows. 

3. Competitive Edge

Online marketing tools provide access to valuable data insights, targeted advertising capabilities, and efficient communication channels. So, SMEs can reach their target audience more effectively and build strong brand awareness.

1. Email Marketing Tools

You probably think that email marketing tools are great for fostering customer relationships. 

But did you know that if you use it strategically, email marketing platforms can help you promote products and boost your sales?

So, what are the advantages of incorporating email into your digital marketing plan?

  • Direct Communication: Email is a personalized marketing tool that can help small business marketing by allowing direct communication with your audience.
  • Lead Nurturing: Nurture leads through targeted campaigns.
  • Cost-Effective: electronic mail promotions are considered one of the most successful marketing solutions and online marketing tools for small businesses due to their ability to provide high ROI.

With various tools available, selecting one that aligns with your content marketing strategy and helps you manage your email list effectively is essential. 

For instance, you can utilize one of the following apps based on your needs:

​​1. ActiveTrail - Top choice overall

2. MailChimp - Best affordability

3. HubSpot - Ideal for B2B enterprises

4. Brevo - Perfect for omnichannel campaigns

5. ConvertKit - Optimal for brand development

6. Omnisend - Excellent for eCommerce ventures

7. MailerLite - Ideal for budget-conscious small businesses

8. Drip - Superior systematization capabilities

9. Klaviyo - Great for scaling small businesses

10. Campaign Monitor - Most user-friendly

11. ActiveCampaign - Personalized direct email campaigns for SMEs

SEO as a digital marketing strategy

2. SEO Tools

Optimizing SEO strategies is crucial for small businesses striving to enhance their online presence and reach their target audience effectively which crucial for marketing team. The tools from the list below can help you achieve this goal and manage your marketing effort.

To use the tools effectively, keep in mind that:

  1. Keyword plays an important role in SEO. It helps you understand what your audience is searching for, and on-page optimization ensures that your website is optimized to rank well for those keywords. 
  2. Similarly, backlinks from authoritative websites signal to search engines that your content is valuable and trustworthy.

As you can see, SEO tools are crucial to assist businesses conducting keyword research to track the keywords your potential customers use to find you in their local area.

Some of the tools that you can use: 

1. Google Analytics (GA) - Comprehensive website traffic analysis and user behavior tracking.

2. Google Search Console (GSC) - Vital for monitoring website performance.

3. All-in-One SEO (AIOSEO) - SEO toolkit offering features like XML sitemap generation, keyword optimization, and social media integration.

4. Yoast WordPress Plugin - Popular plugin for WordPress websites.

5. Ubersuggest - Powerful keyword research tool offering insights.

6. Ahrefs - Robust SEO suite with features including backlink analysis, keyword research, and competitor analysis.

7. Semrush - SEO toolset offering keyword tracking and site auditing.

8. Moz - Encompassing keyword research, rank tracking, and link analysis for effective SEO strategy implementation.

3. Content Marketing Tools

A well-defined content marketing strategy that aligns with your goals, target audience, and content types will help you create relevant, valuable, and engaging content that drives results for your business. 

Here is a list of content marketing applications for small businesses:

1. HubSpot - Comprehensive inbound marketing platform offering CRM, email marketing, and content management features.

2. WordPress - Popular content management system (CMS) known for its flexibility and extensive plugin ecosystem, ideal for publishing and managing website content.

3. Google Docs - Cloud-based document editing platform facilitating collaborative content creation and sharing.

4. Planable - Social media content planning tool enabling teams to create, schedule, and collaborate on marketing channels.

5. Grammarly - Writing assistant tool that provides grammar and spelling suggestions to improve content quality and readability.

6. Buzzsumo - Content analytics and research tool offering insights into trending topics, competitor content analysis, and influencer discovery.

7. Trello - Project management tool utilizing boards and cards to organize and prioritize content creation tasks and workflows.

8. HotJar - Website analytics tools and user feedback tool offering heatmaps, session recordings, and surveys to optimize content performance and user experience.

9. Canva - Graphic design tool with a user-friendly interface and customizable templates for creating engaging visual content with a free plan or subscribed plan.

10. Adobe Photoshop - Industry-standard graphic editing software for creating and editing images and graphics to enhance content visuals.

11. CapCut - Video editing app providing tools for trimming, merging, and adding effects to create engaging video content for marketing purposes.

But before starting with these tools to help you, just remember to: 

  • Define your goals.
  • Identify your target audience.
  • Plan content types (blogs, videos, infographics).

Additional tip: To maximize the output from these tools, regularly monitor and analyze your content performance to optimize your strategy and achieve the planned marketing objectives.

4. Social Media Marketing Tools

Social media marketing best practices involve a couple of critical strategies. 

Consistent branding is essential to maintain a cohesive brand image across all social media platforms, ensuring your audience can easily recognize and connect with your brand. 

Then, there is the audience research. Understanding who searches for your product or service will shape your entire social media strategy. The goal of your research is to comprehend the customer’s demographics, interests, and online habits. 

Ask questions, such as: 

  • Who is your potential customer? 
  • Which content engages them? 
  • Which platforms do they frequent? 

Recommendations for the right social media advertising instruments for local businesses :

1. Hootsuite - Offers a centralized dashboard for scheduling posts, engaging with the audience, and analyzing social media performance.

2. Sprout Social - Provides team collaboration and customer engagement features.

3. Falcon -  The features for content planning, publishing, and analytics features.

4. Buzzsumo -  Helps businesses identify trending topics and analyze competitors' content performance. 

5. Later - Let users visually plan and schedule social media posts across multiple platforms.

6. Buffer - Offers scheduling, analytics, and engagement tools to streamline social media management.

7. Social Bee - Provides systematization features for scheduling and posting content on various social media platforms.

8. Zapier - Allows integration between different apps and platforms to automate social media tasks.

9. Mention - Helps monitor brand mentions and track social media conversations in real-time.

10. Unbox Social - Offers social media analytics and reporting tools to track performance and optimize strategies.

5. Marketing Automation Tools

Marketing systematization has several benefits: time savings, lead nurturing, and scalability. 

Digitization drives your business growth, improves productivity, and delivers a more personalized experience to your audience. 

For instance, you can set up drip campaigns with automated email sequences sent to your subscribers over a predetermined period. 

These campaigns can nurture leads, onboard new customers, or re-engage inactive subscribers.

Automating marketing campaigns effectively typically involves utilizing the apps listed below to help you streamline and optimize various processes: 

  1. Make - Offers tools for creating interactive content and engaging experiences.
  2. Drip - Specializes in email campaigns digitization for e-commerce businesses.
  3. Salesforce - Provides a comprehensive CRM platform with marketing automation features.
  4. ClickUp - Offers project management tools with systematization capabilities.
  5. Marketo - A comprehensive marketing digitization platform suitable for enterprise-level businesses.
  6. Brevo - Offers omnichannel marketing digitization solutions for personalized campaigns.
  7. HubSpot - This tool is previously mentioned in the Content Marketing Tools and Email Promotion Tool sections. It also provides a suite of inbound marketing and sales automation tools.
  8. Campaigner - Specializes in direct email campaign automation for small to medium-sized businesses.
  9. GetResponse - Offers email marketing and marketing automation solutions for businesses of all sizes.


digital marketing tools for small business

Disadvantages of Using Too Many Tools

​While utilizing marketing tools can offer significant advantages to small businesses, relying on too many tools can lead to several drawbacks, such as:

- Increase complexity

- Data fragmentation

- Higher overall costs

- Inefficient workflow

- Make you feel less focused.

Therefore, small businesses must carefully assess their needs, select tools that align with their objectives, and prioritize integration and management to avoid the pitfalls of using too many tools simultaneously. 

By balancing leveraging technology and focusing on core marketing strategies, small businesses can maximize the benefits of marketing tools while mitigating potential disadvantages. 

One-size Does Not Fit All

The hard truth: Different businesses have different needs. 

It is also undeniable that businesses can greatly benefit from using marketing tools. 

Some of the tools mentioned in this article require payment for their premium features.  Therefore, you should consider many things before deciding on the best online marketing resource for your dealings, 

For instance, if you only need email marketing, you can use one of the 11 apps mentioned in the email digitalizationservice section. But if you also need a CRM, perhaps you’ll consider an email digitalization service that includes CRM functions. Or you could make a choice based on its compatibility with your business size.

However, relying on an array of apps may not be effective. Consider using an integrated solution like Odoo. 

Feel free to contact our experts at Portcities for personalized assistance and guidance.


49 Digital Marketing Tools for Small Businesses in 2024
Alma Erin Mentari April 19, 2024
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