Because we are passionate about helping small businesses, we make it a point to regularly be available for digital marketing and advertising questions. Our goal is to be helpful and resourceful whenever possible. Whether it’s during our monthly digital marketing office hours or on a scheduled 1×1, we’re always happy to provide assistance as you navigate the twists and turns of the digital landscape. One of the most frequent questions that we get asked is “which tools should I use?” Technology is constantly changing with new tools entering or adapting to the marketplace all the time. It can be tough to know which tools are right for you and your business. As a rule of thumb, the tools that we recommend must follow some general guidelines before we recommend them to our clients or partners.

• Is it useful to the bottom line? – a tool is only as good as it is useful. If it doesn’t inch you forward toward increasing leads, sales, or revenue, chances are, it’s not the tool for our clients.
• Is it accessible and easy to use? – accessibility is in the eye of the end user. If a tool is excessively expensive (ie. It doesn’t deliver any value or return on investment) or if it’s way too complicated to use, it’s probably not a good look for your business. Many small business are short on time and resources, especially when first starting out. We cannot in good conscious recommend a product that doesn’t help the client in the time and resource department.
• Would we use it ourselves at A Squared Ads? – most tools that we recommend have been used by a member of our team in the past or are currently being used in the daily operations at our agency. We can confidently stand by the tools and apps that we recommend to our clients because we’re familiar with them and they drive real results.

With these main guidelines in mind, here are the tools you could be using but probably had no idea even existed.

1. HubSpot CRM
2. HubSpot Buyer Persona Generator – http://hubs.to/nDzW7 Learn what a buyer persona is and how to conduct research, surveys, and interviews to build your own. Create a buyer persona that your entire company can use to market, sell, and serve better.
3. Canva – https://www.canva.com/ need graphics but don’t want to hire a graphic designer? Here are some things that you can tackle with Canva
4. Godaddy
5. HootSuite – Automatically schedule posts. Hootsuite pricing is tiered based on your plan type. Paid plans start at $29 per month for a Professional plan and range up to $599 per month for a Business plan. Custom solutions are available for Enterprise organizations, which have their own unique pricing structure. Keep your social presence active 24/7 by automatically scheduling posts to fill the gaps in your scheduled content.
6. MailChimp
7. Planoly
8. Zapier – https://zapier.com/ – Connect Your Apps and Automate Workflows. Easy automation for busy people. Zapier moves info between your web apps automatically, so you can focus on your most important work. Over 1,000 apps.
9. Rebrandly – https://www.rebrandly.com/ – Rebrandly is the most complete and reliable management platform for your links. The easiest way to create, measure and share short URLs with a custom domain name
10. Google Drive
11. Google Forms
12. Square
13. Calendly – https://calendly.com/
14. io – https://www.draw.io/
15. Storybrand – https://www.mystorybrand.com/ Clarify your message by creating a BrandScript. Create Marketing Materials that Work, Grow your business. They also have marketing courses and workshops
16. Piktochart is the easy-to-use design tool that helps you tell your story whether it’s in the format of a presentation, report, banner, or infographic with the visual impact it deserves.
    1. https://piktochart.com/