The best marketing apps for a small business

Can you manage your marketing just using your phone? Yes, you can! In fact, it may even be easier because you can create and share posts from wherever you are. With consumers spending so much time on their phones today, it makes sense that you also have a wealth of choices regarding marketing apps. 

This guide will list the best marketing apps for a small business and explain why they’re so useful. We’ll look into:

• Hootsuite
• Facebook Ads Manager
• Hubspot
• MailChimp
• Canva
• Grammarly
• Google Analytics
• Google Workspace
• Microsoft 365
• Buffer
• Countingup

We’ve listed the best marketing apps for small businesses below to help you find the perfect setup for your business. 

1. Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a social media management tool where you can schedule posts to LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, and other social media platforms. This tool gives you the ability to plan at every level, whether you’re on the free plan or the most expensive and elaborate Premium. 

Hootsuite’s free plan lets you manage up to three social media accounts and schedule up to 30 posts at a time. This plan is perfect if you’re just getting your business off the ground. As you grow, you can upgrade to one of Hootsuite’s payment plans, which start at £39 per month. These plans enable you to add more social accounts, schedule unlimited posts, and add team members.

2. Facebook Ads Manager

If you run ads for Facebook or Instagram, Facebook Ads Manager helps you run them from your phone. You can use this tool to stay on top of campaigns, edit budgets and schedules, create and track Facebook ads easily, and receive notifications. This app will help you manage your ads effectively no matter where you are –– and completely free.

Learn more about getting started with Facebook for small businesses.

3. Hubspot

Hubspot provides a range of tools for sales and marketing, social media advertising, and content management. This platform delivers a wide-ranging toolkit to help you attract more traffic, convert more visitors to customers, organise content, improve your customer service, and more. 

Hubspot has a free version you can use to get started, which includes all the basics you need. If you eventually need a more advanced version, Hubspot Premium starts at £38 per month.

4. MailChimp

If you want a tool that allows you to create and organise email marketing campaigns, MailChimp could be perfect for you. You can create your website, expand your subscriber list, automate your email campaigns, check campaign performance, send out messages, and create stunning newsletters. 

MailChimp also integrates with eCommerce platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento so you can start selling your products online right away. 

5. Canva

Canva is an excellent tool for creating professional images for social media posts. The new app brings all the features you need straight onto your phone or tablet. Canva has pre-built templates and a range of drag-and-drop elements you can add to create custom images.

Canva also has integrated social sharing, so you can share your images directly to your social media platform. Its free version is great for beginners. If you need a more advanced solution, Canva’s Premium plans start at £99.99 per year.

6. Grammarly

Grammarly acts like a professional editor that automatically scans your writing for spelling and grammatical errors so you can remove them. You can also pay $12 (roughly £8.70) for the Premium version, which also helps you rephrase sentences to make them easier to read and suggests alternative words and phrases to avoid repetition. Getting Grammarly means you never have to worry about spelling mistakes again!

7. Google Analytics

The only way to know how your marketing campaigns are performing is to track your results. Google Analytics lets you know who clicks on your content, how long they check it out for, and where they head after. All this information can help you make necessary changes to make your marketing efforts more effective. The app is free and lets you keep track of your business metrics (numbers determining how you’re doing) on the go.

8. Google Workspace (former G-Suite)

Google Workspace is great for creating, storing, and organising files that relate to your business marketing. You can use it to create documents for your blog posts, spreadsheets for your marketing strategy, presentations for webinars, drawings for your content, and more. 

This platform allows you to store files on PCs, tablets, and smartphones and comes with 30 GB of online storage per user. You also have the option of upgrading to unlimited storage. Google Workspace is excellent for content marketing since you can create and store material in one space and share it with whomever you want.

9. Microsoft 365

If you prefer using Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for your content, Microsoft 365 is the way to go. Microsoft OneDrive also allows you to view and edit files from any smartphone or tablet with the mobile app. 

Although Microsoft 365 works for both Macs and PCs, additional features like settings backup and automatic photo upload are only available for Windows 8 and Windows Phone users. You have a number of different setups to choose from depending on whether you need to buy a license for only yourself, or if you need to include a package for staff.

Countingup is the business current account that comes with free built-in accounting software that automates the time-consuming aspects of bookkeeping and taxes. With instant invoicing, automatic expense categorisation, and cash flow insights, you can confidently keep on top of your business finances every day.

You can also share your bookkeeping with your accountant instantly without worrying about duplication errors, data lags or inaccuracies. The entire process is seamless, simple and straightforward! Download the Countingup app to apply for your business current account in minutes. All you need is proof of ID and a photograph of yourself. Download the app here.