My favourite free marketing tools to use

There are so many tools available now for us to use, and even as someone immersed in the marketing and communications industry it can be overwhelming. But there are a few tools that I absolutely love and highly recommend. These are my top tools to help you achieve your strategic marketing goals and support the marketing strategy we talked about earlier.

Your strategy is the “why”. These tools help you deliver the “how”.

Goal: Brand Awareness & Visibility

Google Business Profile

Google Business Profile is hands down one of the best tools to use for your business. It’s the powerhouse of your business information being indexed on Google and in search engines.

Treat it like a mini website:

• update your information

• add photos

• create custom services

• link posts to your location

Just don’t confuse it with a social media feed.

It also houses your reviews, so ask for them. And reply to the bad ones.

Your Google Business Profile impacts your search rankings, so prioritise this platform and update as much information as you can. If your hours change, update them. If you’re shut for Christmas, add the special hours too.

Top tip: use the special hours feature for holiday closures. Don’t mark your business as “Closed” for long periods, it can be a pain to reopen.

This tool directly supports the visibility goal in your strategy.

Bing Locations

Bing Locations is the Microsoft equivalent of Google My Business. While it’s more akin to comparing a council library with the Bodleian at Oxford University, both serve a purpose and both serve relevant information to searchers.

You can now sync the two so your Google updates are reflected in Bing, making it an easy tool to use to increase your brand awareness. Another simple win for visibility.

Facebook Pages

Investing time in setting up a Business Facebook Page in Northland is the next action I recommend in the suite of free tools available to you. If you’re not investing in a website at the moment, make sure your Facebook Page has all of the important information set up in the profile and descriptions so that it looks like a mini web page.

Search engines will index this, so taking the time to ensure all of those details are filled out, and you have your business name accurately set up in the URL fields, are all the extra 1% actions that help you get your name out there.

Link your social channels on your Google Business Profile to maximise your exposure and connect the dots for search engines.

Most of us know how to use a Facebook Page and schedule content, but remember to reflect on your strategy and the why so you don’t get carried away trying to trend. Keep it aligned with your goals.

This tool supports the increased profile goal in your strategy.

Business Directories and Listings

There are heaps of free business directories relevant to your industry. While these may not generate a lot of sales, they still contribute to your backlinking strategies for SEO and visibility.

Remember the goal is quality over quantity. There’s no point having 100 listings if all of the information is out of date.

Look at sites like Hikurangi.co.nz for local free listings. Niche directories can outperform generic directories, so choose ones that are relevant and local to your business.

This supports the visibility and customer discovery parts of your strategy.

Goal: Grow Your Existing Customers

Email campaigns for the win. Throughout my career I’ve been constantly surprised by the power of a simple e‑newsletter that contains useful information for your client base.

It’s an excellent way to build a relationship as the experts in your field by supplying regular, useful content. It builds trust and can directly support sales.

Tools like MailerLite, Brevo, and Mailchimp (free tier) make this easy to set up and manage without needing any marketing expertise.

This directly supports the increase revenue and repeat customer goals in your strategy.

Analytics

You don’t know how successful you are if you’re not looking at the data. Analytics is one of the most underrated free tools available to small business owners, and it’s often the missing link between “posting content” and “understanding what actually works.”

Meta Business Suite (Facebook & Instagram)

Meta’s free analytics give you insights into:

• which posts your audience engages with

• what time of day your followers are online

• how many people clicked your call‑to‑action

• how your page is performing week to week

This helps you refine your content so you’re not guessing, you’re responding to real behaviour.

Google Analytics (for websites)

If you have a website (even a simple free Wix site), Google Analytics shows:

• how people found your site

• what pages they visited

• how long they stayed

• what actions they took

This is gold for understanding whether your marketing is actually driving results.

Analytics is the backbone of the measurement section in your strategy, reviewing the story arc and adjusting your actions based on what’s working.

Canva

Canva is one of the most powerful free design tools available to small business owners, and it’s perfect for businesses who don’t have access to designers or agencies.

Create one visual identity in Canva

• pick colours and a logo

• make one social post template

• make one A4 poster template

• reuse these across all your channels

Canva’s free tier gives you:

• social media templates

• posters, menus, flyers

• simple brand kits

• free photos and graphics

• easy resizing for different platforms

Consistency is key. Using the same colours, fonts, and layout across your posts helps build brand recognition and trust. Canva makes this easy without needing any design skills.

This tool supports the clear messaging and consistency pillars in your strategy.

Executing Your Strategy

All of these free tools help you carry out the marketing strategy you created in our last article. Your strategy starts with your business goal and each tool becomes useful only when it supports that goal.

Your strategy sets the direction. These tools help you put it into action.

If you haven’t read the strategy blog yet, you can find it here: How to Create a Simple Marketing Strategy for Your Small Business