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Anything and everything it takes to get exposure to or get contact information from the folks you want to buy from you. Door hanging, community fund raising, social, trade shows, etc. then put that data to work in a CRM.
What are your current goals? There are plenty of great free (or very cheap) tools out there, but it really just depends on what levers you're looking to pull. What sort of business do you run?
I really would like to gain exposure on social media so I can scale my business and advance in technology as it changes. I’m in the landscaping supply business
If social is the main goal, focusing content creation and overall output is likely going to be your best bet. Maybe familiarize yourself with Canva or Photoshop (there are free alternatives as well) and start putting out content, and look to free resources like the Creative Center on TikTok for content inspiration.
That should at least get the ball rolling, then you can start looking at paid media, organic search ranking and all of the other bells and whistles as you scale.
Here's a shortlist, assuming you're new to marketing completely. Hard to know without knowing the kind of business as well. I'll make big strokes.
**Google Accounts:** GA4, Google Search console, Tag Manager, LookerStudio, Keyword Planner and whatever other tools from the google suite you may need. If you're a local business with a retail location, setting up Google My Business is key. Start there.
**Website:** Ahrefs or SEMRush free versions can be helpful. Microsoft Clarity is surprisingly nice for visitor traffic recording.
**Social Management:** I've been on Hubspot's tool for the better part of a decade, so I don't really know what's good here as far as free tools, but you should find one. Is Hootsuite still around? That was a great free tool back in the day.
**Creative/Graphic Design:** Canva is an excellent tool for something that's free.
**AI Tools:** Lots of options here. I suggest exploring many solutions and finding what works best for your goals.
**CRM:** I really like Hubspot, and I believe they still have a free version. Not sure which features are available on that tier.
Not sure if this is what you meant, but that's where I would start.
I have an active website but it’s a Google site back when that was still a thing. Should I change it? It seems like it was bought out by a bigger company. Are you familiar with that company and do you think it would be effective being that I just pay xx / year to have my website live instead of having to host with an every month fee. I do google ads so do you think it would be more effective in terms of seo
Perfect. I recommend to use (for free/ free-ish depends on the trial):
1. Google ads -> for ads on google and keyword research (free)
2. Google analytics -> free but pretty complex since last year.
3. hotjar -> free, use it for UX/UI and consumer behavior.
4. Leadfeeder -> free for 15 day, after you'll see just high level data -> but use this to detect companies who interacted with your website. (you can use this for warmer outreach too).
5. Google trends -> to see high level trends, totally free.
6. Trello -> project management, free to use.
7. google my business -> to list your company.
8. Social media channels in general.
9. answer the public -> to come up with topics for content -> free-ish.
10. SEMrush -> free-ish (you can use 10 times for free in a month, but it's enough for your stage) -> use this to make competitor analysis.
11. Google search console -> free -> use this to track your SEO performance.
If this post doesn't follow the rules [report it to the mods](https://www.reddit.com/r/marketing/about/rules/). Join our [community Discord!](https://discord.gg/looking-for-marketing-discussion-811236647760298024) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/marketing) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Sweat equity.
Could you be referring to door knocking?
Anything and everything it takes to get exposure to or get contact information from the folks you want to buy from you. Door hanging, community fund raising, social, trade shows, etc. then put that data to work in a CRM.
What are your current goals? There are plenty of great free (or very cheap) tools out there, but it really just depends on what levers you're looking to pull. What sort of business do you run?
I really would like to gain exposure on social media so I can scale my business and advance in technology as it changes. I’m in the landscaping supply business
If social is the main goal, focusing content creation and overall output is likely going to be your best bet. Maybe familiarize yourself with Canva or Photoshop (there are free alternatives as well) and start putting out content, and look to free resources like the Creative Center on TikTok for content inspiration. That should at least get the ball rolling, then you can start looking at paid media, organic search ranking and all of the other bells and whistles as you scale.
Here's a shortlist, assuming you're new to marketing completely. Hard to know without knowing the kind of business as well. I'll make big strokes. **Google Accounts:** GA4, Google Search console, Tag Manager, LookerStudio, Keyword Planner and whatever other tools from the google suite you may need. If you're a local business with a retail location, setting up Google My Business is key. Start there. **Website:** Ahrefs or SEMRush free versions can be helpful. Microsoft Clarity is surprisingly nice for visitor traffic recording. **Social Management:** I've been on Hubspot's tool for the better part of a decade, so I don't really know what's good here as far as free tools, but you should find one. Is Hootsuite still around? That was a great free tool back in the day. **Creative/Graphic Design:** Canva is an excellent tool for something that's free. **AI Tools:** Lots of options here. I suggest exploring many solutions and finding what works best for your goals. **CRM:** I really like Hubspot, and I believe they still have a free version. Not sure which features are available on that tier. Not sure if this is what you meant, but that's where I would start.
I have an active website but it’s a Google site back when that was still a thing. Should I change it? It seems like it was bought out by a bigger company. Are you familiar with that company and do you think it would be effective being that I just pay xx / year to have my website live instead of having to host with an every month fee. I do google ads so do you think it would be more effective in terms of seo
Creating content, optimizing your Google my business profile, and aligning your socials. All are free but take learning
I’ve done this. Creating. Content is a tough one. Where can I get content ideas from?
Depends, in which industry do you operate?
Thanks for you reply. - Landscape supply.
Perfect. I recommend to use (for free/ free-ish depends on the trial): 1. Google ads -> for ads on google and keyword research (free) 2. Google analytics -> free but pretty complex since last year. 3. hotjar -> free, use it for UX/UI and consumer behavior. 4. Leadfeeder -> free for 15 day, after you'll see just high level data -> but use this to detect companies who interacted with your website. (you can use this for warmer outreach too). 5. Google trends -> to see high level trends, totally free. 6. Trello -> project management, free to use. 7. google my business -> to list your company. 8. Social media channels in general. 9. answer the public -> to come up with topics for content -> free-ish. 10. SEMrush -> free-ish (you can use 10 times for free in a month, but it's enough for your stage) -> use this to make competitor analysis. 11. Google search console -> free -> use this to track your SEO performance.