Free Tools for In-house Small-business Marketing

To cut costs without cutting corners has been a small-business imperative since the onset of the free-market economy.

But unfortunately for small-business owners, there has yet to be invented an elixir that magically cuts operating costs across the board without adversely affecting a company’s ability to deliver the same level of high-quality product or service offerings.

But in today’s age of ubiquitous, free online tools, there are numerous opportunities for every small business to reduce its marketing expenditures by performing more promotional activities in-house.

From market research tools and presentation-creation software, to lead generators, email campaign managers and more, marketers now have more power than ever to retain much of the money earmarked for outside marketing vendors without sacrificing the high-quality vehicles you rely on to increase sales.

Here are just a few examples:

• SlideShare. Advance your content marketing presence by creating engaging visuals that entice potential customers to learn more about your company’s offerings. SlideShare allows users to easily upload and share presentations, infographics, documents, videos, PDFs, and webinars.
• SurveyMonkey. Create customized surveys that provide deeper insight into why your existing customers choose your business, or that help you better understand what you should be doing differently to attract new customers.
• Leadsius. Convert more leads into revenue, run more personalized campaigns and nurture leads automatically. The Leadsius Marketing Automation Platform is easy to use and scalable to fit any small-business’ growing B2B marketing efforts.
• MailChimp. With its “Entrepreneur” offering, MailChimp lets you customize email templates to fit your brand, and send 12,000 emails to 2,000 subscribers for free.

As you learn more about the above tools—and others—remember that marketing is fundamentally about human interaction. And while the nature of online commerce has dramatically reduced the frequency of direct person-to-person contact, many businesses still rely on in-person meetings to close the deal.

So if, for example, you decide to devote in-house resources to the creation of a top-notch presentation using the above-mentioned SlideShare tool, keep in mind that it’s likely you’ll also need to prepare a hard-copy version of the same presentation as a leave-behind when meeting with potential customers.

Therefore, it stands to reason that your in-house printing capabilities must be up to the task. If your current printers and/or multifunction printers can’t produce professional-looking marketing deliverables (presentation slides, newsletter mailers, postcards, etc.), then it’s probably time to consider upgrading to a device that’s capable of producing the high-quality results that match your expectations.

Which is why you should learn more about the Xerox Small Office Savings Plan, designed exclusively for small businesses that need affordable, in-house color printing with an easy way to predict costs. Each plan includes a high-quality color printer with on-site service—for free. Choose the small office printer and plan that best fits your office needs, and cancel or change plans at any time.

I hope you take advantage of the above resources to learn more about the many free software (and hardware) offerings available to you to help reduce your marketing expenses. It’s now easier than ever to grow your business while relying on the resources you already have to promote your offerings.

As always, thanks for reading.