Startups thinking about marketing are usually concerned about watching every dollar. The good news is that you don’t need a big marketing budget to make a big impact. Today’s digital tools make it easier than ever to manage your social media and marketing for free (or close to it).
Here are some of the top no-cost and low-cost tools we recommend for startups looking to build their brand and connect with customers.
- Canva
Canva is a free design platform that helps you create everything from Instagram posts and event flyers to business cards, product labels, pitch decks, and more. The free version includes thousands of professionally designed templates and a drag-and-drop interface, making it super beginner-friendly even if you’ve never designed anything before.
Want to promote a sale? Use a Canva template to create post in minutes. Need a poster for a pop-up event? Just swap in your text and logo.
Canva also includes a suite of tools to edit short videos and reels, plus a content planner that allows you to schedule and post directly to your social media accounts from within the app.
The paid version unlocks even more features like the Brand Kit, which stores your logo, colours, and fonts—helping you create a consistent, professional look across all your materials with just a few clicks.
- Meta Business Suite
Meta Business Suite is a free and powerful tool that brings together Facebook and Instagram, allowing you to plan and manage your social media from one dashboard. It’s especially helpful for time-strapped entrepreneurs because you can batch-create your content and schedule it to go live at optimal times.
You can also respond to comments and messages from both platforms in one inbox, saving time and making sure you never miss a customer question. The built-in insights give you helpful data like how many people saw your post, who clicked your links, and what content is performing best, so you can adjust your strategy accordingly.
- Mailchimp
Mailchimp offers a free plan for up to 500 subscribers, which is more than enough for many startups just starting to build their customer base. Whether you’re sending out a monthly newsletter, announcing a new product launch, or offering a special promo to loyal customers, Mailchimp makes it easy to create beautiful, mobile-friendly emails with its drag-and-drop editor.
The automation features are a game changer. For example, you can set up a welcome email to automatically send when someone joins your list, or create a mini email series that introduces your product line over several days.
You can also segment your audience based on behaviour, like who opened your last email or who clicked on a certain link, so you can send more targeted messages and increase engagement.
- Google Business Profile
One of the easiest ways to get found online is through your Google Business Profile. It’s free and helps your business show up in search results and Google Maps. Setting up a google business profile is simple and can greatly boost your local SEO rankings and allows customers to quickly find important info about your business, such as your hours, contact info and reviews.
- ChatGPT
ChatGPT can be an incredible asset for startups trying to do more with less. Not sure what to post on Instagram this week? Ask ChatGPT to generate a month’s worth of content ideas based on your business and audience. Need a catchy product description, an email draft, or some clever hashtags? It can do that too.
You can also use it to brainstorm names for your next product, write your bio for your website, or create a press release. The more info you feed it (like your brand voice, mission, or past posts) the more tailored and helpful its responses will be.
Bonus: ChatGPT also has tools for image generation and simple editing, so you can mock up social graphics, header images, or even logos in a pinch.
Low-Cost, Big Impact
Marketing your business doesn’t need to be expensive, it just needs to be strategic. By using free and low-cost tools like Canva, Meta Business Suite, Mailchimp, Google Business Profile, and ChatGPT, you can build a solid social media presence, grow your brand, and reach your audience—without hiring a full team or blowing your budget.
Need help picking the right tools or figuring out your marketing plan? Let’s chat. We’re always here to support local startups in Northwestern Ontario!
