Before your company begins marketing, there is a basic tech stack infrastructure that needs to be in place. In this blog post, we’ve identified 4 free SaaS marketing tools that startups can use to build out this initial tech stack. These essential marketing tools will help you market your product and track your results from the beginning. It’s important to mention that you do not need a fully loaded stack with all of the big players in marketing to begin this process (a common misperception we see among start ups). In fact, you can begin with a pretty bare bones, cost effective stack as long as you keep these two things in mind:
First, it is important to think about your company’s tech needs today and to anticipate your growth in the future. The last thing you want to do when you are scaling is switch your CRM or content management system because you’ve outgrown your current tool. Instead, identify the software products that can grow with you and continue to support you along the way. Second, you want to ensure that each individual product integrates with the rest of the stack. If one of your tools does not integrate with the others, it could end up in a vacuum, making it relatively useless.
Here we’ve listed out 4 free SaaS marketing tools to have in your tech stack before initiating marketing efforts:
1. CRM: You need to be able to host, track, and contact the lead generation you receive from your marketing efforts. Hubspot and ZoHo CRM both offer a free, lightweight product, with the option to add on paid services over time. Suite CRM is another alternative which offers a completely free open source CRM system, but does not have some of the features that a freemium CRM system might have.
2. Content Management System: You also need to have a place to create, publish, and store your marketing content. WordPress, and Squarespace are a few examples of freemium tools in this field, which can help you keep all of your information organized and in one place.
3. Analytics: You need to be able to analyze your website and landing pages and track your conversion so that you know which marketing channels are delivering you leads. Google Analytics and Clicky are free tools for accomplishing this, with other priced options should you decide to upgrade.
4. Marketing Automation: Once your marketing efforts begin resulting in qualified leads, you will need to be able to nurture them throughout the entire buying process. Marketing Automation software will manage this task for you. Leadsius and Aritic offer a free tool.
Marketing your product is crucial for any business that wants to grow and achieve its goals. As long as you begin that process prepared and equipped with these 4 free SaaS marketing tools, you are off to a good start. When choosing your specific software solutions, you should prioritize based on price, features, and any factors that are specific to your business. And remember, these tools are just the infrastructure. Its up to you to identify the right marketing channels for your business and execute on them. Good luck!
Special thanks to Jack Blattman for his contributions to this blog post.
