Introduction to free internet marketing tools.

Have you been searching for the best free online marketing tools on the web today? In this article we will be concentrating on the free ones but there are many comprehensive paid viable options that have competitive pricing models.

First and foremost you need to define which area of internet marketing you want to concentrate on.

People will disagree on different areas of internet marketing but broadly speaking there are 8 main areas, they are:

1. SEO search engine optimization action-Free/paid
2. Pay per click-Paid
3. Social media marketing-Free/paid
4. Email marketing-Free/paid
5. Mobile Marketing-Free/paid
6. Affiliate marketing-Free/paid
7. Marketing analytics-Free/Paid
8. Content Marketing-Free/paid

88% of all Internet marketing activities are free to start

As you can see most internet marketing tools and Apps are either free or you can start with a free version and upgrade for more functionality once you have used them and want more features and larger database capability. So for micro or smaller businesses, there are many options to get started to promote your business or hobby to the world.

A great idea is to define your target market  (say 16 to 35-year-old people) and use the applicable social marketing vehicle in this case Snapchat or Instagram.

Where to start?

Due to the vast array of choices and competition for your marketing dollars, it is critical to determine 5 important questions first:

1. Who is your target market
2. What is your budget
3. Find out where they spend their time
4. Create content and a plan
5. Be consistent and prepared to adapt

Next steps…

Once you have worked out who your target market is then some research is needed to find out where on the web universe they spend their time. It can be as much as 2 to 3 hours a day online on one particular channel eg FB or Twitter.

Your budget can start at $0 and once you see some results then increase from there.

Content creation can be tricky and this area slows most people down, however, you may well have plenty of usable content in the form of previous articles, newsletters, blogs, guest interviews, videos, questionnaires, client testimonials, guest posts, research data, ebooks,  GIFs and more. All currently available content/data can be repurposed and rewritten and drip-fed to various channels over a set period.

If you don’t have any suitable content to use then realize that you are an expert on your business it’s just a matter of committing the time to write or speaking or even doing a youtube video, and your passion will shine through in a natural way to connect with your audience. People want and recognize real people talking about their passion for their business.

Monitor, Measure and Adjust your marketing

Facebook for example uses AB testing which is a universal and proven technique to determine whether advertisement A or B gets more clicks by only slightly changing the ad and monitoring the results. This successful method proves what works now on a particular channel and for a particular audience.

Now you have started the process it’s a matter of rinse and repeat, setting goals to keep your vision on track and then scaling up to increase revenue.

My Conclusion

So there we have it, once you break it down into bite-sized pieces, the no-cost route of using the latest free internet marketing tools that are available, can be started with virtually money invested but your time will be rewarded with natural, original content, that over time people will trust and share and you will build up a following and that following can be coverted to loyal customers.