Free marketing tools for small businesses
We built these from the rules we use on client accounts. Put in your own numbers and answers, and you get the same math and the same checklist we'd run for you.
- You enter
- 6 numbers from your store
- On screen
- Break-even and target ROAS
- By email
- Monthly ad budget plan
Break-even ROAS calculator
Find the return on ad spend where an ad stops losing money and the stricter target we hold every ad to before it gets more budget. Built for anyone about to spend money on Meta, TikTok or Google ads.
The email plan adds your daily budget, the clicks you need, the most you can pay per click, and when to pull an ad.
Open the calculator- You answer
- 15 multiple-choice questions
- On screen
- Score out of 100 and what to fix first
- By email
- Breakdown and fix list for all five standards
CAMPAV marketing audit
Score how effective your posting, email efforts and measuring are with the CAMPAV (Consistent, Authentic, Measurable Presence that Adds Value) framework. The tool will also point out the one standard dragging the rest down.
This is a great tool for owners who know something isn't working but can't say what.
Take the audit- You fill in
- Who they are, what they want, where they spend time
- You keep
- Up to three profiles as a PDF
Customer profile template
Write down who your best customers are, what they care about and where to reach them. A check runs as you type and flags anything too broad to write an ad for, like "everyone" or a 40-year age range.
Each profile ends with a one-line message and a starting point for ad audiences. Built on our post on defining your target customer.
Build your profiles- You fill in
- What customers see at each stage
- You keep
- A finished map as a PDF
Customer journey map
Lay out what a customer sees, reads and hears from you at each of the six stages, from first hearing your name to recommending you to a friend. The gaps show up fast once it's on one page.
Built on the six stages from our customer journey post. Your map saves in your browser while you work.
Build your mapWhere to start
Take the audit first if you aren't sure what's broken. It covers everything from posting schedules to reviews, and the result tells you where to spend your next hour.
Go straight to the calculator if you're about to spend money on ads. Knowing your break-even point before the first dollar goes out is cheaper than finding it after.
Build your customer profiles before the journey map. The map asks what each customer sees at every stage, and that answer depends on who the customer is.
The stack we recommend
Three tools cover most of what a small brand needs to market itself. We use all three, and we'd set them up in this order.
Google Workspace
Email on your own domain, plus Drive, Docs, Sheets and Calendar. A gmail.com address on an invoice makes new customers hesitate. Fix that before anything else.
Try Google WorkspaceActiveCampaign
Email lists, signup forms, automations and a simple CRM in one place. Every signup from the tools on this page lands there, sorted by which tool they used.
Try ActiveCampaignMetricool
One calendar for scheduling posts to Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn and more, with the numbers for each channel in the same place. We use it to plan posts and pull monthly reports.
Try Metricool
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