May 30th, 2023 | 3 min. read
By Kim Kovelle
Ready to reach more customers? These marketing services help.
When you manage a business, you’re like an acrobat doing the spinning plate trick. Each task is a “plate” swirling atop a proverbial stick. Keeping them all in motion is challenging. And, all too often, the marketing plate spins off and shatters.
You’re not alone. Marketing is vital to getting new business, but it’s a job in itself. And yet a whopping 47% of small business owners are handling their own marketing. That’s daunting.
Even if a marketing agency isn’t in the budget, you can still get expert advice. How? With free digital marketing resources. After all, marketing is always evolving. After 15+ years of doing marketing in metro Detroit and Chicago, we at Zoe Marketing & Communications keep learning, too!
Here, we’ll share some powerful tools to help you get oriented and organized fast, including:
Get a clear sense of what these resources can offer you to keep your marketing moving.
1. HubSpot Academy
A leader in the digital marketing scene, HubSpot has been serving free courses and certifications since 2016 — and makes the cut on many lists. It offers 300+ marketing options, covering inbound marketing, social media, email, content and more.
Don’t know where to start? Its home page highlights its most popular marketing, sales and client service offerings. Some core features include:
- Engaging video lessons that break down concepts visually, with friendly guides
- Practical exercises that bring concepts to life, plus quick quizzes to test what you’ve learned
- Deep dives into subjects, including 17 full-on marketing certifications (in SEO, email marketing, social media, inbound and more) to add to your website, LinkedIn profile, etc.
A few extra highlights that can help busy business owners:
- Preview videos: Get a quick sense of what you’ll get from the lesson before taking it.
- Options to search by duration: Keep it under a half hour, 30 minutes to 1 hour, 1-2 hours, 2-3 hours or 3+ hours. Certifications average more like 2-5 hours.
In keeping with its learning-first focus, HubSpot even links to 40+ more free online marketing classes outside of its own offerings.
2. Google Digital Garage
This free resource focuses on growing businesses and building new digital skills. It began as a face-to-face program in the UK in 2015 (expect some British accents in the videos).
Today, you can choose from 21 free digital marketing courses. Tackle topics like online business visibility, prospecting, social media, SEO and content marketing. Of course, you can learn about Google Analytics and ads, too. Some key points worth noting:
- Lessons usually contain video tutorials, “easy-to-implement tips” and recaps. A few are more text-based but feature plenty of graphics and visuals.
- Courses average 1-3 hours; a few reach 8 or 15 hours. (Some reviewers find it helpful to watch at a faster speed to shorten the watch time.)
- A learning plan helps track the classes you’ve taken.
Most courses are by Google or its Applied Digital Skills and Skillshop platforms. Some are via partners like OpenClassrooms. Each is tailored to different topics and learning styles.
One free certification worth calling out is the free Fundamentals of Digital Marketing. A comprehensive 101, it’s a 40-hour time commitment — but a worthwhile crash course.
3. HootSuite free tools
HootSuite has offered education since 2011 as a big player in social media scheduling and strategizing. While you’ll have to pay for its HootSuite Academy certifications ($99-$299+), it also offers free tools to get your bearings. A few standouts include:
- Instagram caption generator
- Engagement rate calculator
- Social media dictionary
- Twitter score calculator
A “social media updates” feed keeps you on top of the latest trends and features, too, without much filler. And the brass-tacks “Strategy” blog is worth checking out. It highlights everything from the best AI tools for social to “14 content creation tools to make your job much easier” (yes, please).
One more freebie hot tip: You can dip into the first two lessons of its Advanced Social Advertising course as a free demo.
4. Content Marketing Institute resources
When it comes to writing marketing material, the CMI is a top-notch go-to. Also founded in 2011, it offers many free resources, including blogs, ebooks and webinars.
You may need to rummage a bit, but you’ll quickly find the tools to get you grounded. A few standouts include:
- A workbook on getting your content marketing started
- A downloadable guide to making your content “better, stronger, faster”
- A glossary of over 50 helpful content marketing terms
- Free webinars on hot topics, including both live and on-demand options
- A roundup of strategic content planning checklists and templates
Each resource offers practical tips and real-world examples to help create and promote your content. Industry experts chime in on the latest trends and developments, too.
The writers here are passionate about content, of course. But they also break it down into digestible pieces everyone can understand.
Keep learning about digital marketing for your business
Trying to manage your business and marketing is a considerable feat. Fortunately, free resources abound to help you get your footing — and keep that “plate” spinning.
Start with free offerings from HubSpot, Google Digital Garage, HootSuite and the Content Marketing Institute. Each source makes it easy to narrow in on the marketing issue you’re concerned with or, if you choose, get a more holistic view.
Head spinning a bit? Talk to us. At Zoe Marketing & Communications, we work with clients to take the stress out of marketing. We’ll build a holistic marketing plan that meets your needs.
And, if you’re still weighing out your in-house marketing options, get more insight in these articles:
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