When you see the word indispensable, what comes to mind?

If I’m riding my bicycle, it’s my helmet.

If I’m driving and don’t know where I’m going, it’s my Waze app. 

If I’m baking, it’s my KitchenAid mixer. (Seriously - I love that thing! When I’m looking at recipes, I’m often asking, “Do I need to use my mixer for this?” with the hope that the answer is yes.)

In that same vein, when it comes to marketing my business, there are three key tools that I consider indispensable. Here they are:

CANVA

This easy-to-use design tool enables me to create graphics and videos for my business without hiring an expensive designer. I use it for social media posts, Instagram Reels, images for my blog (like the one above!), YouTube thumbnails, and so much more.

One of the things that makes Canva easy to work with is the templates. There are lots of them within the platform itself. I also belong to the Template Tribe, where I get new professionally-designed templates every month. When I have something new to create, that’s the first place I go!

ACTIVECAMPAIGN

Email marketing is the cornerstone of my marketing strategy, so I use one of the best tools available. My favorite feature in ActiveCampaign is their automation. I like how the vertical mapping makes it easy to understand. I can change the automation on the fly without pausing it or disrupting the flow of anyone who’s already in there. 

That being said, email marketing can be intimidating. If you feel that way, I have two answers for you…

• To learn how to get the most out of ActiveCampaign, take a look at the ActiveCampaign Academy with Kay Peacey. She offers courses and coaching to unlock the potential of ActiveCampaign… and there’s a LOT of potential there!
• If you consider yourself to be less tech savvy, then Constant Contact might be a better fit. It has a great system for managing your email list and the automation is easy to use. It also offers great tools for helping you build your email list, including text-to-join. Most importantly, Its drag-and-drop email platform is very easy to work with. 

LATER.COM

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by social media. It can take a lot of time and effort to keep that part of our marketing up and running. I use Later.com to pre-schedule my social media for up to a month ahead of time! That way, I can do my social media work when I have the energy and focus, and then let it roll out automagically in a timely fashion. 

What marketing tools do you consider indispensable? Tell me in the comments. I’d love to know!