Seven Free Marketing Tools for a Crisis-Constrained Budget

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Watch a video of Samantha discussing marketing in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

As we play our part to practice social distancing to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, many advisory firms are moving to cut costs to their marketing budgets. According to a Gartner poll, almost two-thirds of markets expect moderate or significant budget cuts in 2020 relative to their original marketing plans due to COVID-19.

Should you pause all ads, stop all marketing and end all outbound communication to prospects and clients?

The short answer is no. Investors need (and want) to hear from you now more than ever.

We are facing a historic moment – this is the greatest amount of time people have ever spent online. Not being where clients and prospects are spending their time is the biggest mistake you can make. This is the best time for you to double down on your marketing efforts and fully embrace a digital communications process.

No marketing budget? Seven free tools to drive success

At Twenty Over Ten, I recommend advisors design their marketing strategies to cover, “the big four," which includes content creation, social media, email and website search optimization (SEO). These pillars of marketing can all be managed by you or someone on your team for free. You just have to be willing to take the time to learn the requisite tools. Luckily, there are many tutorials, videos and guides on these topics. Here are seven of my favorites:

1. Graphics: Canva

Canva is a free visual content creation tool that is made for non-designers. Not only does it have an extensive library of pre-designed, pre-sized templates, but it also has thousands of premium-quality design elements, ranging from custom fonts to free stock photos.

Canva offers a free version and is great for small businesses because it allows them to create beautiful, on-brand images that can stand out on social media, email, etc. Studies show that if you hear a piece of information, then three days later you’re only 10% likely to remember it. But if you add a picture, you’re 65% more likely to remember it. Canva gives you an easy way to incorporate the very important aspect of visual marketing into your arsenal.