Today’s marketplace is fiercer and moving at a faster speed that it ever did. As such, growth marketers and startup founders need the right marketing tools and resources to stay ahead and grow.

Often called marketing stacks, these tools vary depending on your goals and needs. One thing they all have in common is their purpose: to deliver results while keeping things simple, quick, and easy.

In this blog post, I’ll be sharing with you 25+ marketing tools and resources that were helpful for me when working internally at several tech startups. Feel free to give these a try, and let me know what you think.

Before I get to the list, I just want to let you know that some of the links I’ve included in the list are affiliate links. If you click on these links, and you decide to go for the same plan or package I currently use, I will receive modest compensation for the sale.

Now that’s out of the way, let’s get started.

Project management

Asana

Asana is, by far, the most widely used project management platform for startups. It’s a very robust, yet simple-to-use, a platform that makes it easy to collaborate with your team working on different projects for your startup and your clients.

One of the things I like about using Asana is it allows me to better coordinate with my team. In addition to assigning who will be working on a task and when it’s supposed to be submitted, different members of my team can also assign a start date. It also allows us to attach files from either Google Drive or Dropbox, whichever you prefer to use.

GSuite

Gsuite is another project management platform you can use for your startup, especially if you’re just getting started. All the features found are free to use, and need a Google account.

What makes this a great alternative to Asana is the fact that people are very familiar with using many of the different features such as Google Docs, Google Sheets, Gmail, and even Google calendar.

At the same time, it lets you store your files in Google Drive so that it’s easy for your team members to retrieve and view them anywhere. The moment you sign up for your Gmail account, you get 15GB free storage space for files. What’s great about this is that the storage space is only for files that you upload.

That means that even if you create a huge Google Doc file, it won’t consume your storage space. If you need additional space, you can sign up for a paid account. The monthly rate is very affordable, so it’s not going to be a burden for your budget.

The only downside about Gsuite is that even if it provides you a dashboard, each one opens to a different website when you access them. When you get a lot of windows or tabs opened, it can eventually cause your browser to look so cluttered.

Marketing Automation

Zapier

Zapier essentially makes it possible for two or more apps or programs to talk with each other. In addition to the numerous ready-made tasks (called “zaps”) that you can use, Zapier also lets you create your own zaps specific to what you need.

IFTTT

IFTTT works in the same way as Zapier in that it serves as the bridge for apps and programs to talk with each other.

One advantage it has over Zapier is that it’s not limited to software programs and apps. IFTTT also integrates with many consumer-facing apps so you can use this to help you adjust the lighting and temperature in your office. It can even make it very easy to order your team’s favorite pizza, perfect when you need to punch in a few extra hours after work to meet a deadline.

Another is that it comes with an app specially designed to cater to the typical things you do on your mobile phone. These apps (called DO apps) makes it easy for you snap a picture (DO Camera) or take down notes and store it to your cloud storage (DO Note).

Since IFTTT follows the “If-This-Then-That” format (hence the name), each task (called “recipes”) only involves a single step.

HubSpot

HubSpot is more than a robust CRM. It’s equipped with a host of tools that allow you to schedule and automatically share your blog posts on your different social media channels.

At the same time, it links any social interactions to real people in your email database. That way, you’re able to keep track of the conversation with each of the people in your database and prioritize those who are more likely to convert into paying customers.

eClincher

eClincher is a social media marketing automation platform that allows you to efficiently manage multiple social media accounts, pages, and groups in one dashboard.

Aside from providing the standard features you find in most social media marketing automation programs, it also comes with features to make it easy to collaborate with your marketing team and assign different tasks for them to complete without leaving the platform.

eClincher also can suggest trending content across the web and different social media channels. This feature not only helps you reduce the time you spend doing inbound marketing, but also make it easier to come up with ideas as you develop your content marketing strategy.

Crowdfire

Crowdfire is a beneficial online marketing tool to use to promote your startup’s brand and products.

Once you specify your specific marketing goals, Crowdfire will then monitor your Twitter and Instagram accounts, and give you suggestions to help you reach them. That way, your startup’s brand stays in front of your target audience, and keep them interested in your brand and your products.

Content creation

According to the Content Marketing Institute, creating content that is high-quality and valuable is one of the top challenges faced by marketers.

Here are some beneficial tools to make this task easier.

SEMRush

SEMRush does more than help you with keyword research. This online tool gives you insight into how well your site is performing for your targeted keywords.

It also allows you to take a peek into how your competitors’ sites are performing. That way, you can look at which keywords and content are appealing to your target audience, and use these on your site.

Zerys

Zerys is an all-in-one content strategy, planning, and production platform. Its user-friendly interface and suite of free tools help you plan and develop a detailed content strategy for your inbound marketing campaigns.

What sets Zerys apart from other platforms is that it helps you save more time with your inbound marketing tasks by delegating the content writing to professional writers. You post the title and type of content you need. The writers will then bid their prices to generate the content for you. You can then review the draft they create and pay only if you’re satisfied with what they submit.

HubSpot Blog Ideas Generator

If you have selected a targeted keyword, but don’t know what topic to write, this free tool can generate a list of title ideas to help you get the juices flowing.

It’s straightforward to use. All you’ll need to do is to type in your chosen keyword in the space provided and then click on the “Give Me Blog Ideas” button to get a list of suggestions.

HubSpot’s Blog Idea Generator has been beneficial for me to come up with titles not just for blog posts on my site, but also guest posts that were successfully accepted.

Headline Analyzer

The Headline Analyzer by CoSchedule is a convenient tool to help you gauge how eye-catching is your chosen blog post title. A title with a score at least 70 is a good title.

Although it gives you insights on which sections of your title need improvement, it doesn’t provide any concrete suggestions to improve your score. So, you’ll need a bit of patience as you test different versions of your title right.

Writer

Have you ever written an essay, blog post, or speech and then realized that it sounded eerily similar to something else?

Writer Plagiarism Checker is a free online plagiarism checker that searches for similarities in text. Simply copy and paste your work into the box below and our plagiarism checker will do the rest.

Grammarly

I don’t know about you, but nothing pains me more than reading through an article that’s got a lot of errors in grammar and punctuation. Even if the material is densely packed with information, the errors are enough to distract me from them.

If you can’t afford to hire a proofreader and editor right now to check your content before they get published, Grammarly will be the next best option.

While the free version is powerful enough, I personally use the premium version because it prompts you on critical grammar errors on your document based on what type of content you’re publishing.

Another reason why I chose to go with the premium version is that it includes a plagiarism checker. This ensures that the content I produce is not only free from mistakes but also original.

It also comes with a browser add-on that checks the content you intend to post on your social media accounts or send via email.

Hemingway

The one limitation I found with Grammarly is that it doesn’t have any feature to help you check the readability ease of your content. This is where Hemingway comes in handy, especially if you’re startup’s product is quite technical.

Apart from checking your content for grammar mistakes, this free online tool checks which sentences and paragraphs in your content are difficult to read and confusing to understand. It also tells you the estimated time it will take for your reader to finish reading through your article.

Crew.co

If you need a developer or designer for your startup that specializes in web or mobile but can’t afford to have one in-house, Crew.co has a pool of professional developers and designers you can tap for your projects.

Once you submit your project to Crew.co, you will get a list of recommended developers or designers best suited to complete your project.

Venngage

More people prefer visual content like infographics over articles because they’re easier to understand.

Venngage is an online platform that lets you quickly create stunning infographics based on the data you’ve researched. You can choose from any one of their different templates or build one from scratch.

Camtasia

Video is now one of the fastest growing content marketing trends today. Already, 74% of all internet traffic goes to video. Additionally, 83% of marketers say that they would want to create more videos if their marketing budget permits.

Camtasia is a video editing tool that can help you and your startup with this. Its drag-and-drop dashboard makes it easy for you to record and edit your video content.

It also has an extensive library so that you can include a host of different effects like captions, cursor highlights, and call-to-action buttons to use to increase your video’s effectiveness in generating leads.

Lead Generation

InstaPage

InstaPage is an online platform where you can quickly create eye-catching landing pages that will help increase your visitor-to-lead conversion rate. These landing pages easily integrate with several third-party apps including SalesForce, MailChimp, and even Facebook.

Its easy-to-use “what you see is what you get” landing page editor comes with a built-in A/B testing tool. This tool helps you see how well your landing page will perform once it goes live. These, along with real-time analytics and your ability to add team members, can help you get the most conversion from the landing page you design here.

Wistia

If you are creating videos to generate leads for your startup, you’ll need a place to host this other than your website. That way, your website will not slow down, which can drastically affect your search engine rankings.

Wistia is a video hosting platform that is preferred by many startups even if you need to pay for their hosting services. For starters, your embedded video loading faster on your site compared to other video hosting platforms. Wistia also provides subscribers with a host of elements and features to help you generate more leads.

Wistia also provides you with a more detailed analytics report of your different videos. That way, you can see in better detail how each of your videos is performing, and whether they are helping you achieve your marketing goals

Chatfuel

Chatbots are fast becoming one of the most effective tools used by brands when it comes to lead generation and sales conversion.

Chatfuel is a startup that provides a range of services that allows you to quickly create a chatbot for Facebook Messenger based on your inbound marketing goals. The best part of their services is that you can create your startup’s very own chatbot for free.

Teachable Online courses are a great resource to offer to generate leads. Teachable is an online platform that provides you with comprehensive solutions for you to successfully create and launch your very first online course.

What sets Teachable apart from other online course creation platforms is that it provides you with a host of resource videos that will guide you through each step of creating an online course.

On top of this, those who choose to go with their Professional Plan receive live coach calls where they can get expert advice and suggestions on your specific challenge in creating your online course.

Influencer marketing

Ninja Outreach

Ninja Outreach is a robust blogger outreach platform that allows you to search for bloggers and influencers in your niche quickly. Once you find them, you can save the information in organized lists.

The platform also has a comprehensive library of templates you can use to create drip email campaigns for reaching out and connecting with your chosen influencers. That way, you can keep track of who you reached out to so that you don’t risk turning them off by coming across as a nag.

Tap Influence

Tap Influence is another platform you can use to reach out and connect with influencers within your niche.

Unlike Ninja Outreach, Tap Influence’s database features mainly micro-influencers. These are influencers that have less than 100K followers on any of their social media accounts. Despite having a lower follower base, brands prefer working with them because they have a more engaged group of followers. Also, their asking price is considerably lower than macro-influencers and celebrities.

BuzzSumo

BuzzSumo is an online platform where you can find which content is trending within your niche based on your chosen keyword.

At the same time, BuzzSumo is a great tool to use if you’re looking at integrating influencers into your inbound marketing strategy. That’s because BuzzSumo also provides you with a list of key influencers as well as their Twitter information and, more important, their activity rate when it comes to sharing content written by other people.

Affiliate Marketing

Weave Social

Weave Social is an affiliate marketing platform that connects you with online retailers so you can earn money through the content you publish on your site.

Once you sign up for a free account, you can choose from an extensive database of products and brands you would like to partner with. Weave Social will then give you a link that you can now incorporate into your site. If your readers click on this link in your content and make a purchase, you earn a commission from the sale.

eCommerce

BigCommerce

BigCommerce is the leading eCommerce platform that makes it easy to create and integrate an online store to your website for your products. Its list of features includes solutions to make it easy for you and your startup to manage payments and shipping your products to your customers.

What’s more, BigCommerce provides solutions that make it possible for you to sell your products on Facebook, Amazon, and Ebay. These services make it even more convenient for your target market to find and buy your products, helping you increase your revenue.

Analytics

Google Analytics

DataBox

DataBox is powerful business analytics KPI platform. It gathers the data for each of your metrics, and presents them on one dashboard, making it not only easy to view, but also interpret. That way, you don’t need to worry about having to waste time searching for them all over your CRM.

What’s excellent about DataBox is that it not only easily integrates with a host of different CRMs and software platforms but also quickly delivers your latest metrics on your browser or through their mobile app. This makes it easier to track and monitor the overall performance of your campaigns.

Personal Development

CreativeLive

CreativeLive offers over 1,500 online classes to help you either develop a new skill or further enhance skills you already possess.

When you reach their site, you’ll find three different groups of classes. The first is their Air Classes. These classes are free and are broadcast on a specific date and time only.

The second is their paid online classes. These individual classes are presented by some of the most respected names in their respective industries. These classes are on-demand, so you can study them at your own pace and time.

Then there are  Learning Path courses. These online classes include a series of different individual paid online courses that CreativeLive chose to help you go more in-depth and quickly develop all the skills required.

Breathe University

Financial Peace University

As a startup owner, being able to manage your money wisely is the number one thing you need to help your business grow.

Financial Peace University offers live workshops and online courses that teach you six principles to become financially stable and secure. While the principles here are geared towards managing a household budget, I personally have applied many of the principles I’ve learned here towards managing the finances in my business, and it has been beneficial to helping me keep everything in check.