As a local service provider, you’re always on the lookout for easy and affordable ways to grow your small business. It’s already free to have a social media presence, but it’s not enough to just have a profile. You need to be active on social media, sharing helpful information, engaging prospects and customers, and growing your following — which is time-consuming. Fortunately, there are many tools that can alleviate the time burden by automating certain tasks and allowing you to focus on more important tasks.
Here are our top free social media marketing tools to grow your small business.
Later: For Planning & Scheduling
There are optimal times when your social media posts will reach more people. Unfortunately, you’ll probably be up to your eyeballs in work at that time, and stopping to share something on social media isn’t a priority. With a planning and scheduling tool, like Later you can write up all your posts for the week, load them into the platform, and schedule the day and time they’ll go live. Later is perfect for solopreneurs and those just getting started with social media. Later’s FREE plan includes one social media set (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Tik-Tok — probably more than you need!), and lets you schedule up to 30 posts per week.
Later tells you the best time to post on each platform, includes a hashtag tool and includes analytics so you can monitor the performance of your social media marketing. Small businesses that got burned when Hootsuite ditched their free plan will love it Later.
ChatFuel: For Chatbots To Automatically Answer Questions In DMs
Today’s consumers are on-the-go and they want answers fast. If social media is the primary way you stay top-of-mind with local facility managers, your profile is likely the first place they’ll go when they need to contact you. A quick DM (direct message) is often the path of least resistance to let you know they need something. But are you (or an employee) monitoring your social media inboxes around the clock? Unlikely! That’s where a chatbot like ChatFuel is a lifesaver.
ChatFuel’s FREE plan includes up to 50 bot users in both Facebook and Instagram, so you can automatically answer many of the most common questions customers DM you with.
Canva: For Graphic Design
Visual social media posts get more attention than words alone. Fortunately, you don’t have to be a graphic artist (or hire one!) to easily create eye-catching social media graphics. Canva is the perfect free design tool for small businesses. Canva’s FREE plan includes more than 250,000 templates and more than 100 design types, including sizes specifically for social media posts. It also includes hundreds of thousands royalty free stock photos and graphics and 5GB of cloud storage to easily organize all of your social media graphics in one spot.
Portent: For Content Ideas & Attention-Grabbing Headlines
At some point you’ll find yourself in Later staring at your content calendar drawing a complete blank as to what to post about. Portent is a free content idea generator. Simply input a seed topic and it will generate potential titles for you. Keep clicking “see another title” until you have an ah-ha! moment, and be prepared to get a good laugh in the process.
We inputted “plumbing problems” and got the following title suggestions:
- 16 BS Facts About Plumbing Problems Everyone Thinks Are True
- What the Amish Can Teach You About Plumbing Problems
- When Plumbing Problems Send You Running for Cover
- Why Mom Was Right About Plumbing Problems
- How Your Plumbing Problems Could Get You On The Today Show
- How Low Can Plumbing Problems Go?
You can see how a plumber would have a hayday with some of these! And the great thing is that you can use the opportunity to share helpful tips while wrapping them in attention-grabbing headlines that will make your customers pause and remember you.
Read Want To Build Your Plumbing Business? Start With The People
Whether you’re just starting your service business, or looking for ways to expand, social media is an easy and free way to reach more customers. Start using these free social media marketing tools today to grow your small business!
Check out our list of 6 Free Tools For Small Business Marketing for even more FREE resources.
Partner With SimpleBids To Reach More Customers
SimpleBids is a marketplace that connects local service providers with businesses that need service, repair, or replacement. Commercial facility service customers want a fast and simple way to find reliable service providers in their neighborhoods, but they’re often inundated with ads paid for by big companies that may or may not be qualified – or even local.
When you create your free business profile on SimpleBids, you gain immediate access to new work if your location and services match customer needs. You can join SimpleBids now for free and be one of the first service providers in your area, get in front of new customers at no cost to you, and get exclusive invitations to bid on new projects.
