Naomi GoldbergFinding the right tools to help you grow your startup can often involve a good amount of trial and error. Whilst one tool might be the ultimate growth hacking tool for one startup, a similar company in a similar field might find it a waste of their time and resources.
So how can you sort the gems from the duds? Firstly, check out customer recommendations. Are their customers in the same field to you? Did they experience similar problems that the tool has solved? Are they recommended in forums, and on product sites? Do they provide good customer support? Are they priced to fit your needs?
Once you’ve narrowed down a tool as a potential good fit for your startup you should always sign up for a free trial. The free trial gives you an opportunity to use the tool to see if it really brings you benefits. Are your team happy to adopt it? Does it make your life easier, and is it easy to use?
Here’s our pick of tools for your startup to trial in 2015
For email branding
WiseStamp for Business
WiseStamp gives individual users the tools to create a unique and dynamic email signature. With WiseStamp for Business startups (on Google Apps for Work) can create a united brand across all corporate communication. You can add links to your social, media, your blog, or your website, and your photo or corporate logo shows the people you are emailing who exactly you are. WiseStamp for Business runs a 14 day free trial here.
For social media management
Oktopost
Oktopost is a Hootsuite alternative for automated social posting, but it’s easy to use dashboards and inbuilt content curation make it startup friendly. Oktopost easily handles Facebook, Twitter and Google+ automatic posting, but it really shines with LinkedIn, especially LinkedIn groups, making it an ideal tool for B2B startups. It offers reasonably priced options for startups who need functionality and ease without a hefty price tag, and provides a 30 day free trial so you can try it out to see if it suits you. Try your 30 day free trial here.
For Presentations and videos
Powtoon
With Powtoon you can create fun and friendly videos and presentations. This is a great startup tool, and can be used for group presentations to explainer videos, with little or no budget. Powtoon is very user friendly, so you can create interesting multimedia presentations, even when you are limited by time or budget. Powtoon runs a free version so you can trial it and see if it works for you.
For email marketing
Customer I.O
Customer I.O is a great email marketing tool for startups that allows you to email your users based on their behaviour on your website or mobile app. They provide full segmentation features, A/B testing and reporting to help you make the most out of your email marketing campaigns. Customer IO offer a free service for smaller startups, or as a trial to see if they are a good fit for you.
For analytics
CrazyEgg
CrazyEgg provide heatmap analytics so you can see exactly what your users are doing on your site, where they are clicking, and just as importantly, not clicking. Combining CrazyEgg with your Google Analytics metrics gives you a better idea of your user behaviour and preferences, and helps you improve your user experience. Not sure if CrazyEgg is for you? They offer a 30 day free trial so you can see if its a useful tool for your startup.
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