Introduction
Here’s a common scenario we see all too often in our industry. A business is spending $3,000 – $20,000 a month on ads, investing in SEO, posting regularly on social media, and still can’t answer a simple question:
What’s actually driving revenue?
They see traffic.
They see activity.
Maybe they see leads.
But they don’t know:
- Which channels bring in real customers
- Which campaigns are profitable
- Why visitors leave without converting
- Where marketing dollars are being wasted
So, decisions are made on assumptions rather than data.
That’s where things start to break down.
Because if you can’t clearly measure what’s working, you can’t improve it. You can only keep spending and hope for better results.
The surprising part is this:
Most businesses already have the marketing tools they need to address this lack of clarity.
They’re free.
They’re powerful.
And in many cases, they might already be part of your marketing infrastructure, but they’re not set up correctly or being used at all.
Instead, businesses often:
- Install marketing tools without configuring them properly
- Ignore the data once it’s available
- Jump to new platforms before fixing foundational issues
If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone, but it’s likely costing you more money than you realize.
Why Most Businesses Waste Money on Marketing
Most businesses don’t fail because they aren’t investing in marketing.
They fail because they’re investing without visibility into the results.
Below are some real-world examples we’ve seen.
A company runs Google Ads and generates 50 leads, but has no idea which keywords drove the 3 leads that became customers.
Another business invests in SEO for months but never tracks which pages actually convert visitors into leads.
A service company gets steady website traffic but doesn’t track phone calls, so their most valuable conversions go completely unmeasured.
On the surface, everything looks like it’s working.
Underneath, no one can connect the dots.
This leads to a pattern we see all the time:
Businesses try to solve strategic problems with new tools rather than with better data.
They invest in:
- AI platforms
- Advanced automation software
- Expensive reporting dashboards
But underneath it all:
- Form submissions aren’t properly tracked
- Traffic sources aren’t clearly attributed
- Sales data isn’t connected to marketing efforts
So instead of improving results, they just add more complexity and confusion.
We call this “blind marketing”. Spending money without knowing what’s actually driving outcomes.
And the longer it continues, the more expensive it becomes.
Before investing in more tools, the smarter move is simpler:
Make sure you’re fully using the free marketing tools that already exist.
Because once you can clearly see what’s working, every other marketing decision gets easier and more profitable.
Before You Buy Marketing Automation Software, Install the Basics First
There’s nothing wrong with automation. In fact, the right marketing automation software can save time and improve efficiency.
But automation without tracking often makes problems worse. It’s like signing up to run a 10k at the end of the month when you’ve never even run around your block once in your life.
If you don’t know which campaigns generate qualified leads, automation simply helps you scale confusion faster.
If your analytics and data infrastructure aren’t connected, automation tools speed up poor follow-up.
If your analytics systems are installed but broken, AI tools will optimize toward bad data.
That’s why smart businesses build a measurement foundation first, then automate later.
The next section of our article covers 10 free marketing tools every business should be using if you truly want to scale your business and increase profits.
Unlike other articles that provide generic lists of tools that help with operational elements, the next section dives into 10 tools your business can’t afford to ignore.
10 Free Online Marketing Tools Smart Businesses Should Be Using
1. Google Analytics (GA4)
Google Analytics shows you what’s actually driving results, not just traffic.
Most businesses assume they know where their best leads and sales come from. Then they open Google Analytics and realize something surprising: the channel they’ve been investing the most in often isn’t the one generating revenue.
For example, we regularly see companies pouring money into a marketing channel while another, more neglected traffic source quietly produces higher-quality leads, or they invest time and money in a social channel that is not even relevant to their industry.
Once set up properly, Google Analytics helps you answer questions like:
- Which channels generate real leads (not just clicks)
- Which pages drive conversions
- Where visitors drop off before taking action
Without it, marketing decisions are based on assumptions. With it, you can start making decisions based on actual performance.
2. Google Tag Manager
Google Tag Manager is what turns your website from a brochure into a measurable system.
Many businesses think they’re tracking performance because they installed Google Analytics. But in reality, they’re only tracking page views, which tells you almost nothing about lead generation or e-commerce sales.
Tag Manager lets you track the actions that actually matter:
- Form submissions
- Button clicks (CTAs)
- Phone calls
- Online Purchases
One of the biggest benefits of using Google Tag Manager (aka GTM) is that it allows you to install all of the tracking codes and pixels you need from Google Analytics, Meta, Microsoft, LinkedIn, TikTok, etc, etc., without slowing down your website.
With GTM, you can set up all of the pixels and conversions you need to track marketing efforts and then pass the data to Google Analytics to keep track of results. Using GTM also avoids you having to hardcode these pixels and tracking codes on your website, which can impact page load speeds that impact your SEO efforts.
Here’s the issue: if you’re not tracking conversions or clickable elements on your webpages, you can’t tell which campaigns are working. That means you could be scaling ads that don’t generate leads or turning off ones that do.
We often find that campaigns aren’t performing because conversion tracking isn’t set up correctly between the advertising platform and how users actually convert on the website. This often results in inaccurate data being sent to Google Analytics, leading to misinformed campaign optimizations.
3. Google Search Console
Google Search Console shows you how your business actually appears in Google search results and where you’re missing easy wins.
One of the most common surprises? Businesses are already ranking for valuable keywords but getting very few clicks to their most valuable pages.
For example, a page might rank on the first page of Google but have a weak title or description, causing users to skip it. A small change can significantly increase traffic without creating new content.
Search Console helps you uncover:
- Keywords you already rank for, or which ones you can optimize
- Pages with high impressions but low clicks
- Technical issues affecting visibility across Google search results (broken images, URLs, or robot txts which prevent your page from being indexed)
Instead of guessing what to optimize, you can focus on opportunities already within reach. Google Search Console also easily connects to Google Ads and Google Analytics, which means you can easily uncover what search queries are driving traffic to your website, but might not be part of your Google Ads targeted keyword strategy.
One of the most common overlooked features about Google Search Console is that it’s your direct line of communication between the content on your website and Google’s content indexing algorithm. Any time we update our website or write an article for clients that leverages SEO, we immediately notify Google by loading it into Google Search Console.
Instead of waiting weeks or months for Google to index your new page or content, Google’s web crawlers are able to identify and index the new content in a few days. This free SEO strategy could be the turning point in whether your content gets indexed and prioritized in AI summaries over your competitors’.
If your competitors’ content outranks yours, it might be because you’re not telling Google your website contains a better version of the same topic. It sounds too easy to believe, but it really is that simple.
4. Google Looker Studio (rebranded back to Google Data Studio 4/11/26)
Most businesses don’t have a data problem. They have a clarity problem.
Data is scattered across platforms: Google Ads, Analytics, CRM systems, and call tracking tools. Trying to piece it together manually leads to confusion or, more often, inaction.
Looker Studio solves this by pulling everything into a single, clear visual dashboard.
Instead of asking:
“Where do we even find this data?”
You can start asking:
“What is this data telling us to do next?”
For example, you can see:
- Which channels generate leads and revenue
- How campaigns compare side by side
- Where performance is improving or declining
Clear reporting leads to faster, more confident decisions. The cool thing about these reports is that you can customize them to track virtually any data you want from most platforms. You can even switch between bars, graphs, charts, and color-code your data to make the visuals easier to interpret.
There is one slight challenge that we can’t ignore. Google Looker Studio integrates seamlessly with Google products like Google Ads, Google Analytics, Google Search Console, & YouTube; however, if you want to track campaign performance data from other platforms, you will need to use a third-party data connector to integrate those platforms with Looker Studio.
Third-party data connectors include Supermetrics, Power My Analytics, Porter Metrics, Catchr, and Funnel.io, to name a few.
While Supermetrics is one of the best-known data connectors, we prefer Catchr because its monthly pricing is reasonable given the number of account connectors we need for each client we manage. They also give you a ton of templates you can easily update and rebrand as your own.
“What if I don’t want to pay for these data connectors?” No worries, you can download campaign performance data from platforms like Meta, Microsoft, or LinkedIn as an Excel CSV and then build your Looker Studio dashboard to pull the data from the Excel CSV file. This process requires you to manually download the data each month, increasing the risk of errors if you don’t format it correctly. You also have to be an Excel or Google Sheets ninja to format the data correctly so it doesn’t break your Looker Studio dashboard each month when you upload new data.
Considering you’re going to save a ton of money with all of these tools, we suggest picking a data connector that gives you access to the account data you need and just pay the monthly fee. It will improve the efficiency of monthly reporting and reduce potential errors in data setup.
5. Google Business Profile
For local businesses, Google Business Profile is often the highest-impact marketing tool they have and one of the most underutilized.
When someone searches for a service “near me,” they’re not browsing social media. They’re looking at Google Maps results, reviews, and quick contact options.
This is where buying decisions happen.
An optimized profile helps you show up in:
- Local search results
- Google Maps
- Mobile “near me” searches
And more importantly, it drives actions:
- Phone calls
- Direction requests
- Website visits
We often see local businesses investing heavily in social media while their Google profile is incomplete or outdated. That’s a missed opportunity where customers are already looking. Another reason it’s imperative that your Google Business Profile (GBP) is accurate is that it’s often used to populate other online directories (Google Maps, Apple Maps, Yellow Pages, etc.).
If that was not enough to convince you, what if I told you that your Google Business Profile is likely the reason your local SEO is failing? You know those local businesses that show up in local search when you Google things like pizza shop, dry cleaning, or dentist “near me”? They’re showing up at the top of the page because their website content matches what services they offer on their GBP profile.
GBP also links very easily to Google Ads, which means you can create very targeted ads to attract local business through local ads. You can then pass that data back to Google Analytics to get even more insights into what’s working.
6. Google Keyword Planner
A lot of businesses create content based on what they think customers care about.
Keyword Planner shows you what people are actually searching for.
This often reveals a disconnect. For example, a business might promote a service using internal terminology while customers are searching for something completely different.
With Keyword Planner, you can:
- Identify real demand for services
- Discover seasonal trends
- Find new content and ad opportunities
Instead of guessing what to write or promote, you align your marketing with real search behavior, which dramatically improves results.
At KnewChoice, we use the Google Keyword Planner to gather keyword data, which is then used to build our SEO and PPC strategies. We used it in tandem with other keyword research tools because each tool offers additional features we need for competitor research.
Keep in mind, though: the Keyword Planner is no longer a standalone tool like it was several years ago. It’s not directly linked to Google Ads, which means you need to create a Google Ads account in order to get access to the tool.
Creating a Google Ads account is free. You’re only charged if you run ads. Also, keep this in mind because I don’t think Google discloses this info. If your campaigns are paused, you can use the keyword planner, but the keyword data, like CPCs, won’t be as accurate as if you have active campaigns running. If you’re running ads, Google gives you keyword CPC data down to the cent; otherwise, they give you CPC ranges.
Since most of our clients are actively running Google Ads Search campaigns, we use the Keyword Planner to generate traffic and keyword cost projections to keep their ads showing above their competitors.
I’ve already mentioned how other Google products connect to Google Ads, so I won’t mention them here.
7. Bing Webmaster Tools
Most businesses ignore Bing entirely, which creates an opportunity for those who don’t.
While Google dominates search, Bing still drives meaningful traffic, especially across Microsoft’s ecosystem and AI-powered search experiences.
Bing Webmaster Tools gives you additional visibility into:
- Keyword performance
- Indexing and crawl issues
- Search trends outside Google
In many cases, competition is lower, making it easier to gain visibility.
It’s not about replacing Google; it’s about capturing additional demand that your competitors may be overlooking.
Think of Bing Webmaster Tools as Microsoft’s version of Google Search Console. Many of the features and content indexing tools can also be found in Bing Webmaster Tools, but they apply to how your content appears across Microsoft properties like Internet Explorer (yes, people still use this search engine).
Another reason you don’t want to ignore this free platform is that we discovered a few months ago that businesses using Bing Webmaster Tools to index their content on Microsoft were suddenly being referenced by AI platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity when people were using these platforms to research various topics.
That feature has died down a bit now that Google has updated its AI summaries across Google Search, but it still seems relevant.
Things are changing constantly with AI, so it couldn’t hurt to implement another strategy that could help separate you from your competitors, even if it’s for a little while.
8. Bing for Places
Bing for Places is similar to Google Business Profile but far less competitive.
That’s exactly why it matters.
Many businesses never claim or optimize their listing, which means those who do can stand out quickly with minimal effort.
It helps your business appear in:
- Bing local search results
- Bing Maps
- Microsoft-powered search environments
As AI-driven search continues to grow, Microsoft’s ecosystem is becoming more relevant. Having a presence here ensures you’re not invisible in those environments.
This is one of the simplest “low effort, extra visibility” opportunities available.
If you want to learn more about Bing for Places, check out this blog we wrote, which explores some of the features and benefits.
9. Microsoft Clarity
Traffic numbers tell you what is happening.
Microsoft Clarity shows you why.
Instead of just seeing that users leave your site, you can watch how they interact with it:
- Where they click
- How far they scroll
- Where they get stuck
- When they leave
This often uncovers issues that analytics alone can’t explain.
For example:
- Users repeatedly clicking something that isn’t clickable
- Forms that look broken on mobile
- Important buttons that users never see
We’ve seen businesses increase conversions without adding traffic just by fixing issues Clarity exposed.
Sometimes the problem isn’t getting visitors. It’s what happens after they arrive. For those familiar with Hotjar, Microsoft Clarity offers similar features to understand how people actually use your website once they land.
It’s also a great tool if your priority is to fix website or landing page conversion rates.
10. HubSpot (Free Version)
Many businesses track leads but stop there.
The real question is: which leads actually turn into customers?
HubSpot’s free CRM helps you connect marketing activity to real revenue by tracking:
- Where leads came from
- How they were followed up on
- Whether they closed
- How long the process took
Without this, it’s easy to celebrate lead volume while missing a bigger issue: low-quality leads that never convert.
For example, a campaign generating 100 leads may feel successful until you realize none of the leads became customers.
HubSpot closes that loop, helping you focus on what actually grows the business, not just what looks good in reports.
If your business has been running for a while or even if you’re just getting started, we recommend setting up a CRM like HubSpot sooner rather than later to track leads. Eventually, when you transition away from the free version and upgrade to a paid plan, you can collect even more data to see which campaigns are actually leading to MQLs, SQLs, and revenue.
Want to learn more about CRMs in general or how we combine HubSpot with Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics to supercharge our lead gen campaigns? Check out this blog post that dives into the technical setup you’ll need to get away from using Google Sheets or Excel sheets to track leads.
Where to Start Without Overcomplicating Things
Now that you know the 10 free marketing tools we recommend to most businesses, the next question is: where should you start?
You don’t need to install everything at once. The goal is to build visibility in the right order so you can understand what’s already happening before adding more complexity.
Step 1: Fix Your Core Tracking
Start by making sure your website is tracking more than page views. At a minimum, you should know when someone submits a form, clicks a phone number, completes a purchase, or interacts with an important call-to-action (CTA).
This usually starts with Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Google Search Console, and Google Business Profile if you’re a local business.
Step 2: Bring the Data Into One Place
Start by making sure your website is tracking more than page views. At a minimum, you should know when someone submits a form, clicks a phone number, completes a purchase, or interacts with an important call-to-action (CTA).
This usually starts with Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Google Search Console, and Google Business Profile if you’re a local business.
Step 3: Optimize Based on What the Data Shows
This is where things start to click (marketing joke, lol).
Instead of guessing, you can make small, informed adjustments. Shift budget away from underperforming campaigns, improve pages where users drop off, and double down on the channels already producing qualified leads or sales.
That’s how momentum builds.
Most businesses don’t need more complexity.
They need clarity.
Final Thoughts
Many businesses don’t need more software.
They don’t need more AI subscriptions.
They don’t need another marketing trend.
They need better use of the free online marketing tools already available.
Because businesses that understand what’s working can grow faster, spend smarter, and scale with confidence.
Those who don’t often keep paying for activity instead of results.
Need Help Setting This Up?
If your business is getting traffic but you’re not sure what’s actually turning into leads or revenue, the issue is usually in the setup, not the effort.
KnewChoice helps businesses turn free tools into clear, revenue-focused systems so you can see what’s working and scale it with confidence.
👉 Book a free strategy session and let’s take a look at what your marketing is really doing.
