5 Free Marketing Tools That Feel Like Cheating

Let's be real—marketing your business can be overwhelming, time-consuming, and occasionally soul-crushing (especially when you're doing it all yourself).

But what if we told you there are some seriously powerful tools out there that won't cost you a penny? Tools so good, they deliver professional results that make your marketing look like you've got a full team behind you?

At Vagari, we're all about working smarter, not harder. So we've compiled our favorite free marketing tools that deliver results so impressive, they honestly feel a bit like cheating at business. Let's dive in!

1. Canva's Magic Write

Everyone's heard of Canva for design, but have you discovered their AI writing assistant? Magic Write can generate social captions, blog outlines, and email copy in seconds.

We use it to break through creative blocks and generate fresh angles on topics we've written about a dozen times. Is it cheating to have an AI kickstart your writing process? Maybe. Do we care when we're on our fourth blog post of the day? Absolutely not.

Quick tip: Use Magic Write to create multiple variations of your social media captions, then blend them together for something truly unique.

2. Unsplash + Remove.bg Combo

High-quality visuals are essential for standing out online, but professional photography and design services can cost a fortune. Enter the ultimate free visual hack: combining Unsplash's copyright-free photography with Remove.bg's background removal tool.

This power combo lets you create custom, professional-looking imagery for your brand without any design skills. Find stunning stock photos on Unsplash, remove backgrounds instantly with Remove.bg, and suddenly you've got perfectly customized images for your website, social media, and marketing materials.

The best part? The quality is so good that most people won't be able to tell the difference between these free resources and expensive custom photography.

Quick tip: Create a consistent look by choosing Unsplash photos with similar lighting and color schemes, then remove backgrounds and place products or text on top for instant branded content.

3. Klaviyo's Free Email Plan

Email marketing platforms can get expensive fast, but Klaviyo offers a surprisingly generous free plan for up to 250 contacts and 500 email sends per month.

What makes this feel like cheating? The automation capabilities and templates on the free plan are virtually identical to what you'd get with paid plans. For new businesses, this means you can set up professional automated email sequences that work while you sleep, without investing a cent.

Quick tip: Create a simple "welcome sequence" with three emails that automatically go out to new subscribers. Even this bare-minimum automation can significantly increase customer conversion.

4. ChatGPT (Free Version)

Yes, everyone's talking about AI, but are you actually using it strategically? The free version of ChatGPT can help research competitors, brainstorm campaign ideas, outline content, and even troubleshoot marketing problems.

We've used it to create a month’s worth of social media content calendars in minutes, generate headline variations, and craft email subject lines with higher open rates.

Quick tip: Ask ChatGPT to "Act as a marketing director for a [your industry] business" before asking your specific questions. The context makes a huge difference in the quality of responses.

5. Later's Free Social Scheduling

Later offers a surprisingly robust free plan that allows you to schedule up to 10 posts per social profile each month. The visual planning interface makes it easy to see how your feed will look, and the best time to post suggestions helps maximize engagement.

What makes this feel like breaking the rules? The analytics you get even on the free plan. Being able to track which content performs best and why, without paying for insights, feels like having insider information.

Quick tip: Use the free plan to schedule your "cornerstone" content—those important posts that anchor your social strategy—and fill in with real-time posts as needed.

Bonus: User-Generated Content

Okay, this isn't a tool per se, but encouraging your customers to create content about your products or services is essentially getting free marketing materials created by the people your potential customers trust most—other customers!

Set up a branded hashtag, run simple "share your experience" campaigns, or just start featuring customer photos and reviews prominently. The social proof is worth its weight in gold, and it costs you nothing but a bit of community engagement.

Quick tip: Create a simple branded template that makes it easy for customers to share their testimonials on social media.

There you have it—five (plus a bonus!) completely free tools that deliver results so good you might feel a tiny bit guilty using them. But don't worry, we won't tell anyone your marketing secrets if you don't tell ours.

Looking for more ways to level up your digital presence without breaking the bank? That's kind of our specialty at Vagari. Drop us a message, and let's chat about how we can make your digital presence work harder for your business.

Because while these tools feel like cheating, having a strategic partner who knows exactly how to use them? That's just smart business.