If You Run a Local Business and Hate Marketing, Read This.

April 14, 2025
•
5 min read
Vick Antonyan

Running a local business is tough, and marketing often feels like an extra burden. But here’s the good news: AI tools can simplify your marketing and save you time. Whether it’s automating social media, personalizing email campaigns, or improving your local search rankings, AI can handle repetitive tasks and boost results without needing a marketing degree.

Key Takeaways:

  • AI tools streamline marketing: Automate social media, email, and SEO tasks.
  • Save time and effort: Tools like Hootsuite, Mailchimp, and Localo handle the heavy lifting.
  • Boost local visibility: Improve Google rankings and manage customer reviews easily.
  • Affordable options available: Platforms like Humble Help offer free starter kits.

If you’re overwhelmed by marketing, start small. Use tools to automate one task, and expand gradually. AI makes marketing easier, even for non-experts.

Using AI to Enhance Your Small Business Marketing Strategy

AI Tools That Make Local Marketing Simple

Discover AI tools designed to tackle the common challenges of local marketing. These tools streamline tasks and help businesses stay ahead in their marketing efforts.

Social Media Management Tools

Hootsuite is a popular choice for managing social media, especially for local businesses. It offers features like:

  • Content scheduling: Plan and publish posts across platforms from a single dashboard.
  • AI-generated captions: Create engaging captions and find relevant hashtags easily.
  • Unified inbox: Handle all social media messages in one place.
  • Performance tracking: Analyze post performance with built-in tools.

One retail business reported a 750% sales increase, while others reduced their social media workload by 80% [2].

Email Marketing Tools

Mailchimp makes email marketing easier with its AI-powered features:

  • Content creation assistance: Write compelling emails with AI support.
  • Automated scheduling: Send emails at the best times for engagement.
  • Customer segmentation: Automatically tailor content to specific audience groups.
  • Performance insights: Track results and refine your strategy.

Mailchimp facilitates billions of emails and offers up to 25× ROI [5]. Additionally, 50% of consumers make purchases through email at least once a month [6].

Tools to Improve Local Search Rankings

Local search optimization is crucial, and tools like Localo can make a big difference. For instance, one business improved its Google ranking from position 35 to the top 10 [3]. Since 73% of Google search results include a local component [4], tools like this are vital for maintaining visibility.

"Localo is a vital tool for us to monitor our placement on Google Maps. I have used various tools, and it is safe to say that Localo stands out above the rest. The tool simplifies the tasks needed to keep local ranking relevant" [3].

Localo helps with optimizing Google Business Profiles, monitoring and responding to reviews, managing local directory listings, and analyzing competitors. These features make it a strong ally in boosting local search rankings.

Best AI Marketing Tools for Small Businesses

Looking to simplify your marketing efforts? These three AI tools are designed to help small businesses tackle their marketing challenges with ease.

Humble Help: All-in-One Marketing Platform

Humble Help

Humble Help blends AI technology with human insights to automate essential marketing tasks, including:

  • AI-driven website creation and optimization
  • Automated SEO management
  • Content creation for blogs and social media
  • PR strategy execution
  • A personalized marketing dashboard for easy tracking

Their Brand Boost Package offers a free starter kit, which includes a website review, updated design layout, three press features, and three blog posts. It's a no-cost way to explore the platform and see its potential.

Jasper: Content Creation Made Simple

Jasper

Jasper uses AI to craft marketing content quickly and efficiently, such as:

  • Social media posts
  • Email campaigns
  • Blog articles
  • Product descriptions
  • Ad copy

By analyzing your business and target audience, Jasper ensures the content aligns with your marketing goals while staying engaging and consistent.

IgniteKit: Your Digital Marketing Powerhouse

IgniteKit

IgniteKit is a versatile toolkit designed to enhance your online presence and customer engagement. Here's a breakdown of its features:

Feature What It Does
AI Review Management Tracks and responds to customer reviews automatically
Listings Optimization Boosts local search rankings across multiple platforms
Smart Messaging Simplifies communication with customers
Intelligent CRM Helps manage and organize customer relationships
AI Campaign Tools Facilitates email and SMS marketing campaigns
Social Media Management Automates scheduling and posting of content

This all-in-one platform allows small businesses to handle various marketing tasks efficiently from one place.

Up next, find out how to pick the right AI tools for your unique marketing needs.

sbb-itb-edf7477

Picking the Right AI Marketing Tools

Identify Time-Consuming Marketing Tasks

Start by pinpointing which marketing tasks consume the most time or feel repetitive. Track your activities for a week to uncover patterns. Common tasks like managing social media, running email campaigns, handling customer support, creating content, and optimizing for SEO are often great candidates for AI tools [1].

Here’s a quick look at how AI can step in:

Marketing Task How AI Can Help
Social Media Posts Scheduling posts automatically and generating content ideas
Email Campaigns Designing templates and personalizing messages
Customer Support Automating replies and managing FAQs
Content Creation Assisting with blog posts and ad copy
SEO Management Researching keywords and improving content

Compare Costs and Features

When choosing an AI marketing tool, think about your specific needs, budget, and how easy the tool is to use. Compare the features offered by different platforms to ensure they align with your goals. For instance, Humble Help's Brand Boost Package provides essential tools like website optimization and content creation, free of charge, making it a low-risk option to explore.

Focus on these key areas during your comparison:

  • Your marketing priorities
  • Budget constraints
  • User-friendliness
  • Range of features offered

Test Before You Commit

Most AI marketing tools come with free trials or limited versions, giving you a chance to see how they perform before you invest. Use this trial period effectively by:

  • Running real marketing tasks through the tool
  • Measuring how much time it saves compared to manual work
  • Assessing the quality and relevance of AI-generated outputs
  • Ensuring it integrates smoothly with your existing systems
  • Identifying any limitations that might disrupt your workflow

These trial insights will help you choose a tool that simplifies your marketing efforts.

Small Businesses Getting Results with AI Tools

Local businesses are changing how they market themselves by using AI-driven tools. Below are examples of how these tools are delivering results for different types of small businesses.

How a Restaurant Attracted More Local Customers

Standing out in a crowded market is tough for local restaurants. AI tools are helping them draw in nearby diners by simplifying tasks like managing online reviews, optimizing for local SEO, scheduling social media posts, and analyzing customer feedback. These tools make daily operations easier and help restaurants shine in their communities.

A Boutique's Social Media Success

Boutiques are staying active on social media with the help of AI tools like Hookle. This platform simplifies social media management by creating posts automatically, saving business owners hours of work.

"Hookle automates your social media across all platforms. Its unique AI instantly learns your business, creates ready-to-go posts, and schedules content efficiently - helping you grow and reach more customers without prior expertise." – Hookle [7]

"A great app, easy to use. I schedule posts for all my social media accounts on a daily basis. Saves lots of time. The AI produces excellent content for posts, and I love the comprehensive stats." – Catherine R. [7]

Research shows that two-thirds of small business owners find social media marketing challenging [7]. AI tools are helping them overcome this hurdle, and service-based businesses are also seeing improvements in lead generation through automated processes.

Service Business Boosts Lead Conversion

Service-based businesses are using AI to improve how they handle leads and communicate with customers. Platforms like Humble Help provide tools that make this process seamless:

Feature Benefit
Website Optimization Enhances visibility in local searches
Content Automation Generates blog posts and updates
PR Strategy Builds trust in the local market
SEO Management Drives more organic traffic

These tools enable businesses to maintain a steady marketing presence without needing constant attention. Hookle's success in over 130 countries [7] shows how AI marketing solutions are helping businesses worldwide, including local ones, achieve their goals.

Conclusion: Start Using AI to Save Time on Marketing

Feeling swamped by marketing tasks? AI tools can help you handle them more efficiently. According to data, 79% of marketers report that AI improves content quality [1].

Here’s how you can start using AI in your marketing efforts:

Marketing Task Recommended AI Tool How It Helps
Social Media Hookle Automates posting across platforms
Content Creation ChatGPT Plus Assists with planning and writing
Email Marketing HubSpot AI Offers free tools for blogs and chatbots
Customer Support AI Chatbots Provides 24/7 automated responses

These tools can help you tackle time-consuming tasks right away. Even simple AI tools can make a noticeable difference in your marketing efforts.

For small businesses, AI can be especially helpful. For example, two-thirds of small business owners struggle with social media marketing [7]. A tool like Hookle simplifies this process. If content creation takes up too much of your time, ChatGPT Plus can assist with planning and writing.

The best part? Modern AI tools are designed to be easy to use, even if you’re not tech-savvy. Nearly half of marketers (48%) use generative AI for research [1], and 63% rely on AI tools to take notes and summarize meetings [1]. These tools are quickly becoming part of everyday business operations.

To get started, focus on automating one task that eats up your time. Once you’re comfortable, you can gradually add more tools to your marketing toolkit. This step-by-step approach ensures steady progress without feeling overwhelmed.

Related posts

10-Day Mini Growth Course

Five-minute actionable lessons, delivered daily to your inbox.

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.