The digital landscape in 2025 was a bit of a circus. There are countless platforms claiming to make your life easier, but most of them just add to the noise. It can be a total minefield and incredibly overwhelming to figure out what actually works for a small business.

As someone providing digital marketing services in Australia, I spend my days testing what works and what just wastes time. I don’t believe in sugar coating things, so here is the honest truth about the tools I use to keep She Rocks Digital running smoothly while delivering digital marketing and SEO results for my clients.

Trello (and why we might be breaking up)

I’m actually considering moving away from Trello. After nearly 10 years of it keeping my business and life in order, we might be parting ways. While I have always liked that Trello is simple and visual, I have outgrown it.

I’m currently testing a tool that doubles as a CRM and allows me to see all due dates, including checklist items, in one place. I also need a more efficient way to handle client enquiries. For now, I still use Trello for:

• My daily action list
• Business ideas broken down by category
• Social media planning
• A swipe file for creative inspiration

I still use it for personal recipe guides and gift ideas, though my daughter has recently moved me over to Giftful for the latter. It’s okay to outgrow tools as your business evolves. Being forward thinking means knowing when a system no longer serves your growth.

Google Drive

I’m still a fan of Google Drive for the business. It took Corey, my Business Development Manager, a little while to get his head around using it, but we’re fully settled now. It’s a reliable, central hub for all our collaborative documents. Although I’m still getting my head around using the shared drive with Corey.

Dropbox

I still use Dropbox for my personal photo storage. I have it set to sync with my phone automatically, though I recommend checking it occasionally to ensure it is still running. I also have it set to automatically sort photos into monthly folders, which is a massive time saver. Now I just need a tool that automatically turns my favourite photos into a physical album that magically appears on my doorstep.

Rounded

If you’re looking for accounting marketing tools for small business, Rounded is a winner. They have added several new features recently that make the experience even better. Their customer service is fabulous and the software is intuitive. It makes the boring numbers part of business feel almost effortless.

Loom and Awesome Screenshot

I’m still using both of these regularly. I actually upgraded to a paid Loom subscription while recording my course videos recently. It was a massive time saver to be able to edit out all the ums and ahs. There was a certain level of joy in seeing exactly how many times I said them in one video, though.

Awesome Screenshot remains my go to for full screen captures or specific snippets. I also use their video recording function as a backup when I hit my Loom limits.

Meta Business Suite vs Metricool

For managing Facebook and Instagram, Meta Business Suite is the standard. I find it’s a fairly easy interface for scheduling content and staying consistent without being glued to your phone. However, I do wish it provided better insights regarding the best times to post outside of the scheduler.

Because of this, I started using Metricool last year for deeper insights. Their data is much more specific than what you get from Meta, even if the two platforms sometimes disagree on the numbers. I prefer the Meta interface for scheduling, but Metricool is superior for the strategy side of social media marketing.

TidyCal

I’m still loving TidyCal. One of the best things you can do as a small business is embed your booking calendar directly on your website. Don’t just send people to a third party link. When you drive traffic to your website’s Work With Me page, you make Google happy and encourage visitors to look around while they are there.

MailerLite

This is one of my top recommendations for marketing automation for small businesses. MailerLite is user-friendly and offers a great free plan for up to 1000 subscribers.

You can use it to:

• Set up automated workflows
• Share lead magnets
• Move potential customers through a strategic funnel
• Create landing pages

While you can build landing pages within MailerLite, I always recommend building them on your own small business website instead. This ensures you are reaping the search engine benefits and helping your website rank higher in search results.

Canva

Canva has become my go-to tool for graphic creation and even video editing, depending on the project. Because I’m on the pro plan, I have my full She Rocks Digital brand kit set up with all my fonts, colours, icons, and logo options.

Having everything ready to go is a massive time saver and ensures that every piece of content stays polished and consistent. If you are looking for marketing tools for small business that bridge the gap between amateur and professional, Canva is a non-negotiable in my opinion. It allows you to act strategically with your visual identity without needing a degree in graphic design.

Gemini

I have been exploring how AI can make my life easier, and Gemini is currently my tool of choice. I started with ChatGPT but moved to Gemini because the pro version is included with my Google Workspace subscription.

I’m all about consolidating subscriptions and spending money efficiently. I use it as a virtual team member to bounce ideas off when I am staring at a blank screen. It’s brilliant for kickstarting the creative process or finding a different angle for my SEO and digital marketing content. It doesn’t replace the human touch, but it certainly helps me remove the friction of getting started.

What are your go-to tools?

That is the breakdown of what kept She Rocks Digital moving in 2025. I’m always looking for ways to work smarter, not harder.

What are you using to grow your business this year? Is there a tool I have missed? Let’s chat in the comments or send me a DM on Facebook or Instagram. I’m always open to new ideas that might help another small business owner.