17 Ways to Consolidate Your Marketing Stack (and Save $$$)

Marketing tools can multiply faster than rabbits. One day you’re running a lean operation, and the next you’re juggling fifteen different subscriptions that all do slightly different things. The result? Bloated budgets, frustrated teams, and a nagging sense that you’re paying for features you never use. This list is for anyone who wants to trim the fat from their marketing technology without sacrificing results. You’ll find practical strategies to identify redundancies, combine tools, and keep more money in your pocket while maintaining or even improving your marketing performance.

Tap Into Legiit’s All-in-One Marketing Services
Instead of subscribing to multiple platforms for content creation, SEO, social media management, and design work, consider using a service marketplace like Legiit. You get access to vetted professionals who can handle different marketing tasks without the overhead of full-time hires or multiple software subscriptions. The platform connects you with specialists in everything from copywriting to video editing, letting you pay only for what you need when you need it. This approach eliminates the need for several specialized tools and reduces the coordination headaches that come with managing multiple vendor relationships.
Replace Your Email Platform with a Full Marketing Suite
Many businesses start with a basic email service and then add separate tools for landing pages, automation, and CRM functions. This creates overlap and unnecessary expense. Look for platforms that combine email marketing, automation workflows, contact management, and landing page builders in one package. You’ll pay one subscription instead of three or four, and your data will live in a single location. The time saved on integrations alone makes this switch worthwhile.
Consolidate All Your Social Scheduling Under One Roof
If you’re paying for separate scheduling tools for different social networks, you’re leaving money on the table. Most modern social media management platforms handle multiple networks from a single dashboard. Beyond scheduling, these tools often include analytics, content libraries, and team collaboration features that replace other standalone products. Check if your current tools overlap in functionality and pick the one that covers the most ground.
Audit for Zombie Subscriptions That Nobody Uses
Pull up your credit card statements and accounting software, then hunt down every marketing tool subscription you’re paying for. You’ll likely find at least a few services that seemed essential six months ago but now sit unused. Maybe someone on your team signed up for a trial and forgot to cancel, or perhaps you replaced a tool but kept paying for the old one. Canceling these forgotten subscriptions can save hundreds or even thousands of dollars annually with zero impact on your operations.
Move Analytics Functions into Your Advertising Platform
Many advertising platforms now include robust analytics that cover attribution, conversion tracking, and audience insights. If you’re paying separately for analytics software that mostly tracks ad performance, you might be duplicating functionality. Platforms like Google Ads and Facebook Ads Manager have expanded their reporting capabilities significantly. Review what your paid analytics tool actually provides beyond what your ad platforms already offer, and consider whether the premium features justify the extra cost.
Bundle SEO Tools Instead of Buying Them Separately
Keyword research, backlink analysis, rank tracking, and site audits each have specialized tools, but buying them individually gets expensive fast. Comprehensive SEO platforms bundle these functions together at a fraction of the combined cost. You get consistent data across all features and avoid the headache of exporting and importing information between tools. One login, one interface, and one bill make life simpler for you and your team.
Switch to Project Management Software with Built-In Marketing Features
Some project management platforms have added content calendars, campaign planning templates, and approval workflows specifically for marketing teams. If you’re paying for both a general project manager and a separate marketing calendar tool, investigate whether your project management software can handle both jobs. This reduces the number of places your team needs to check for updates and keeps all project communication in one spot.
Eliminate Redundant Design Tools by Choosing One Visual Platform
It’s easy to accumulate design subscriptions. One tool for social graphics, another for presentations, a third for video editing, and maybe a fourth for photo editing. Many modern design platforms now handle multiple media types within a single subscription. Evaluate whether one robust tool could replace two or three specialized ones. Your designers will appreciate having fewer logins to remember, and your finance team will appreciate the savings.
Consolidate Customer Data with a Proper CRM
Scattered customer information creates inefficiency and often leads to paying for multiple databases or contact management tools. A proper CRM can replace your email list manager, customer support ticket system, sales pipeline tracker, and contact database. When all customer interactions live in one place, you reduce data entry errors, improve team coordination, and eliminate redundant subscriptions. The initial setup takes effort, but the long-term savings and efficiency gains make it worthwhile.
Drop Premium Plans You’ve Outgrown or Never Grew Into
Software companies are skilled at upselling features you might never use. Review each tool’s plan tier and honestly assess whether you’re using the premium features that justify the higher price. Maybe you’re paying for advanced automation you haven’t built, or team seats that remain empty, or API access nobody on your staff knows how to use. Downgrading to a lower tier can cut costs immediately without affecting your actual marketing operations.
Combine Your Chat and Support Tools
Live chat, help desk software, and chatbot platforms often overlap in functionality. Some businesses pay for all three when one comprehensive customer communication platform could handle everything. Modern support tools include live chat, ticketing, knowledge bases, and basic automation in single packages. Consolidating these functions improves customer experience by giving support teams a complete view of each conversation, regardless of which channel the customer used.
Use Your Website Platform’s Native Marketing Tools
Website builders have expanded far beyond simple site hosting. Many now include email capture forms, basic email marketing, simple automation, SEO tools, and analytics. If you’re running a small operation and paying for separate tools that duplicate these functions, check what your website platform already provides. The native tools might not have every advanced feature, but they could be sufficient for your needs and cost nothing extra beyond your existing hosting fee.
Negotiate Bundle Deals with Your Current Vendors
Software companies want to keep your business and often offer discounts if you commit to multiple products or longer contract terms. Reach out to your current vendors and ask if they offer bundle pricing for multiple tools or if they’ll discount your rate for an annual commitment. The worst they can say is no, and you might be surprised how much flexibility they have, especially if you mention you’re reviewing your stack for potential cuts.
Replace Paid Tools with Quality Free Alternatives
Not every marketing function requires a paid tool. Free options have improved dramatically and can handle many basic tasks without costing a cent. Analytics, basic design, some social scheduling, and simple automation all have capable free options. Review your less critical tools and test whether free alternatives could work for those functions. Even replacing two or three paid tools with free ones adds up to real savings over time.
Consolidate Reporting by Building a Custom Dashboard
Paying for multiple reporting tools to visualize data from different platforms creates unnecessary expense. Consider building a custom dashboard using a data visualization tool that pulls information from all your marketing platforms into one view. You’ll replace several specialized reporting subscriptions with a single dashboard solution. Your team gets better insights because everything appears in one place, and you reduce the time spent logging into different platforms to check performance.
Kill Tools That Duplicate What Your Team Can Do Manually
Automation is valuable, but sometimes tools automate tasks that don’t actually save much time or that your team could handle just as well manually. If a tool automates a process that takes ten minutes per week, and the tool costs fifty dollars per month, you’re not getting good value. Review your tools honestly and identify which ones automate trivial tasks. Canceling these frees up budget for tools that provide real leverage.
Merge Collaboration Tools to Reduce Communication Chaos
Teams sometimes use separate tools for chat, video calls, file sharing, and document collaboration. This fragments communication and creates confusion about where information lives. Comprehensive collaboration platforms now bundle messaging, video conferencing, file storage, and document editing. Moving to a single collaboration hub eliminates redundant subscriptions and makes it easier for team members to find what they need. Fewer tools means less context switching and better focus on actual marketing work.

Consolidating your marketing stack isn’t about depriving your team of useful tools. It’s about being smart with your budget and eliminating waste. Start by auditing what you’re actually paying for, identify overlaps, and then make strategic decisions about which tools truly earn their keep. The money you save can be redirected into the marketing activities that actually drive results, whether that’s better content, more advertising budget, or just breathing room in your finances. Your streamlined stack will be easier to manage, your team will appreciate the simplicity, and your bottom line will thank you.