I don't use a lot of tools for my startup, just this ones:
-intercom.io - really great to schedule automated messages and it can be synced with your database and have custom fields. Very easy to setup
-Google Apps (analytics,gmail, webmaster tools)
-Monitor Backlinks (my own startup) to build links to my website

Disclaimer: I am the CEO & Founder of Monitor Backlinks

I always use the Business Model Canvas or the Lean Startup Canvas to get insights in the bigger picture of a strategy. You can find enough examples of these models on the internet. Good luck!

My specialty is developing Digital Creative Strategies for Marketing Campaigns.

A great starting point is Google's Think Insights Toolbox: http://www.google.com/think/products-tools/

Using the data from those tools you can glean insight out of a brand which you can then use to come up with ideas that can be refined into concepts. A concept is when an idea takes on the shape of an execution, like a website or app.

Let me know if that was helpful.

My favorite FREE tools...

-Hunter.io. The easiest way to get a person's email with just a click! It's always with me in Chrome.
-Plutio. Manage your tasks, invoices, etc.
-Grammarly + Hemingwayapp. Correct your grammar and style.
-Buffer. Schedule your content so you can keep your consistency up
-Findthatlead. Find leads, emails, and data on your prospects.
-Neverbounce. Clean list of emails to reduce the bounce rate
-Sumo. Free tools for your websites (heat-map, overlays, etc.)
-Newsfeed eradicator. Eradicate the newsfeed from Facebook so you can remain focused
inbox when ready. Need to check a specific email in your inbox but don’t want to get distracted but new requests? Amazing productivity tool
-Thrive Headline Optimizer. A/B test your headline and get the statistics.
-Buzzbundle. Check the buzz on Social Media about specific keywords so you can respond actively to your target market

My digital marketing tool of choice is “Organic Social Media Tools”. As of September 2017, Facebook has over 2 billion monthly active users, Twitter has 320 million and Instagram has well over 700 million. With so many people spending so much time on social, it is becoming one of the most important channels for brands to leverage. That is why social media management tools have become the staples of companies both big and small. Tool in this toolbox include:
1. Sprout social: Sprout is a social media management and engagement platform for business that makes it easy for brands to effectively engage with current customers and prospective customers.
2. Wyng: Wyng is an engagement marketing platform with a focus on garnering engagement via user-generated content, hashtag campaigns, referral programs, quizzes, contests and more.
3. Woobox: Like Wyng, Woobox is a social engagement platform that emphasizes interactive content. The platform is perhaps best known as a turnkey solution for running social giveaways and competitions, Instagram contests.
4. Nanigans: Nanigans is the tool of choice for companies such as Zynga, Wayfair and Rovio.
5. Facebook’s Power Editor: Facebook is constantly improving its ad platform, and the tool frequently releases new targeting and budgeting features for users.
6. Twitter Native Platform: Twitter has some fantastic features for targeting, with segmentation functionality that includes the ability to target certain keywords so that whenever someone Tweets out, or engages with a Tweet, using that key phrase they’ll be targeted. The platform is especially useful when targeting mobile users, as 86% of Twitter’s ad revenue came from mobile in 2015.
Besides if you do have any questions give me a call: https://clarity.fm/joy-brotonath