In the world of digital marketing, there are several software programs that can help you become more efficient and effective in your job search and overall career advancement. In this article, we’ll discuss 10 of the most popular marketing software programs, including some of their distinctive features and functionalities.

1. HubSpot

If you’re reading this, I assume that you’re already familiar with the term ‘Marketing Automation’, which is how most marketers and businesses use online marketing software programs. But even if you’re not, let me give you a brief overview of what Marketing Automation is and why you need it in your digital marketing arsenal. Marketing Automation is software that allows you to send automated email campaigns, schedule social media posts and track website traffic and engagement metrics. Essentially, it takes the drudgery out of mundane tasks so that you can focus on higher-level marketing activities like growing your brand and gaining new customers.

HubSpot is the #1 marketing platform of choice for digital marketers and businesses globally. It is also one of the most popular tools among solo entrepreneurs and marketers who are just getting started, as it is easy to use and doesn’t require extensive training. If you’re looking for a single platform that can help you automate your digital marketing processes, then HubSpot is certainly a top contender. Besides being a software program, HubSpot also provides a variety of online marketing tools that you can use for free.

2. Salesforce Marketing Cloud

When you’re starting your own business, the first thing that you need to do is to build a brand for yourself. One of the best things that you can do for your business is to make it easier for people to find you online. One effective way of doing this is by using automated email campaigns that will send out important marketing messages to your potential customers. One of the best cloud-based marketing software programs to do this is the Salesforce Marketing Cloud.

The Marketing Cloud allows you to create automated email campaigns that can be sent out to potential customers and subscribers when a certain event happens. For example, if you are running a food delivery service and want to send out an email to your customers when a new restaurant opens up near them, or when an existing restaurant runs out of a certain dish, you can set up an email campaign to notify them of the new option.

Another useful feature of the Marketing Cloud is the automation of social media posting. You can schedule posts in advance and even get notifications when a certain hashtag is used in social media. This feature makes it easy for you to keep up with all the latest trends on social media and to engage with your audience there.

3. Marketo

If you’re looking for an all-in-one marketing platform that can help you analyze customer behavior and offer integrated campaigns across different channels, then Marketo could be your answer. Marketo was built for midsize and large companies that want to leverage the power of big data to gain a deeper understanding of their customers. It also provides the metrics necessary to understand the success of a campaign, allowing you to refine your strategy and get more out of each campaign.

One of the distinguishing features of Marketo is its use of artificial intelligence (AI) to integrate the data that you provide it with from other platforms. This means that as you provide additional data, like customer demographics or purchase behavior, Marketo will get smarter and more useful. Additionally, you can choose from a variety of marketing apps that can be accessed from within Marketo, allowing you to connect with all the tools and platforms that you need for your business.

4. Pardot

Pardot is an email marketing platform that specializes in automated email marketing. It was built for businesses that want to streamline their email marketing processes to save time and effort. What sets Pardot apart from other similar platforms is its integration with various other online marketing tools. You can use social media platforms, like Twitter and Facebook, to attract customers to your site. You can even use the email platform, MailChimp, to send out automated, branded emails to your contacts.

Additionally, Pardot allows you to create automated email campaigns that can be sent to potential customers when a certain event happens, like a new product release or the announcement of a blog article.

5. HubSpot’s Marketing Automation

If you’re already familiar with HubSpot, you’ll know that it provides a variety of marketing tools and features that you can use to automate your marketing processes. One of those features is Marketing Automation. Marketing Automation simplifies the process of creating automated campaigns, so you can focus on expanding your business instead of doing the dirty work of marketing.

The distinguishing feature of Marketing Automation is that it allows you to create automated email campaigns that can be sent to potential customers and subscribers when a certain event happens. When you create a new campaign in Marketing Automation, you’ll see a simple email marketing dashboard that allows you to preview the content of your email, as well as to schedule when it is going to be sent out.

6. MailChimp

If you’re looking for a free email marketing platform with a simple to use interface, then you can’t go wrong with MailChimp. It’s easy to set up and use, and it has a variety of features that make it a one-stop-shop for all of your email marketing needs. One of the distinguishing features of MailChimp is that it has a large, trusting audience that you can use to your advantage. Instead of having to search for email addresses of potential customers, you can use MailChimp to generate them automatically.

You can use MailChimp’s large base of users to send out personalized emails based on a customer’s behavior. For example, if you have 1,000 customers who have registered with your email list, you can use MailChimp to send out personalized emails based on what they’ve previously purchased, what products they’re interested in, or even what country they’re in.

Additionally, you can use MailChimp’s A/B testing feature to compare two different versions of a campaign (e.g., a car rental company’s email campaign) and determine which one is performing the best based on various metrics. You can then use that version to continue running the campaign and make changes based on feedback.

7. Google Analytics

Last but not least, let’s not forget about the ever-popular Google Analytics. What makes Google Analytics special is that it can track EVERYTHING about your website, from the traffic that it gets to the products that people buy, where they came from, and more.

This data is invaluable to any business, especially one that is just getting started and doesn’t have the budget to hire experts to analyze the data for them. If you already use Google Analytics, you can access all of this data through your dashboard. If not, then downloading the Google Analytics app to your phone or tablet is the best way to get the data that you need without having to log in to your account on a regular basis.

In closing, we want to emphasize that these are just some of the most popular marketing software programs. There are several others that we could’ve included on this list, like AmpliVar, Tonic, and Unbounce, but the above programs are sufficient to get you started.

If you’ve ever done any of your own marketing, then you know that it’s not easy to find the time to manage all of the different platforms and tactics that you need to be effective. Having a few of these software programs will make your life a lot easier and more efficient, getting you closer to where you want to be as a business.