In today’s world, being able to effectively communicate and engage with potential customers and existing customers is vital. Having a strong online marketing toolkit is even more essential, as you have the ability to reach millions of people with the clicks of a button.
Online marketing is an extremely diverse field, with tons of different tools, channels, and platforms. It can be rather difficult to keep up with the latest trends, tools, and platforms, especially when you’re working remotely. That’s why we’ve gone ahead and curated this list containing the best online marketing tools available from the most respected brands. Discover the tools that will help you grow your business online.
Keep reading for more information on each item.
Inbound Marketing
Inbound Marketing is all the rage these days, and for good reason. The concept is simple: you invite potential customers to come to you instead of you having to go to them. Smart businesses adopt this approach and use online tools to attract, engage, and delight customers wherever they are in the world. Inbound Marketing is all about building trust, credibility, and authority in order to generate quality leads and make sales.
One of the best platforms to practice Inbound Marketing is HubSpot. With HubSpot, you can easily set up all the different types of landing pages you might need for various campaigns. You can also establish email marketing campaigns, blog posts, and social media campaigns, all from the same place. HubSpot is best suited for larger businesses and non-profits, but it’s also incredibly affordable. Plus, HubSpot offers a free trial so you can test it out before you buy.
Conversion Optimizers
If you take a look at any serious online marketer or business owner’s digital toolkit, you’ll undoubtedly find a tool called a conversion optimizer. A conversion optimizer is a software program that analyzes the way you’re currently conducting your digital marketing and provides you with the best tips and tricks for increasing your conversion rates. It’s basically marketing automation at its best.
The most popular and well-known conversion optimizer is Google Analytics. With Google Analytics, you can track the performance of all your website pages as well as the behavior of your website visitors, including where they came from, what they did on your site, and what they interacted with.
You can also use Google Analytics to create custom segments, which you can apply to your data to identify and track specific groups of customers based on their interests or behavior. For example, you might want to create a segment for customers who’ve made a purchase within the last 30 days, as well as those who’ve placed an order but haven’t yet paid. With these segments, you can analyze the performance of your marketing campaigns, determine the strength of your customer base, and find out which methods of communication are most effective for different groups of people.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Every good salesperson or business owner should have a good customer relationship management tool. Having a CRM allows you to keep track of your contacts, handle live chat and email inquiries, and follow up with potential and existing customers to ensure they remain loyal to your brand.
The best CRM to use is Salesforce. With Salesforce, you can set up email campaigns, schedule automated follow-ups, and engage with customers through social media channels. You can also track the performance of your marketing campaigns, segment your contacts, and analyze the data to determine the effectiveness of your strategy. The mobile app is also pretty good, and it’s free. What more could you ask for?
Website Analysis Tools
If you run a business website, you need to keep track of your SEO (search engine optimization), which we’ll explain in more detail below. One of the best tools for analyzing and tracking your SEO is Screaming Frog. What makes Screaming Frog unique is that it pulls all the content on your site, including images, and creates a keyword-rich report for you to review and use. You can also use it to track the performance of your marketing campaigns, find out the strength of your website’s content, and identify areas for improvement. For beginners, it’s an absolute must.
Social Media Marketing
If you’re running a social media account(s) for your business, you need to keep track of what’s been said about your brand and you should certainly be using the correct hashtags to increase your reach to the right audience.
For those looking to get started with social media, we recommend you follow these simple steps: 1) Set up your account; 2) Post regularly and consistently; and 3) Measure the results.
Once you’ve done that, you can use a tool like Hootsuite to manage all your social media accounts from one place. Hootsuite lets you schedule posts in advance, monitor the results of your posts, and track the success of your social media strategy. What more could you ask for?
Email Marketing
Did someone mention email marketing? You should be doing email marketing, and you need to be using Hootsuite to manage your email campaigns. What makes Hootsuite different is that you can import all of your email contacts from your phone, tablet, or computer and quickly set up automated email campaigns to send to your lists. You can also pause, resend, or redirect emails, and view all of your email marketing metrics (open rates, click-through rates, and more) in one place.
You’ll find a lot of email marketing software solutions that offer similar features, but Hootsuite’s email marketing tools are some of the best in the industry. When it comes to getting started with email marketing, here’s what you need to do: 1) Define your target audience; 2) Choose a compelling offer that will encourage them to open your emails; 3) Set up automated campaigns to follow-up with leads and customers; and 4) Measure the results of your email marketing efforts.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Did someone mention SEO? You should be doing SEO, and you need to be using a toolkit that is specifically designed for optimizing websites for SEO. Some of the best tools to do this are WordPress SEO by Yoast, SEOmate, and SEMrush. Whether you’re an experienced SEO marketer or just getting started, these tools will give you the information you need to become a proficient SEO optimizer. Not only that, but you can also use these tools to find key words and phrases that relate to your product or service, and make suggestions on how to improve your SEO results.
If you’re looking to get started with SEO, here are some basic guidelines to follow: 1) Set up a trial account with one of the tools mentioned above; 2) Determine the main keywords and phrases you’ll be using in your content creation; and 3) Measure the results of your SEO efforts.
Video Marketing
Did someone mention video marketing? You should be doing video marketing, and you need to be using an inbound marketing approach when creating your videos. Some of the best platforms for video marketing are YouTube, TikTok, and Vimeo. Why? It’s simple: people love watching videos. Whether customers are browsing your YouTube channel or checking out your latest Instagram video, you’ll find that people tend to stay engaged for longer when there’s video content available.
Vimeo, for example, is a great place to share and discover short-form video content, while YouTube is the king when it comes to long-form video content. When creating a video for your business, make sure that you’re mindful of your audience’s attention span and ensure that your video content is engaging.
Content Creation
What does content mean to you?
Inbound Marketing, Customer Relationship Management, and SEO are all about attracting and engaging potential and existing customers through content. The better the content, the better the results. Did someone mention blog posts? You should be blogging about your industry, the products/services you offer, and how you can help customers. Blogging is a great way to build authority, gain trust, and establish yourself as an industry expert. When considering content for your blog, make sure that you’re covering all the topics your target audience is interested in, and that you’re consistently posting new content every week.
Analytics
Did someone mention analytics? You should be doing analytics, and you need to be using a toolkit that tracks website performance, traffic, and conversions. Some of the best analytics tools are Google Analytics, Piwik, and Salesforce.