In the never-ending quest for the almighty dollar, many businesses have started to turn to the internet to find new customers and establish deeper connections with existing ones. However, getting the word out there about your product or service can be difficult without the right marketing tools. Luckily, there are many companies out there that can help you market your business online
1. HubSpot
Often touted as the “Insightful Platform for Marketing and Sales,” HubSpot is the best all-around solution for businesses that are serious about growth. Developed by the folks at Salesforce, HubSpot allows you to create marketing and sales strategies, track open rates, and respond to leads faster than ever before. What’s more, HubSpot is updated with the latest trends and technologies to ensure your business stays ahead of the curve.
The best part? You can literally run your entire business from within the HubSpot dashboard. Need to send out a customer reminder? No problem. Want to see how many people visited your website in the past month? Just go to the Analytics section and see all the information you need in one place.
2. Marketo
Founded by two guys who met while working at Google, Marketo is another all-around tool that can help you with marketing and sales. Different from HubSpot, Marketo allows you to build complete marketing campaigns, track the results of your ad spends, and compare your performance to other businesses.
In addition, Marketo is more focused in the B2B space than HubSpot, which makes it a bit more complicated to use. However, if you’re just getting started, Marketo is the perfect option as it’s fairly easy to use and doesn’t require a technical background.
3. Pardot
Pardot is the brainchild of Madhan Kumar, who started his company after realizing the inefficiencies of the traditional marketing approach. In contrast to HubSpot and Marketo, which are focused on digital marketing and online marketing, Pardot is designed for inbound marketing and content creation.
Also unlike HubSpot and Marketo, Pardot doesn’t just focus on creating automated emails and landing pages. With Pardot, you can create fully functional, engaging websites as well as social media accounts for your business.
According to Kumar, inbound marketing is “the marketing and sales approach that brings value to buyers by providing them with content that they can’t ignore.” As a business owner or marketer, inbound marketing is a great fit for you as you can develop content that is relevant and of value to your target audience.
Pardot is one of the most popular, if not the most popular, digital marketing platforms out there, and it’s easy to see why. Not only does it provide a wealth of features and functionalities, but it’s also incredibly affordable as you can try it out for free for 60 days before having to make a payment. What’s more, Pardot keeps all of its features and functions accessible from any device, whether you’re surfing the web or using their native app.
4. Convoso
If you’ve ever shopped online, you’ll be able to relate to Convoso. Founded by former GoDaddy employees, Convoso is a digital marketing platform designed to make it simpler for businesses of all sizes to get online and start marketing. Compatible with all major browsers and mobile devices, Convoso makes it simple to set up your business website and start attracting potential customers to your door.
Even better, Convoso integrates with over 40 different merchant accounts and shopping carts, which allows you to easily track sales and manage your product inventory. And did we mention that Convoso is completely free? During Beta testing, there were no signs of performance degradation and everyone was able to create complex campaigns with ease.
5. HubSpot vs. Marketo
As we’ve stated, HubSpot and Marketo are both great solutions for small businesses that want to get a leg up on the competition. The major difference between them is that HubSpot is a marketing and sales platform, while Marketo is a full-blown marketing agency. If you’re looking for a one-stop-shop for all of your marketing needs and are comfortable using a CRM, then HubSpot is the clear choice.
However, if you need the added flexibility of building and managing your own campaigns, then Marketo is the clear choice. Furthermore, if you already have a sales team and are looking for a way to penetrate the virtual front door, then Marketo is the clear choice.
6. Bigwig
Bigwig is the perfect solution for small businesses that are looking to get the most out of their web content without having to worry about storage space or performance degradation. Simply put, Bigwig is a content distribution network that allows businesses to upload their content and schedule it to be published by reputable news websites, bloggers, and podcasts across the world. Meaning your website content can be accessed by anyone, anywhere, at any time. Sounds like a perfect fit for a business owner looking to grow their reach beyond their local area.
Bigwig also allows you to embed social media networks, like Twitter and Facebook, into your content, which is a great way to engage with your audience. With a little effort, you can literally have the entire internet as your customer base. Think about how many people you know, personally or professionally, that you could potentially reach with your content. It’s pretty staggering.
7. Captivate
If you’re searching for a tool to create engaging, high-quality videos that will help you bring in more customers and sales, then you’ve come to the right place. Captivate was designed with the filmmaker in mind and makes creating videos easy and accessible for any business or organization.
Unlike many other platforms, Captivate offers a free plan that allows you to build and test out a video once before making a payment. In addition, the free plan comes with a library of stock footage, graphics, music, and editing tools. What’s more, you can use the footage and graphics in your videos without having to pay extra. If you’re looking for a low-cost, high-quality solution that can help you bring your story to life and engage with your audience, then Captivate is the tool for you.
8. Mad Mimi
Based in Denver, Mad Mimi is a video marketing platform designed to make creating and distributing video content easy for anyone. What’s more, Mad Mimi was built to be mobile-friendly, which makes it even easier to use on the go.
What makes Mad Mimi unique is the fact that they offer a fully integrated content assembly line. In other words, you don’t need to be a video pro to use the service. If you’ve ever created a PowerPoint presentation or a Keynote presentation, then you’ll have no problem using Mad Mimi. Simply browse through their library of templates and choose the one that best suits your needs. From there, you can begin creating your unique masterpiece.
Once you’ve finished composing your masterpiece, you can preview it in real time on any device, including your smartphone. As a business owner or marketer, this feature is invaluable as you can see how your content will look on a mobile device before sending it to a customer or prospective customer.
And let’s not forget about the pricing. With many video marketing platforms, you’ll be faced with a substantial up-front cost. However, with Mad Mimi, you only need to commit to paying for the templates you use. In other words, there are no additional charges. What’s more, if you decide later that you want to upgrade your account, then you can do so easily and without having to pay additional fees.
9. Wistia
Wistia is a video-based marketing platform designed for businesses of all sizes. What makes it different from other solutions is that it comes with a built-in video hosting platform and an innovative, drag-and-drop video editor that makes creating videos easy and accessible for anyone.
In addition, Wistia allows you to connect your social media accounts to create a single, unified presence across numerous platforms. Meaning you can attract and engage with more people when you post to social media.
Another cool feature of Wistia is the fact that you can upload and manage your own videos from within the app. In other words, you don’t need to rely on outside sources to maintain your media library. What’s more, Wistia allows you to edit your videos offline, which is a great way to ensure the quality is maintained.