The internet has had a significant impact on how businesses operate even greater than the industrial revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries and it means that if a business wants to succeed today, then it must have a website or at least some form of online presence that allows them to market themselves.
Just as tasks in the offline world are made easier with the use of tools, the same applies online. There is a multitude of software and tools available to business owners and such is their quantity and diversity that it would take 1,000s of articles to explain each one of them, which we are not going to do here.
However, what we can do is point out 7 key areas of digital marketing that play a key role in a business’s online success, and highlight one of the top tools or software that assist in its implementation.
Social Media Management – Sprout Social
With the influence, social media has on so many people’s thoughts and decisions it is imperative that businesses have a presence on at least one social media platform where they know their audience is. To help manage their social media activities Sprout Social proves an array of tools allowing for post scheduling, responding to messages and analytics.
Email Marketing – Aweber
Email is as old as the internet and today it has as many advantages to businesses marketing online as any tool. Aweber is regarded as one of the top email marketing tools with its autoresponder responsible for sending millions of emails every day. You can store your list of subscribers, set up multiple campaigns, segment your list based on preferences, schedule multiple emails to be sent, and plan for them to be sent at a specific time of day.
Competitor SEO Analysis – Ahrefs
When it comes to trying to rank your website as high on Google as you can, it is nigh on impossible without knowing how well your competitors’ SEO is set up. The way to find out is using Ahrefs which provides one of the most comprehensive arrays of competitor SEO data you will find online. Backlink quantities, domain rank, keyword difficulty, site audits and rank tracker are just a few of the impressive list of SEO tools Ahrefs provides you.
Sales Management – Hubspot
No business can exist unless it is selling either a product or a service and being able to manage your business’s sales process is essential to its success. Hubspot is suited to all business sizes and provides a suite of tools that allows any owner or sales manager to track leads, sales, and conversions. Everything is presented in real-time so that you know you always have the most up to date data.
Project Management – Asana
You can have all the digital marketing tools in the world but if the project they are being used for is unorganised to the point of being shambolic, they are worthless. This is why having project management software such as Asana is essential. It can be used for small or large projects and helps keeps everyone involved in them up to date with progress, to communicate with each other, and one of its biggest appeals is its interface is extremely user-friendly.
Content Marketing – WordPress
Over 60 million websites use WordPress and that includes some of the biggest and most successful online businesses in the world. WordPress provides the means for a business to publish content online to enhance their brand, build relationships with visitors to their website, and market their products and services. Functionality is enhanced thanks to plugins and there is massive flexibility for the appearance of each website that uses WordPress.
Customer Relationship Management – Salesforce CRM
Salesforce CRM is just part of the impressive suite of tools that Salesforce has available meaning as you expand your business can integrate each additional tool seamlessly. Their CRM hub provides sales and marketing tracking and analytics, communication tools, customer service tools and it can all be accessed from anywhere you are working as this is cloud-based software.