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You need a variety of fantastic, useful digital marketing tools if you want to dominate the online world.
The Essential Digital Marketing Tools
No matter how much of a digital visionary you are, you need digital marketing tools if you want to dominate.
A bad workman blames his tools… A good one uses those tools to do amazing things!
That’s the general premise of digital marketing. No matter how much of a digital visionary you are, you need assistance in the form of a variety of fantastic, useful digital marketing tools if you want to dominate the online world.
Digital marketing is such a broad field that any attempt to ‘just wing it’ has failed before it has even begun.
Even in the specific, specialist fields, eye tests are completely insufficient. You absolutely need to use digital marketing tools to amplify your natural abilities.
Let’s take a look at some of these tools.
Digital Marketing Tool #1 Every Marketer Should Be Using: Google Analytics
Perhaps the biggest and most well-known digital marketing tool, Google Analytics is a truly phenomenal tool. Its functionality is so extensive that some marketers make the mistake of ignoring most other forms of digital marketing tools.
While that is clearly a poor move, it does speak volumes about just how much value it provides to those who know how to utilise it effectively. Google Analytics is not only a fantastic piece of software, but it also synergises with the most powerful search engine – its creator, Google.
So, what can Google Analytics actually do? Let’s go through a few of the key offerings.
Above is the standard Google Analytics homepage. It provides you with a basic summary of your performance across some of the more popular metrics. You can see the following metrics above:
- Users – the number of unique visitors your website has had.
- Revenue – The amount of money you have made through advertising, sales, and any other measured income forms.
- Conversion Rate – the percentage of visitors who proceeded to make a purchase or do whichever actions you have previously set as a form of conversion.
- Sessions – The number of unique sessions on your site. This differs from the Users section since one user can visit your site multiple times.
Then you will also see some extra statistics available to the right of the line graph:
- When do your users visit? – Tracks the number of visitors you get at different times on each day of the week. The darker the block, the more visitors viewed the site at those times.
- Active Users right now – Tells you
- the number of visitors currently viewing your site. There is also a breakdown of where on your site these visitors are, and how the active users’ number has changed for each minute across the past 30 minutes.
If we scroll down, there are some more metrics for us to view.
As you can see, there are a lot of fantastic data recording capabilities within the Google Analytics software. It essentially provides you an almost limitless ability to track your visitors – learning more both about them and their online habits.
Now realise this – we’ve only looked at the home page so far.
There are also a bunch of specialised report categories that provide more pinpointed information about a variety of areas. They are:
- Real-Time
- Audience
- Acquisition
- Behaviour
- Conversions
There truly is an incredible amount of data potential crammed into Google Analytics. It should honestly be your very first choice when it comes to digital marketing tools – especially since it’s free.
Digital Marketing Tool #2 Every Marketer Should Be Using: Google Keyword Planner
What Google Analytics is to result analysis, Google Keyword Planner is to content planning and advertising strategy.
Again benefiting from being designed directly by Google, Keyword Planner is an off-shoot of Google’s advertising tool, Google AdWords (which, by the way, happens to be the dominant advertising tool around).
The primary function of Google Keyword Planner is to allow marketers to do research into the performance of various keywords, giving them the information they need to structure their advertising campaigns accordingly. You will be able to see which search terms are most beneficial and can then target these keywords with your paid advertising strategy.
Since Google is a common thread between the Keyword Planner and Google AdWords, you can rest assured knowing that everything is designed to make the process as smooth as possible.
Google Keyword Planner isn’t limited to paid advertising, however.
SEO specialists also use the tool to see which terms they should be targeting in their SEO endeavours. As much as you’d look to target what people are searching for with paid advertising, you equally want to target these search terms organically.
Finally, Google Keyword Planner is remarkably valuable for content marketers. If you know what people are searching for, you can create content that meets these needs. You can also then apply SEO measure into your content so that you feature in these searches.
Ultimately, Google Keyword Planner is a fantastic, versatile tool that you can’t afford to ignore.
NOTE:
Google is, despite the perception many have, not the only search engine that people use. It is the dominant option, but there are other options – most notably Bing.
Bing is Microsoft-owned, meaning it is integrated with their browser offerings by default. Don’t underestimate Bing’s market share and consider using their Webmaster tools to tap into their market, too.
Digital Marketing Tool #3 Every Marketer Should Be Using: Buzzsumo
Buzzsumo is a fantastic digital marketing tool that has a number of uses.
The first tool in this list that isn’t created by Google, Buzzsumo is a fantastic tool for researching the content already out there around your topic.
You can type in your keyword and see what the most popular and viral content for that keyword is. With the free version, you only get 4 searches per day, but depending on the frequency of your content output, this could be enough. If not, consider the paid version.
Bigger brands and agencies should consider the paid version anyway, since you get extra bonuses such as the ability to export your results and data.
This is a simple search for the keyword ‘vegetarianism.’ From this search, you can see which articles are performing the best, and can choose the date their performance should be measured (allowing you to choose between looking at evergreen content and viral articles).
One of the big benefits of this information is to see the sort of content that becomes popular within a specific keyword. For example, regarding vegetarianism, it seems that a large number of studies and statistics are popular when talking about this topic.
Of course, a simple glance at this information shouldn’t constitute your entire content marketing research. Rather, it should complement a wholesome effort into working out which content will most likely do well.
As you can see from the above image, the tool doesn’t just list the articles that have done well. It also gives you information about the number of shares on various social media platforms. This allows you to also see which content types are working particularly well on specific social media platforms.
For example, the article “Vegetarianism May Be Linked To Depression, Study Suggests” has a noticeably large number of Twitter and LinkedIn shares proportionally to its Facebook Engagements. If you generally look to target these platforms more than Facebook, you could analyse this article relative to the others, and see what it does differently to the others to increase its reach on these platforms.
Digital Marketing Tool #4 Every Marketer Should Be Using: Facebook Business
If you’re looking to market on Facebook, Facebook Business is your best friend. It is a centralised centre that enables you to do everything your heart desires regarding your Facebook marketing.
Your first priority will be setting up a Facebook Page. This will serve as the base from which you can attempt to reach out to as many people as possible.
If you use Facebook, you’ll be pretty familiar with Pages. However, there are some useful features that you might not have considered when creating your own Page.
- Video Banners
You’re probably familiar with cover images, but you can also use a video in this banner slot. This is particularly beneficial for brands looking to stand out (which should be all of them), as many brands don’t utilise this valuable opportunity. - Custom URL
Ensure that your URL aligns with your Page’s name (which in turn should align with your brand name). For example, our URL is https://www.facebook.com/ConversionAdvantage/ and our Page name is also Conversion Advantage. Combined, these reinforce our brand name to our audience. - Call-To-Action Button
Some people aren’t aware, but you can add a specific call-to-action to your Facebook Page. For example, you could add a ‘Send Email button to increase engagement. - Ratings and Reviews
You can add this to your page during the set-up process. You will need to choose the ‘Local Business or Place’ option when setting up this page, and then will need to add your full address. You can also change your company page to a ‘local business’ by navigating through About -> Page Info -> Category.
Beyond these, there are also a host of more obvious ways to customise your Facebook Page. You should take great pride in ensuring that your page is optimised and includes anything and everything that your audience could need.
Of course, Facebook marketing isn’t limited to running a Page. You can also advertise on the platform in a variety of intuitive ways.
The most obvious example of Facebook Advertising is how people can simply post native advertisements within the Facebook framework. According to their Facebook Ads product page, Facebook claims that
- 2 billion people use Facebook every month.
- 20% of US mobile surfing is on Facebook or their child platform, Instagram.
As a result, advertising on Facebook is a golden opportunity to reach your market. The native nature of these advertisements means that they don’t feel excessively abrasive, and this means they are more likely to be engaged with.
You can also choose between advertising on Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram – providing even more flexibility.
Additionally, the Facebook Business platform also offers the Facebook Audience Network. This advertising tool allows you to create advertisements through Facebook but show them across the entire internet. This provides you with even more reach and allows you to use your well-designed Facebook Page more frequently.
Digital Marketing Tool #5 Every Marketer Should Be Using: MailChimp
MailChimp is a fantastic digital marketing tool that will make your email marketing efforts noticeably easier.
They send hundreds of billions of emails every year and are as reputable an email service as you will find. They make email simple – you can sort your subscribers into groups, send newsletters, and much, much more.
MailChimp also has a versatile pricing structure. If you’re just starting out, they offer a free option that allows you to have up to 2000 subscribers and send up to 12000 emails per month.
This is an incredibly generous offering, and this option offers everything you could possibly want for your small business, including automated welcome emails, attractive newsletter templates and even analytics.
Their pricing structure for more extensive options is also incredibly flexible – your cost increases depending on how many subscribers you have. These paid options allow more emails to be sent per month. You can pay for unlimited emails even if you have less than 2000 subscribers.
The paid version of MailChimp also allows you to use targeting and connect your account to services like Salesforce and Google Analytics.
MailChimp also offers a Pro subscription that provides an incredibly wide variety of extra features that they claim is ‘the most powerful product they’ve ever built.’ You’re likely not only to find everything you need in this package, but also a host of features that you didn’t know you wanted!
Ultimately, you should consider MailChimp to take care of your email needs regardless of the size of your business. They cater to every possible business type and size and can service your specific goals and desires.
Digital Marketing Tool #6 Every Marketer Should Be Using: Canva
Canva is a fantastic tool for creating attractive visual elements to add to your content or social media platforms.
You can design anything from social media banners to infographics to Facebook post images. Canva offers an enormous variety of templates and imagery and offers different pricing options – ranging from a free package to their enterprise offering.
Canva has been used to create over 100 million designs by over 10 million people. It is so simple to use that Canva claims ‘It only takes 23 seconds to learn.’ And it certainly is an incredibly simple, intuitive tool to use.
You can use stock photos and imagery provided by Canva or upload your own images to personalise your graphics even further. Canva also provides a sizeable variety of fonts, shapes, filters and icons. The opportunities seem endless.
You should definitely consider using a tool like Canva since great visuals can optimise your marketing efforts substantially. If your online presence looks unimpressive, it’ll take away from the brilliance of your offerings.
Digital Marketing Tool #7 Every Marketer Should Be Using: Zendesk
Zendesk is a digital marketing tool that helps your customer support team to function effectively.
It allows you to organise your tickets and feedback within one program. You can allocate certain tasks to particular groups of staff, choose the ticket’s priority, and even utilise an answer bot that recommends extras like links that you could include in your responses.
You can also customise Zendesk to suit your specific needs. You can set up business-specific hierarchies and workflows, and Zendesk also offers over 100 APIs – allowing optimal customisation potential.
Additionally, you can receive insights into how each of your staff members are performing – ensuring that you keep productivity levels high. Custom reports also allow you to understand your customers better, which in turn can help you to optimise the support process.
Their offerings are priced per agent and monthly. They range from a reasonable $5 per month for the basics, to their ‘Elite’ $199 per month option. There are a total of 5 options, meaning that you can choose which of these options is best for you.
Customer service is famously unpopular with consumers, and there are frequently complaints relating to poor service from such representatives. If you can get on top of your customer support, and deliver a seamless and fast service, you will stand out from other brands.
Digital Marketing Tool #8 Every Marketer Should Be Using: Moz
Moz is a well-respected name within the SEO community. They offer a wide variety of valuable SEO tools and resources. You can use their free tools such as Keyword Explorer, Check My Business Listing, and MozBar if you want to see just how useful their tools can be.
- Keyword Explorer is a fantastic tool that helps you to prioritise the keywords you should utilise for your site. They claim that their search keyword database is the largest and most accurate one around.
- Check My Business Listing allows you to see how you are appearing in local search engines and directories. It is intended to show you how you could improve your business by buying Moz Local.
- MozBar is a Chrome extension that shows you key SEO data of whatever you’re currently searching. It’s a great way to get quick, simple SEO information about a specific website or page.
Moz also offers two fantastic paid options: Moz Pro and Moz Local.
Moz Pro offers a wide variety of sub-tools within the plan, including backlink research, SEO insights, reports and site crawling. You can choose between four plans – Standard, Medium, Large and Premium – each offering value depending on the magnitude of your needs.
Moz Local offers three plans – Essential, Professional, and Premium. This tool, as the name implies, is focused upon powering your local visibility and general efficiency. The idea is that you are the dominant online force within your targeted area. This is particularly beneficial for businesses who are situated specifically within a certain area, rather than being more general online businesses.
Overall, Moz is a fantastic place to access SEO tools that can help you to take your business’ presence to the next level.
Digital Marketing Tool #9 Every Marketer Should Be Using: Hootsuite
When it comes to social media, it is imperative that you keep things consistent.
To do this, consider using Hootsuite. Hootsuite provides you with the opportunity to connect your social media accounts to one tool and manage them all at the same time.
Hootsuite allows you to schedule your social media posts across your social media accounts, ensuring that they are all delivered perfectly on time. By doing this, you don’t have to worry about human error, such as your social media manager forgetting to post something on time.
Hootsuite also offers an analytics platform where you can track how well your social media campaigns are doing. You can see which platforms are working best for you, and adjust your strategies where needed.
With Hootsuite, you can also monitor what people are saying about both your brand and your industry by filtering via keywords. This is useful as social listening is crucial to creating content and communities that resonate with your prospects and customers.
Hootsuite offers four options, each of varying magnitude and features. The fourth is an enterprise solution that allows for custom-tailored options for big companies. The option you choose will come down to your business’ size and needs.
Hootsuite is used by over 16 million users, so you can rest assured that they have been tried and tested.
Final Word On Digital Marketing Tools
This list is by no means an exhaustive collection of fantastic marketing tools. These are some of the more popular ones available, but in this day and age, if you’d like a tool to do something that these tools can’t, there’s a pretty good chance you can find such a tool with a quick Google search.
Each business is different, but these tools are a pretty solid baseline that most businesses hoping to build their digital presence should consider. They look at addressing the fundamentals of digital marketing, rather than serving niche needs, and it is why they are so popular.
One of the best aspects of the digital world is that it is continuously evolving. This means that there is continuously competition that encourages innovation within the digital marketing sphere. As a result, you should keep your eye on the latest digital marketing news, seeing what new tools and mediums are gaining prominence.
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