9 Online Marketing Tools You Need When Starting a Business
If you’ve recently started a new business — or thinking about starting one soon — you’re up for a great competition. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, there are approximately 28 million small businesses in the United States alone and the competition is expected to heat up with each passing year. With a number like this, you may get concerned about how to get your legs up on the competition. And if that’s what you’re thinking, I’ve got some good news for you.
Have you heard about online marketing? Do you know why it’s the next big thing in the modern business world?
While there is no way to predict what will happen in the very next moment, one thing is for sure: you don’t want your new business to fail.
So, what does this have to do with online and digital marketing?
The answer is — EVERYTHING. Even Bill Gates once said,
”If you are business is not on the internet, your business will be out of business.”
Online marketing is a major investment for any business. Whether it’s a small startup or a multinational enterprise, it’s imperative to have a sound online marketing strategy in place from the very first day — a strategy that must include an online marketing tool. Fortunately, today’s market is a gold mine of powerful software solutions and apps. However, With so many choices only a click away, it’s easy to get trapped in the process of making the right pick.
In this post, I’m going to outline a tried-and-true list of online marketing tools. Each tool in this list provides you with the power to accelerate the growth of your new business and efficiently take it to the next level.
Let’s dive in.
1. Project management and collaboration — ProofHub
ProofHub is everything your team and your projects needs. It’s a cloud-based project management software that’s known across industries for bringing sanity to the process of project management and team communication. In addition to its full-fledged feature list, ProofHub is appreciated by professionals and teams for offering an amazing customer support service. In all, using this software is the best way for teams to stay in-sync, get work done, and speed up their overall growth.
2. Web analytics — Google Analytics
When it comes to gaining quick insights about your website and its visitors, Google Analytics beats every other digital analytics tool available today. It offers information that allows project managers and teams to spot improvements in their business’s strategy and shape it accordingly for better results. What makes this software better than the rest is the fact that it’s completely free and it integrates well with Google products (Google AdWords, Google Search Console, etc) that you’re already using.
3. Lead capture and management — Hubspot Sales
Managing and following up on the leads is something that plays a key role in making business or service successful. Hubspot Sales is a cloud-based software solution that allows teams to capture and manage leads in one place without any hassle. The software works with Gmail, G Suite, and Outlook or Office 365 for Windows, making it easier for businesses and teams to save a lot of time by bringing sales and following up on the leads right inside Hubspot.
Feedly is a news aggregator application that aggregates internet content in one convenient place. It allows you to organize, read, and share information feeds that matter to you. The application supports various web browsers and mobile devices. Moreover, Feedly allows you to share your saved articles across popular platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Evernote, Pinterest, and LinkedIn — directly or via Buffer, Pocket or Instapaper.
5. Influencer marketing — BuzzStream
Content marketing is a key element of online marketing. And it’s not limited to the content you’re creating yourself. You can take your marketing strategy to a new level by including industry’s leading journalists and bloggers into the picture. BuzzStream a digital PR and blogger outreach platform that makes this job much easier. With BuzzStream, you can build better relationships with influencers who can drive traffic and profit for your business.
6. Email marketing — MailChimp
Email marketing is one of the most cost-effective ways to make your online marketing strategy successful. Now, MailChimp is a tool that can make things even better. It’s a simple marketing automation platform that allows teams to create more compelling email marketing campaigns. It provides an intuitive dashboard displaying a step-by-step guide for the email marketing process that can be implemented without any prior training or knowledge.
7. Social media marketing — Hootsuite
Hootsuite is one platform to meet all your social media marketing needs. If you’re looking forward to extending your reach in the market and attract more audience, Hootsuite is the perfect tool to work with. It simplifies all aspects of social media management and sets your campaign up for success.
8. File storage and sharing — G Suite
G Suite is what you can use to store, organize, access, and share all the information related to your online marketing campaign. The solution is successfully meeting file storage and file sharing requirements of many teams across every industry. Statistically speaking, more than 3 million businesses are currently using G Suite to collaborate smartly and securely in the cloud. Do you need better control over your files? Start using G Suite.
9. Online proofing — Workfront
when it comes to online marketing, leveraging the power of content is necessary. But you can’t just use any content. In order to strengthen your online presence, you need to review and proof everything you create or share. Whether it’s a design, an image, or a file, you need to make sure that it’s exactly what you expected. To do this, you can use some help from Workfront. It’s an online proofing software solution that allows teams to automate their feedback sharing process and deliver error-free work faster.
Some startup businesses succeed, some businesses fail. It’s the kind of choices you make that decide what fate does future hold for your business. To ensure that your new business plan succeeds, you need to have access to the right tool at the right time.
That’s it! I hope the list has helped you find 9 awesome and useful tools to consider when starting a new business. Go ahead, pick the best, and keep growing.
Would you like to add a tool to the list? Do you have experience with any of the above mentioned online marketing tools?
Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments section!
Author Bio:
Vartika Kashyap runs the marketing team at ProofHub — a project management software for teams of all sizes. She is a seasoned marketing professional who is an expert in digital marketing and entrepreneurship. She’s been featured among LinkedIn’s Top Voices for the year 2017 & 2018. Connect with Vartika on LinkedIn, Medium and Twitter.
