Essential Digital Marketing Tools You Need to Succeed

You already know how vital effective marketing can be. It is the first step in establishing a growth system for your business. And as you expand your marketing efforts, you will see plenty of others to work on.

There is an expanding list of platforms, software, and tools that you could use. And seeing an overwhelming list might get you all confused with your choices.

As much as we enjoy technology for making our jobs easier, at what point do we employ so many tools that our work becomes too complicated? That’s what we’re here to assist company owners avoid: running out of bandwidth they need to manage a successful business.

Let’s break down the word “digital marketing” into smaller chunks. I like to conceive of marketing in terms of several “buckets” of responsibilities. Each bucket necessitates a distinct set of talents and attention to be successful. While it’s difficult to make one comprehensive list of every marketing tool you’ll need to complete your job, understanding marketing in these categories is less daunting and more manageable.

Essential Digital Marketing Tools You Need to Succeed

Social Media Marketing Tools

It doesn’t matter if your brand is small and just starting or a multinational enterprise. If you’re not on social media, then you’re missing out on one of the most potent forms of free marketing around. You can accomplish so many things with these platforms.

Some of the most popular ones are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. They all have incredible benefits, so it’s essential to be on every one of them for full coverage. We can’t go through a checklist of each platform and what you need to know about them (there are entire books about that topic), but I’ll provide some essential tips below.

First off, make sure your social media profiles are 100% fleshed out with full descriptions, good photos, and links to your site. It is an essential step that often gets overlooked or rushed through, but it makes a huge difference in the end.

Second, post regularly! You’ve heard it before, and you’ll hear it again: content is king. The more valuable information you provide to your followers, the more they’ll value you. Consist of engaging, quality content, post at least once a day to start for each platform.

Third, make sure you’re optimizing all your social media profiles for search. It is the first thing people will do when looking on Google or Bing for you after reading through some of your social media posts. Once you have the basics down, please start thinking about your social media strategy to help accomplish your company’s larger goals.

Search Engine Optimization Tools

While social media is essential for getting your name out, you also need to ensure that they find results about you when someone does a Google or Bing search. It means optimizing your website and inbound links with keywords to increase the probability of ranking well in organic search results. Again, there are entire books devoted to SEO, so I’ll only provide the basics.

When optimizing your site for search, you need to make sure that every page has something unique to offer in terms of content, relevance, and link structure. The last part is crucial if you are linking out to other pages or websites. Make sure they aren’t spammy links, but instead lead back towards additional helpful data.

You can also see how much your page is optimized for each keyword using Google’s Keyword Planner tool. Start with 5-10 carefully chosen keywords and phrases specific to your company but not too competitive in organic search results. By doing this, every single page on your site is optimized for something.

Email Marketing Tools

It is one of the most effective digital marketing tools for lead generation, so obviously, it deserves to be included in this list! You need to have a targeted email list that collects contact information from visitors to your site.

If you don’t already have email marketing software, the easiest option to use is a free account from Mailchimp. It might not have all of the advanced features of other programs on this list, but it’s still beneficial and effective.

You’ll need some email marketing program even if you’re using email for lead generation and not trying to sell anything. Whether you’re just starting or have been in business for years, you’ll need a way to stay in touch with your customers and clients so that they know about new products or services.

Graphic Design Tools

Even if you’re not the one who does all of your website design for you, the chances are that you’ll still need to send information, files, or images to someone else for them to use. It means having some graphic design program available at any time that your company may need it.

There are dozens of good graphic design programs to choose from, so it’s hard to say which one is the best one to use for this purpose.

Some examples of graphic design tools that you should try include –

• Adobe Illustrator – A powerful vector-based graphic design program by Adobe.
• Canva – A free graphics program that has templates and can be used for social media images.
• Sketch – An easy-to-use vector-based graphic design program by Bohemian Coding.
• GIMP – The GNU Image Manipulation Program is a free alternative to photoshop.
• CorelDraw – An industry standard, all-in-one graphic design application with photo editing capabilities as well.

Landing Page Tools

A landing page is your website’s first impression with anyone who has never seen it before. Although search engine optimization and social media are essential for digital marketing efforts, they don’t matter unless you have a well-built website that will draw in visitors.

The best way to do this is by using a landing page builder, which you can find for free or at relatively low prices. It would be best to use a reliable web host and hosting plan when you’re building your site.

You’ll need something to design your pages too, but luckily there are plenty of great options depending on your budget and skillset. Here are some –

Powerpoint: This comes with most computers these days, so you can use it to craft simple landing pages quickly.

Google Presentation: Google’s version of Powerpoint has many helpful features built-in that other programs don’t have.

Powerpoint Online: Also from Microsoft, this tool is the same as Powerpoint but can be accessed on a computer or tablet without any installation.

Divi Builder – A popular drag-and-drop plugin for WordPress websites so you can build landing pages with ease.

Funnels Tools

A funnel is a series of landing pages that leads to your final goal. For example, someone who has just learned about you might visit your website and download a free ebook before visiting another page that could lead them to join your email list.

It is the essence of digital marketing: creating a sequence of steps for people to follow to make a purchase or take action.

You’ll need some funnel-building software to create these sequences, which you can find for free or at very low prices. Here are some –

• MailChimp is a free email marketing tool with opt-in forms and landing pages that you can use in your lead generation funnels.
• Gravity Forms – A popular WordPress plugin that lets you create all forms, including opt-in forms and contact forms.
• OptimizePress – An easy-to-use drag-and-drop landing page creation tool for WordPress with theme templates available to make your life even more accessible.

Conversion Optimization Tools

You’ve built a lead generation funnel, but how do you know what parts of your funnel are working and which ones aren’t?

It is where conversion optimization tools come in. These tools will let you view vital data about your visitors, like where they’re dropping off in the middle of a sequence or when they don’t purchase something that you thought they would.

Here are a few conversion optimization tools that you can use to maximize your profitability –

• Google Analytics – A free analytics tool from Google that will help you, monitor, refine and boost conversions.
• Optimizely – Another testing platform that lets you personalize experiences for visitors based on data.
• Unbounce – A well-known landing page builder with conversion optimization tools for five different types of tests.

Lead Enrichment Tools

Lead enrichment tools are great for making your sales and marketing efforts more efficient.

For example, you can use them to automatically add relevant information about visitors to your contact forms or segments of your email list. Those who sign up on your website may be interested in specific categories of products you sell, but they might also want to hear about related products.

Here’s a list of lead enrichment tools to try –

• HubSpot – A marketing automation platform that offers lead enrichment tools and other valuable features.
• Pipedrive – This CRM has built-in options for enriching leads, segmenting lists, and more.
• ConvertKit – A popular email marketing tool that lets you add tags to any subscriber so you can better track them and send more personalized emails.

Analytics Tools

How do your visitors currently find your website? What keywords do they search for? You should gather this data to understand who’s visiting your site to know where you need to put more effort.

Google Analytics: The free analytics tool from Google also has a new feature that lets you view where your visitors find and visit your website.

You can use this data to create new landing pages, increase the ranking of your pages in search engines for specific keywords, and even spend some money on AdWords if it seems worthwhile.

E-commerce marketing tools

You’ll need tools to manage your e-commerce store, of course. Many enterprises are unable to pay for marketing professionals. However, there is a different sort of professional available- the eCommerce marketing tool. eCommerce marketing tools accomplish things. Payment options may be set up, communicating with your consumers, or staying in touch with your team.

Here are some of the best eCommerce marketing tools –

• Bigcommerce – A famous online store builder with a small amount of free storage and customizable features.
• Shopify – Another widely-used eCommerce platform for small businesses, with extra options like abandoned cart recovery, sales reports, and more.
• Amazon – You can use this tool to manage orders and keep track of inventory to avoid running out of your most popular products.

Content Writing Tools

Posting on social media and optimizing your site for organic search are just two of many examples of content marketing. It is one of the most important digital marketing skills you need to succeed in today’s marketplace, so I’ll go more in-depth with it here.

One key point with content writing is that you should always be putting yourself in the reader’s shoes. You need to ask yourself what they would want out of your content and how you can give it to them. If you’re struggling to develop ideas for topics or anything related to writing content, start researching other industry leaders or companies respected in your field.

As with social media, you want to provide value with all your content pieces. Don’t just use them as an opportunity to sell something or push a product on your visitor. No one likes that sort of stuff, and it ends up being highly detrimental in the long run when you’ve burned off so much goodwill because of it. Try to be as objective and unbiased as possible since people can tell when you’re fake.

Conversion AI is an excellent content writing tool that every digital marketer should have. They use conversation AI to make personalized recommendations for topics and other content based on what you’ve already written.

What Makes Conversion AI An Essential Digital Marketing Tool?

Among the categories digital marketers need to focus on, content marketing is one of the most daunting. Content writing tools can help alleviate the stress of finding the right topic, creating a unique and captivating final piece, and getting it published.

Conversion AI is an excellent option for beginners and experienced content writers alike. Jarvis learns from your unique writing style to make personalized recommendations on every aspect of the process. With the help of Jarvis AI, the artificial intelligence content generator that comes with the Conversion AI subscription, you can save time and effort on most of your content writing needs.

Conclusion

There are hundreds of digital marketing tools that promise to elevate your digital marketing efforts to the next level. The question is, which ones should you invest in?

Each tool on this list is crafted with small and medium-sized businesses in mind to help you manage and improve your marketing campaigns. Most of them are relatively affordable, too – so even if you don’t have the budget for full-scale marketing right now, it’s still possible to get started.

So, which of these digital marketing tools are essential for your small business? Let us know in the comments section below!