I’d like to tell you about the best digital marketing tools in 2021 but what is the best digital marketing tool? That depends on your particular business objectives, budget and personal preferences. Be that as it may there are many top rated digital marketing tools on the market today. Digital marketing is a great way to grow your business and blog content. I’m going to point out some of the best digital marketing tools for small business.
A lot of marketers find it frustrating to find a great tool that will help them to perform a specific digital marketing task. It is almost like looking for a needle in the haystack. Thousands of similar products are available in the market and spending time is not always worth it. Rather than getting confused with lots of choices, marketers should be selective about which tool to use and must select something that can actually deliver great results. Check out these free digital marketing tools 2021.
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is one of the most effective digital tools out there for businesses that want an all-in-one package. It gained prominence during the pandemic last year. The collaborative software, replacing other Microsoft messaging and collaborative platforms like Skype and Classroom, consist of a chat feature where users can chat seamlessly with other users both one on one and as a group, file sharing, meeting, live event and a video/audio call feature.
Zoom Video Communications
The Zoom app was pretty much an inconspicuous digital tool that gained so much traction as the go-to social distancing tool during the surge of the COVID 19 pandemic last year. This led to Zoom being the fifth most downloaded mobile app worldwide in 2020 at 477 million downloads.
The video conferencing platform is best used for remote working, distance education (usually known as webinars) and all those boring Monday meetings.
The app can be downloaded from the Apple app store and Google Play Store and also on desktops.
Personalize
Personalize is an AI tool that identifies the products and services your contacts are most interested in at any given time. The platform uses an algorithm to identify each contact’s top three interests, which are updated in real-time based on recent site activity.
Personalize supplies you with the information you need to create highly targeted sales and marketing campaigns that increase response rates, conversions and customer lifetime value.
- Key features:
- Identifies each contact’s top three interests based on metrics like time on page, recency and frequency
- Works with every ESP and CRM
- Easy to get up and running in days
- Enterprise-grade technology at a low cost for SMBs
Zendesk
Interfacing with a lot of old and new customers seamlessly can be a hassle if your business has yet to integrate with the right customer service software. This is where Zendesk comes in. The tool helps optimise your customer relationship with features like messaging and live chat, ticketing system, voice, answering bot and so much more.
Sage Cloud Accounting
One of the best accounting software out there, the Sage business cloud accounting platform is a truly transformative digital tool for any business that has adopted it. The software comes fully fitted with advanced inventory, stocks management, invoicing, debtor management, etc and can be used across all industries.
Google Analytics
Google Analytics is completely free software that provides valuable insights into who is visiting your website and how they engage with it.
It’s best paired with Google Search Console – another free digital marketing tool that helps you to identify any problems on your site and optimize it for traffic.
Some of the data points that Google Analytics makes available to you include:
- The number of visitors to your site by day, week, month, or any time period you choose
- Where these visitors are coming from – referrals from other website, organic search, ads, social, or direct
- The keywords people are using in Google to find your site
- The demographics and interests of your users
- How long each user spends on your site and which pages they visit
All this information is interesting, but it’s also vital knowledge that can help you to optimize your website and marketing campaigns (while keeping your SEO efforts low cost).
For example, you might notice through Search Console or Analytics that you’re getting a lot of traffic from a keyword that you lack content covering. Write a blog post optimized for that keyword and watch your traffic and engagement levels rocket.
Getting loads of visitors from Facebook but none from Twitter? Maybe this is a sign you should concentrate your marketing efforts on your main channel.
It’s all about the insights – not just the analytics.
Mailchimp
No matter how large or small your business is, email marketing should definitely be a part of your overall strategy.
When a customer signs up to your mailing list, they’re inviting you straight into their inbox. That’s why email marketing on average offers a higher ROI than any other marketing activity.
To get started with email marketing, you need a service that will enable you to capture emails, manage your lists, send out emails automatically or on a schedule, and analyze engagement.
Mailchimp is an ideal choice if you’re just starting out or if you are running a small business. Mailchimp’s basic service is free until your list hits 2,000 subscribers. It offers the main functionality you need without making managing your email marketing too complex.
Plus, Mailchimp now offers a slew of features and digital marketing tools (some under paid plans):
- Segmentation and personalization
- Landing page builders
- Form builders
- Audience insights
- CRM tools
- Predictive insights
HubSpot Marketing
Price: Free to $3,200/month for enterprises, depending on your plan
HubSpot has several tools to help you grow your business, no matter what stage you’re at.
Starting out, there are several tools available for free. You can set up web forms, popup forms, and live chat software for lead capture. Then, you can send email marketing campaigns, pipe all of your data into the free CRM, and analyze site visitors’ behavior.
When you expand into the paid tiers, things get really sophisticated with advanced marketing automation.
From managing your content and social media to tracking emails and connecting with your leads, HubSpot is an all-in-one solution — although it works well with other point solutions you may use (Typeform, HotJar, etc.).
Ultimately, the tool allows you to:
- Grow your traffic, convert leads, and prove ROI for your inbound marketing campaigns.
- Shorten deal cycles and increase close rates with the provided sales tools.
BuzzSumo
Your content strategy shouldn’t consist of wild stabs in the dark as you cover topics you think your audience will engage with.
That’s why 60% of B2B brands with the most successful content marketing have a documented strategy. Meanwhile, only 21% of the brands with the least successful content say they have a documented strategy.
To be successful in content marketing, you need to do your research properly, and this is why BuzzSumo is one of my favorite content marketing tools.
BuzzSumo shows content that is trending across social media based on searched topics. Following your search, you can analyze the results that are returned to see what’s so appealing about them and to get ideas of subjects to write about.
But BuzzSumo is moving beyond just basic content research and viral posts. Today, BuzzSumo offers tons of digital marketing tools like:
- Keyword research
- Influencer search
- Topic-based social media feeds
- Content analysis
- Crisis management
- Brand monitoring tools
Proof
Price: Tiered pricing based on the volume of your website traffic, starting at $24/month
Proof connects to your CRM or website and uses social proof to boost conversions on your site. They implement social proof messaging (i.e. “25 people are viewing this post right now”), reviews, and videos geared towards targeted customers once they visit your site.
The popular Live Visitor Count and Hot Streak notification features boost customers’ perception of your brand, and lets prospects get a look at how other people respond to your product. Additionally, it’s super easy to install — you just copy and paste their pixels into your site.
You can identify your visitors and examine their journey throughout your site, which can help optimize your site design for higher conversions. It integrates with an impressive amount of other software systems and is optimized for mobile.
Conclusion:
When it comes to online marketing, digital marketing tools are the backbone of everything you do. Without the right software, you won’t be able to develop your social media strategies or design email appeals that connect with prospects the way they need to be connected.