What Are the Marketing Tools Marketing refers to any kind of planned and deliberate effort created to promote a product or a service, either for profit or as a non-profit endeavor. In order to execute this process, marketers must have available a number of tools. These tools help them to be able to reach their target market effectively, and then communicate the value of their product or service. These tools include marketing research techniques, marketing strategies and techniques, public relations activities, publicity, advertising and promotional programs, marketing budgets, and marketing personnel.
Marketing tools are used to identify potential customers, find out about customer needs and wants, design the product, communicate the marketing plan to employees, and keep track of what’s happening in the marketplace.
Traditional Marketing Media
Traditional media – such as billboards, banners, newspapers, magazines, television, radio and telephone directories – involve marketing tools such as paid print advertisements, commercials and news releases. This approach focuses on a one-way sales push and relies on reaching high numbers of people to ensure success. Advertising with publications and networks is a costly marketing tool which makes analyzing the return on your investment extremely important.
Digital Marketing Media
Computer software technology can reach potential customers with targeted, measurable communications. Specific digital media marketing tools include search engine optimization, mobile marketing, interactive online advertisements, opt-in email and online partnerships such as affiliate marketing and sponsorships.
A key component of digital marketing tools is web analytics, which provide information on an internet user’s online activities, IP address and search keywords. This information can then be used to craft a targeted advertising campaign to reach your business’s core audience. To get started in digital media marketing, you may want to hire a digital media marketing agency skilled at bringing a brand to the web’s ad networks.
Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is a subset of digital media marketing. However, the goal of social media marketing tools is to develop an interactive, online relationship with the customer rather than to mine covertly for customer data. Specific examples of social media marketing tools include blogging, tweeting, posting, sharing, networking, pinning, bookmarking, media sharing and commenting on social media websites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Reddit and YouTube. Social media marketing level the playing field for small companies and individual entrepreneurs by offering low-cost tools with potentially high returns.
Promotional Marketing Tools
Promotional items, such as brochures, business cards, press kits, websites, informational videos and merchandise, are tangible marketing tools. Some of these items include large amounts of detailed information and highlight attributes of your products or services; business cards and trade show giveaways may display only a company logo and provide contact information. In addition to increasing sales, promotional items contribute to building brand awareness, but cost is a factor when selecting these items.
Internet marketing refers to marketing that only occurs online. Search engine optimization (SEO) and online advertising are examples of Internet marketing. There are several ways to increase your SEO. One of the first steps is to secure a reliable and simple domain name that is relevant to your site, industry, or keywords you want to match for.
Search engine optimization refers to techniques to increase one’s website’s appearance on search engines.
Surveys
Surveys are useful for determining which products to create and also for improving or upgrading existing goods. The word ‘goods‘ in this context means ‘products.’
Surveys are also useful if you want to rate your and your rivals’ products. A survey can ask a representative sample of consumers what they like about your and your competitors’ products.
You can carry out a survey face-to-face, on the telephone, by normal post, or online.
Most marketing professionals will mention surveys when you ask them to list their most important marketing tools.
Google Analytics
If you have an online business or your company has a website, Google Analytics is extremely useful. It gives you an overview of where your visitors are coming from. It also tells you what type of people are visiting, and which content on your website performs best.
You can also use Google Analytics to work out visitor conversions. This data will help you set up conversion goals.
Organic CTR (organic click-through rate) is a way you can utilize Google Analytics to improve your website traffic. You can optimize page titles and descriptions and see how they perform by implementing A/B testing.
Direct mail
Direct mail or direct mail marketing specifically targets potential customers. Traditionally, we have referred to the letters as ‘mailshots.’ Ever since the advent of the Internet and emails, we also have ’emailshots.’
Regarding emailshots, MediaTraining.Ltd.uk says:
“Designing an emailshot differs from creating a webpage or designing for print as you have to consider the specific needs of your target audience and the technical requirements of different email applications.”
This brings us to modern-day email marketing tools which many marketers still consider to be more effective than other types of digital marketing.
Media monitoring tools
These marketing tools scan the web and inform you of conversations that are relevant to your company, product, or brand. These tools scan, for example, social media sites, forums, blogs, and videos.
“Media monitoring lets you discover what people are saying about you online so you can jump in and respond or react to conversations, decrease the spread of negative PR, and even help increase awareness of your product, service, or organization.”
Customer loyalty programs
Customer loyalty refers to the likelihood that existing customers keep coming back. In other words, how frequently customers come back for more again and again. It differs from brand loyalty.
Among marketing tools that many small businesses overlook, customer loyalty programs are one of the most common. This is a pity.
It is much cheaper and requires less time to get an existing customer to buy your products than new ones. Some studies suggest that it costs seven times more to get a new customer to buy from you than an existing one.
Automation
Automation tools are marketing tools that save a lot of time. Marketers can save time wasted doing those daily tasks like saving files and emails to spreadsheets.
Some tools allow you to create chains of applets. In other words, simple conditional statements or ‘if this then that’ statements. IFTTT (IF This Then That) is one of those services. It works with Facebook, Twitter, Fitbit, Google Drive, and Gmail.
Brand reputation management
It is very important for companies to protect their brand’s reputation. Media monitoring tools are marketing tools that help your company search the internet for any mention of your company to ensure you can engage and respond to comments and reviews being made about your business. This helps you build your brand awareness and also ensure you are protecting your business from negative reviews or remarks.
Event marketing
Event marketing is a promotional marketing tool that involves the engagement of a brand’s representatives with potential and existing customers and the community at promotional events. Common types of promotional events you can use for event marketing include networking events, conferences, seminars, speaker presentations, workshops, trade shows and expos, parties, competitions and awards.
Conclusion
The marketing toolkit is both an electronic and printed collection of marketing materials, including sales brochures, business cards, postcards, letterhead, etc. that are created by your marketing agency or design firm to support your marketing campaign.