Marketing Technology: Where to Invest for Your Small Business
Whether you’ve just founded your company or you’re looking to grow more awareness, building up your online presence is an important step in your marketing efforts. With so many software options at your fingertips, choosing the right marketing technologies for your business and prioritizing how to budget for them is a big decision. The following blog post aims to help leaders of startups and small businesses learn how to leverage marketing technology and choose the platforms that are right for you.
1. Website platforms $
No matter how old or new your business is, your digital presence is important, and your website is usually the first thing your target audience will see. If you’re on a budget, there a number of opportunities to create a website with limited to no help from a web developer.
Perhaps the frontrunner amongst these platforms is Wix. Wix recently reported having over 50 million users worldwide. It’s a custom website design platform that comes with hundreds of templates and requires absolutely no coding. For founders interested in getting a simple website online quickly, this can be a great option. WordPress is another important player, offering more customization, plug-ins and widgets. In addition to basic design options, WordPress allows for the opportunity to work with web developers who specialize in adding more complex functionality to your website. If you’re creating a website for the first time, both platforms are excellent options.
2. Email marketing services $
Part of growing your business means engaging with your prospects and clients on a regular basis, and email marketing is a great way to do this. If you’ve got more than 100 contacts from your target audience, it’s time to think about using a tool for mass emails.
Constant Contact and MailChimp are great email marketing platforms for founders who are just getting started with email. With hundreds of pre-designed templates, companies like these allow you to create branded emails for any occasion without any coding required. Whether you want to start sending a monthly newsletter or you’re ramping up on lead generation, email marketing platforms manage your contacts, help you stay CAN-SPAM compliant, and offer analytics to help make your future emails smarter. Use this software to track your open rates, click through rates, and test which messages resonate best with your target audience.
3. Social media analytics $$
If your target market is on social media, using a social media analytics tool can be a great option for streamlining your social efforts and gathering data about your target audience. These SAAS tools can help make your social media efforts smarter.
Hootsuite and Buffer for example, help you answer questions like: How many followers have I gained or lost, who are they, and what types of content is resonating the most? The tools also help simplify posting to social media, eliminating the need for real-time engagement, and allows the user to coordinate multiple social media accounts at once. Knowing more about how and when your target market is engaging on social media will help create better engagement and brand awareness for your company.
4. Marketing Automation $$$
With a website in place, a thriving social media presence, and email marketing programs underway, marketing automation software allows for a complete integration between much of your digital marketing efforts. If you’re producing effective marketing content, generating a steady flow of new leads, and you’re ready to scale your successful efforts, chances are it’s time to think about marketing automation software.
Tools like HubSpot, and Act-On combine an integrated set of applications that businesses can use to attract customers by delivering marketing experiences that are relevant, helpful, and personalized. Prepare your marketing budget for this investment. While these tools are powerful to your marketers, they are the priciest on the list of marketing technologies. However, if lead generation is a large focus for your business, this software can save you time and money quite rapidly by eliminating much of the manual effort required for these programs.
With new marketing technologies coming to market every year, it can be challenging to decide where to invest and when. If you have additional questions about marketing technology or other marketing inquiries, contact us today for a complimentary consultation.