Digital marketing embodies a wide range of tactics and channels that marketers utilize in the online world. That can include anything from email marketing to social media marketing to content marketing. Given that it covers such a broad range, it’s crucial to be equipped with the right tools for the perfect digital strategy.
CONTENT MARKETING
We are at the height of digital marketing right now, with no end in sight. Content marketing plays an enormous role in this. 96% of the most successful content marketers agree that their organizations have built credibility and trust with their audience. Content marketing is built upon the balance of content curation and content creation.
CONTENT CURATION
Sourcing great content to share is an important skill to have in 2019. It’s generally easier and quicker than creating your own content; though it’s recommended to also create your own. Having a personally curated collection of content to share with your followers gives your brand more authority. Here are some tools to help you curate content:
Social media is also a great place to source content to share, whether that be Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, or even Reddit.
CONTENT CREATION
While curating already-published content is a must in a digital marketing strategy, it’s even more important to create your own content. Creating your own content sets you apart from competitors; in the current cluttered climate of content marketing, that should be your number one priority.
Content creation can come in the form of almost anything, but most importantly are blog posts and social media posts. For both of these formats, you’ll want to create visual content, such as graphics or photos. “Visuals increase desire to read content by 80%” and “our brain processes visuals 60,000 times faster than text.” With that said, make visual content a huge part of your digital strategy. Here are some of our favorite content creation tools:
We believe content marketing is critical. We’ve covered content creation countless times. Here are some of our most popular posts:
- On-the-Fly Image Creation Tools for Blog Graphics and More
- 10 Free Content Creation Tools You Can’t (or Shouldn’t) Live Without
- The Ultimate List of Blog Post Ideas
- Let’s Learn Together: The Basics of Illustrator for Content Creators
- Why You Should Be Curating Content (and 5 Steps to Get Started)
CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Content management systems (CMS) should be the home of your content. This is where your blog — and possibly your entire website — lives and thrives. CMS’s allow you to create, edit, and publish your content all in one place. The most popular and user-friendly CMS that has ranked #1 for years is WordPress. Here are some other options:
INSPIRATION
Even for the content creators who are already creatively-inclined, a little bit of inspiration is always helpful. This can also help you keep up the pace with modern design trends, whether you’re creating visual content or looking for a website redesign.
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
61% of B2B content marketers increased their social media usage in 2019. It’s safe to assume that you (and every other business and consumer) has at least one social media account. If you don’t, you’re already behind in the digital marketing universe. Social media marketing increases brand awareness, improves ROI, and creates a solid base of followers.
SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS
As a company in 2019, it’s paramount that you have a social media presence. Existing on as many social media platforms as you can, can help increase brand awareness. Luckily, a lot of these platforms offer business accounts, for analytics tracking and amplifying your engagement. There are several social media channels to be a part of, but the most popular and widely-used channels would be:
SOCIAL SCHEDULING
Once you’re up and running on your social media channels (if you aren’t already), you’ll soon encounter the challenge of regularly and efficiently posting. The quickest death of a social media account is not having a routine posting schedule. This can be remedied with these popular social scheduling apps:
You can find more resources on social media scheduling here:
- The Top 9 Social Scheduling Tools of 2019 and How to Use Them
- How to Make a Social Media Sharing Schedule in 6 Easy Steps
EMAIL MARKETING
Email marketing has been around forever. It’s the most direct way to connect with your leads. And it remains the most effective way to nurture leads and turn them into customers, even with the rise of social media marketing. That’s why it’s crucial to use the best tools, as there are several options out there.
EMAIL MARKETING TOOLS
Whether it’s creating emails, optimizing conversions, or automating sends, you must be well-equipped. You likely want to keep track of deliverability and performance, so try one of these tools:
Here are some articles for more in-depth tips on successful email marketing:
- The Essential Do’s and Don’ts of Email Marketing in 2019
- Increase Email Engagement by Avoiding These 5 Email Faux Pas
- Anatomy of a Successful B2B Sales Email
OPTIMIZATION
Optimizing everything and anything in your digital marketing strategy should be a priority. With the amount of competition in the digital world, you need to be able to use technology and data to your advantage.
SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the art of ranking high organically on a search engine. This is the process of optimizing your content so a search engine will show it as a top result for searches of a certain keyword. You want to be ever-improving your visibility on search engines. These tools can help you rank better:
ANALYTICS AND DATA
Managing and measuring your analytics assures that you’re right where you want to be with your digital marketing strategy (and keeps track of when you aren’t.) These tools can help you measure ROI, as well as help grow and engage with your audiences.
TEAM MANAGEMENT
If you’re part of a team at your company, you need to consistently collaborate and communicate with your teammates. Being able to do so allows for increased productivity and improved work quality. That’s why having the appropriate tools is important in getting more done. Here are some of the tools we use at the HIPBlog:
The 2019 digital marketer’s toolbox is like Mary Poppins’ magic bag: it’s forever endless and extremely useful. These tools can help grow your business and your skillset while taking the guessing out of if you’re doing things “right.”
