If a business is seeking to gain traction and facilitate growth, the acquisition of new customers should come first and foremost. For consumers to become aware of an organization, marketing efforts must be diligently and effectively implemented and maintained, otherwise, it is inevitable for a business to fall short of rival competitors. If a company has not taken the time to develop a substantial marketing blueprint, the time is long overdue. Phil Barden potentially said it best when it comes to marking a brand, "... your failure to act may be your competitor's gain!"
Marketing online isn't easy, but it isn't rocket science either. And gone are the days when an entire team is required to run a successful marketing division. Select the right combination of tools, and you can be a powerful team of one if need be. Here is a list of several marketing apps to help your company get discovered and increase your bottom line without becoming frustrated or overwhelmed.
GrooveHQ
'GrooveHQ' (https://www.groovehq.com/) is a dynamic help desk platform that allows for customizable integration of all other apps that a business currently employs. The software is also capable of integration with Facebook and Twitter to easily convert posts or tweets into customer support tickets which can be viewed and resolved conveniently from the Groove dashboard, which remains invisible to customers. GrooveHQ also stores customer conversations in a single place, allows for FAQ articles to be easily produced, and offers up private notes and social profiles for customers so a business can provide customer support in the best and most reliable way.
HubSpot
Voted the '#1 marketing platform by G2 Crowd' (http://www.hubspot.com/best-marketing-software), 'HubSpot' (http://www.hubspot.com/) is currently employed by more than 13,500 companies across the globe. The HubSpot platform combines every trackable aspect of distribution and marketing such as blogging, SEO, social analytics, and much more to create one convenient yet powerful marketing engine. HubSpot helps transition business marketing from outbound lead generation to inbound. Rather than force an unwelcome marketing attempt onto consumers, inbound lead generation focuses on attracting the prospect that would be most beneficial to a brand. Gain control of marketing strategies with HubSpot's all-in-one marketing solution.
CallFire
Cloud based telephone company 'CallFire' (https://www.callfire.com/) enables businesses to easily set up and send text messages or phone calls to thousands of customers instantaneously. This platform provides all of the features that would be found in any typical call center like the allowance for lead annotations which gives callers vital information for potential prospects. CallFire also records calls and collects responses which can be exported at any time so that information can be accessed even when the system is not convenient. CallFire can help get your company's message out, send reminders, or collect vital project data in a heartbeat.
The HOTH
With over 10,000+ successful campaigns worldwide, 'The HOTH' (http://www.thehoth.com/) is a white-label powerhouse for link building. This software focuses efforts on creating great and unique content for companies which is then posted to sites like WordPress, Tumblr, and Blogspot with backlinks leading readers to the original business website. Simply provide The HOTH with a URL and keywords relevant to the site you wish to promote and watch your site authority rise in the rankings. The HOTH offers several packages, all with varying degrees of marketing efforts, to provide business owners with options to best suit any sized model.
InfusionSoft
Built exclusively with small business owners in mind, 'InfusionSoft' (http://www.infusionsoft.com/) is a one-stop-shop for marketing endeavors that combines crucial aspects like CRM (Customer Relationship Management), email marketing, and e-commerce to save businesses time and money all while sales improve. The CRM function helps establish great leads and streamlines sales, in turn closing a larger amount of deals. Additionally, InfusionSoft offers the added benefit of personalized coaching services to help you operate the system with ease and finesse.
Stride CRM
'Stride CRM' (https://strideapp.com/) is an efficient customer relationship management system that can be integrated with over 250 cloud services including Gmail, Outlook, and Basecamp to alleviate the frustration of scattered information. Aimed again at small business owners, Stride has stripped many irrelevant contact management features that other CRMs offer to create a more streamlined interface for smaller staff (or even staff of one).
Stride makes management much simpler with all deals listed in a single place. Sequential order allows for different stages of deals to be easily determined, and files or tags can be added to contacts at any time so that important documents are never misplaced. Manage, track, and collaborate on business with anyone you work with, at any time.
Competitive marketing can be a stress-filled venture without the proper tools. Ensure that your company has properly implemented an effective marketing strategy and the most suitable tools to reach your projected goals. Many of these resources are sure to be quite helpful to business owners for marketing more efficiently to consumers and to drastically increase ROI. Do yourself a favor and incorporate marking software into your blueprint to gain an edge over the competition.
Has the utilization of web-based marketing software improved your business's standings in the SERPs? What offline marketing techniques have proven to be highly beneficial to your business online?
About The Author:
Digital producer, online marketer, community manager, and multi-faceted writer Tina Courtney-Brown has been managing cross-functional teams for online businesses since 1996. Tina has assisted many clients in maximizing online production and marketing efforts, and she is, one of the Web's foremost webmasters and tech news blogs. She's produced and marketed innovative content for major players like Disney and JDate, as well as boutique startups galore, with fortes including social media, SEO, massively multiplayer games, community management, social networks, and project management. Tina is also a certified Reiki practitioner, herbalist, nonprofit director, and spiritual counselor. Learn more at her personal website
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