New digital ad platforms are released every day, new changes and add-ons to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter are created constantly, Google changes its algorithm 500-600 times each year – it’s easy to feel overwhelmed.  It’s easy to get carried away trying out the newest platforms and ‘hacks’ that you lose track of things that are actually important. So as a modern day marketer, how do we keep on top of all these changes? Prioritize and use technology. It’s important to prioritize fundamental aspects of digital marketing to review on weekly basis. It will not only boost your digital bottom line, but also help keep your sanity. There are at least five aspects of digital marketing you must review constantly: Social Media, Email Marketing, Analytics, Design, and Customer Relationship Management. Secondly, you must use technology or tools that will supercharge your marketing. Darth Vader has his lightsaber & Sailor Moon her Moon Stick. You, as a modern day marketer should have more than one weapon-of-choice.  

1. Social Media

Over the last decade, social media has pushed its way up the ladder to become one of the most popular and effective ways of marketing. According to eMarketer, “Worldwide social network ad spending reached $16.10 billion in 2014, a 45.3% increase from 2013 that pushed social’s share of overall digital ad investment to 11.5%. Combined social network ad dollars from North America, Western Europe and Asia-Pacific represented 93.7% of global expenditure.”    Managing multiple social media platforms is now easier than ever with tools like Oktopost, which allows you to post and manage different social media accounts all in one place. Websites like Buffer and Hootsuite are also alternatives that provide similar services. You can also track the analytics behind accounts, keywords and hashtags using Keyhole‘s search box. 

2. Email Marketing

Email has an antiquated connotation to it, but it’s actually the most effective marketing channels today. Have you noticed that everytime you go shopping, the sales associate will ask for your email? And soon your inbox will overflow with promotional emails and special discounts. According to research by Forbes in 2014, “73 percent of marketers claimed that email marketing was a core strategy for their business. Additionally, 59 percent of marketers are planning to increase their email budgets in 2015 and beyond.” So if you still haven’t considered email marketing, it’s time to give it a try. MailChimp and DotMailer are among the most popular email marketing platforms, both allowing you to automate the process all while targeting and analyzing your audience.

3. Analytics

If you are already familiar with social media and email marketing, that’s great! You are already one step ahead of everyone. But have you ever wondered exactly how much traffic your company’s social media attracts? It’s one thing to utilize social media and email marketing, but it’s also important to understand what strategies are working and what isn’t. That’s where analytics come in. Without it, you might as well drive with your eyes closed.   VWO is the perfect A/B testing Software that allows you to create different versions of your website to test which produces maximum conversion rate or sales. It also has handy tools such as behavioural targeting, heatmaps, usability testing, etc. Duckboard, previously a popular platform used to track the number of people subscribing to your mail list, has recently been acquired by New Relic, which is a performance management software that collects real time data including use click streams, mobile activity, end user experiences and transactions. You can also track key phrases or brand names on Mention, and see how you compare with competing firms. It provides a summary of who’s talking about you in any location, language or time period. Conduct market research through SurveyMonkey or KeySurvey. One word of advice — keep it as short as possible. Most likely, people will not scroll through hundreds of questions.

4. Design

“Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.” ― Kahlil Gibran

Gibran’s quote may be true when it comes to finding your soul mate, but let’s face it, we are all human — we all judge a book by its cover even when we try not to. How many times have you entered a website, only to find yourself immediately clicking the red exit button because it was ugly? You may think that all you need is a great product; the gift wrapping on the outside is merely decoration, but the market has shown that the “WOW” first impressions are crucial for customer acquisition. Chances are, if you don’t engage your potential clients on your first attempt, they will never return. Tight on marketing budget? There are some amazing websites that offer services for free. Considered to be the easiest to use design programs in the world, Canva offers a wide selection of beautifully designed templates. It also has a design school, featuring many articles with tips on colours, fonts, the gold ratio, etc. Other helpful websites you should check out: Websites that visualize data and creates info-grams — Infogr.am (https://infogr.am/) — Easelly (http://www.easel.ly/) Websites with collections of backgrounds & icons — The Noun Project (https://thenounproject.com/) — The Pattern Library (http://thepatternlibrary.com/)

5. Customer Relationship Management

Many face the same problems when it comes to attracting potential customers. Even if you generate lots of traffic to your site, it does not directly equal to the same number of new customers. A simple website tool — Picreel, enables customizable pop-up overlays, surveys, or links as customers exit to maximize their willingness to stay. If you are looking for efficient ways to convert visitors to customers, Uberflip provides a powerful call-to-actions service which customize and strategically place links or form CTAs to stimulate engagement. Websites that help you target your audience: — Person (http://personapp.io/) — Full Contact (https://www.fullcontact.com/) After you succeed in alluring new clients, NEVER forget to follow up. The ultimate goal of marketing is to build new customer relationships while maintaining old ones to ensure an ongoing flow of business. In order to provide better services, you first, need to better understand your existing customer base. CRM tools like HubSpot will assemble a list of every customer and keep track of all your interactions. Zendesk is also a great customer service software that makes it easy for customers in need of support. Whether you are just starting out, or already years into your business, these essential digital marketing tools will definitely help boost traffic, brand recognition and establish friendlier customer relations. Make sure to review your strategy and progress for each of these five aspects regularly. Don’t give up if one of these tools don’t work for your brand. Try different ways and you will discover what fits best with your business. Keyhole is a real-time conversation tracker that provides keyword and hashtag analytics for Twitter and Instagram.