Our favorite online marketing tools you need to try today

Digital marketing is non-negotiable today. Technology surrounds us. 

And when it comes to creating the best digital marketing strategy, it’s crucial to have the right online tools at your disposal.

Granted, there’s a ton out there. Are they all quality tools? And will you need to spend a fortune? 

To help save you time, we’ve compiled a list of eight of our favorites – with every budget in mind.

But before we can talk about our favorite digital marketing tools, you’ll need to understand what the current marketing trends are and where they’re headed. 

So, let’s dive in. 

Digital marketing in 2020: What you need to know

While this year has been interesting, 2020 has also presented many unique challenges for marketers. Nevertheless, marketers can still take full advantage of the current digital marketing trends. 

Some of the hottest digital marketing trends in 2020 include:

• Voice search: Studies show that 62% of Americans have used some type of voice assistance technology.

• Artificial Intelligence (AI): More than 75% of executives believe AI will make their job easier and more efficient. Around the same percentage say they’ll actively implement AI in their businesses within the next three years.

• Conversational marketing: This marketing tactic is a feedback-oriented approach that drives engagement, grows a brand’s customer base, and helps develop customer loyalty.

That’s just a few of the hottest trends in digital marketing right now. While they may seem a bit intimidating, there are dozens of online marketing tools designed to help you amp up these trends.

8 online marketing tools to enhance your toolbox

When you first begin your search for an online marketing tool, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. 

To help make choosing a little less difficult, take time to narrow down what your digital marketing needs are. Once you’ve carefully defined those, you can start researching tools in that particular category. 

The tools that made our list specialize in the following:

• Search engine optimization (SEO) 

• Content creation 

• Social media 

• Analytics 

• Visual content (like videos and images)

• Conversational marketing

So which tools did we choose? Keep reading.

1. SEMrush

SEMrush is an outstanding resource for those looking to use SEO to boost your content. Whether you’re creating content for your landing page, social media posts, or your blog posts, SEMrush can help you find what’s trending and show you what’s attainable in an already saturated market. 

Source: SEMrush
 

Some helpful features that SEMrush offers include:

• Domain vs. domain comparisons

• Competitive analysis of topics and keywords/keyword phrases

• Keyword magic tool to help spark more ideas based on your seed keyword 

• SEO writing assistant

• Topic research

SEMrush has several pricing tiers from $99.95 per month and up, with custom pricing available.

2. Feedly

Looking for content inspiration? Feedly is a wonderful research tool. It helps you to stay up-to-date with your industry and monitor various online feeds.

What makes this tool so neat is the fact that it uses an AI Bot–named Leo–that researches your industry and picks out the most insightful content.

Source: Feedly
 

You can choose from these pricing tiers depending on your brand’s particular needs. Prices begin as low as $6 per month, with the option for custom pricing for larger enterprises. 

3. Yoast

While we’re talking about content, we should talk about Yoast. If you’ve used WordPress, you may be familiar with this resource.

Source: Yoast
 

Yoast is an SEO app that helps analyze your current body of text and meta information so you can better optimize your content. This tool:

• Optimizes your keywords/keyword phrases

• Provides internal linking suggestions (for premium users)

• Allows you to preview your page in Google 

• Performs a readability scan

• Provides content insights (for premium users)

You can use the free version of this program, or opt for premium features for $89 a year per site. 

4. Hootsuite

Looking for a tool to help you with your content across your various social accounts? Hootsuite is for you. Whether you have one page or a dozen, this social media managing tool will get you organized.

Hootsuite’s platform allows you to:

• Automate your posting schedule

• Engage with your followers in one place

• Create effective advertisements

• Monitor and analyze your analytics

Source: Hootsuite
 

Hootsuite has a free plan for those just starting out with social media managing – with a more limited selection of features. If you need more wiggle room, you can choose the $39-per-month option (or a higher tier with features that suit your needs). You can also find custom pricing.

5. Google Analytics

As the name suggests, this is Google’s website analytics software that allows you to track who’s visiting your website, where they’re from, etc. Other features include:

• The ability to create different audience reports

• Data collection and management  

• Data analysis and visualization

• Data activation

Source: Google Analytics
 

Google Analytics does have a free option for small businesses. However, larger businesses and enterprises will want to upgrade to Analytics 360 where the pricing is based on what your brand needs. 

6. Vimeo

Video marketing is a trend that you’ll want to consider adding to your digital marketing efforts. In fact, 92% of marketers say that video is an essential part of their 2020 marketing strategy.

Vimeo is an online marketing tool to share and create videos. Features include:

• Video player – customizable on some plans

• Live streaming

• Collaboration

• Monetization

• Analytics

• Hosting

Source: Vimeo
 

While Vimeo does offer some of its most basic services for free, they also have several pricing tiers – from $7 per month to $75 per month.

7. Canva

Many marketers are incorporating custom imagery into their content. Images are an excellent tool not only for social media, but for websites, landing pages, and email as well. Canva is perfect if you’re looking for an easy-to-use image creation tool. 

In the free plan, you can create stunning custom images. Other features include:

• A drag-and-drop editor

• Adding text to images

• Applying dozens of photo effects

• Producing images for various social media platforms

Source: Canva
 

While many features are available for free, if you choose a higher-tiered option, you’ll get access to things like one-click design resizing, over 60,000 free templates, more than 60 million premium stock photos, and more. 

The Pro version starts at around $10 per month per user, while the Enterprise plan is $30.

8. Drift

Customer experience is everything these days–especially online. Therefore, it’s important to pay careful attention to how and when your customers can get a hold of you. 

Remember conversational marketing? One way to do this effectively is by including a chatbot on your website. Chatbots can be automated to answer frequently asked questions or help connect customers to a real person.

An excellent tool for conversational marketing is Drift. Some of their features include:

• Auto-responders

• Automatic notifications

• An availability indicator

• Calendar and meeting management 

• Customizable branding

• Data visualization

• Instant messaging 

Source: Drift
 

There is a limited free plan, as well as tiered pricing plans with features like custom bots, automation, and automated booking. Their tiers begin at $40 per month and include customizable options for enterprises. 

Wrap up

When looking for the right online marketing tools, you’ll want to understand what your needs are first. Once you’ve done that, you can check out the following programs that made our favorite digital marketing tools list:

• SEMrush 

• Feedly

• Yoast

• Hootsuite

• Google Analytics

• Vimeo

• Canva

• Drift

Want to optimize the way your marketing teams work? Check out our favorite digital marketing tools for teams and start working more effectively today.