6 Online Marketing Tools to Improve Office Efficiency
The internet is a vital component to running any business, but if used incorrectly, it can become a small business owner’s worst nightmare. Between social media, streaming services and the seemingly endless hoard of cat videos, the internet can be a major procrastination enabler. Fortunately, it also is home to many marketing tools that are designed to improve efficiency and productivity in the office. Here are six great apps every entrepreneur and small business owner should know about:
HubSpot (for Social Media and Inbound Marketing)
You know how important social media and content marketing is to build brand awareness and increase your customer base, but are you connecting with the right people on the right platforms? HubSpot’s marketing software gives you access to tools that help with lead gen, inbound marketing, email automation and more. It also allows you to track the number of visits, leads and customers that your efforts are generating for your company. Depending on your needs, HubSpot offers free services and can scale (for a cost) as your company’s needs grow.
Canva (Graphic Design)
Need to create a professional-looking graphic for an Instagram post about a new product, a flyer for an upcoming sale, or a blog about the dangers of cat videos in the workplace? Canva is a great option. They have a slew of pre-formatted templates, styles, fonts and background images, which you can drag-and-drop to create eye-catching marketing collateral. Canva’s basic plan is free, but you can upgrade to a Pro plan for $9.95/month.
Fiverr (Outsourcing)
Fiverr is a fantastic resource for small business owners working with a skeleton crew. Need WordPress help, headlines for an ad or a new logo design? You can outsource thousands of different tasks to hand-vetted freelancers from all over the world, starting at just $5 per gig. Obviously, prices rise as tasks grow in difficulty.
MailChimp (Email Marketing)
With more than 12 million customers (including some Fortune 500 companies), MailChimp is the most trusted, widely used and cost-friendly email marketing tool available, allowing you to send up to 12,000 emails to 2,000 subscribers for free. It’s a great starting point for building your email list and offers a variety of marketing automation tools that are very user friendly.
Trello (Project Management)
Trello is a great organizational tool that helps you manage projects by arranging them as boards, lists and cards. In one glance, you can monitor what’s being worked on, who’s working on it, and how close an open job is to completion. With Trello, you can manage and prioritize your projects in a fun and flexible way, and it works on any device.
Google Analytics (Market Research)
Google Analytics is a free web analytics service that tracks and reports on the traffic to your website. It allows you to see where your traffic is coming from, what your most popular content is and what keywords are being used to find you. It also provides useful demographic information. For the entrepreneur, it’s a must-have tool and it only takes a few minutes to set up.
All of these apps will help your small business operate more efficiently and productively. And you can help them help you by having a fast, reliable internet connection. Contact us today to learn more about our suite of communications solutions and multiple internet packages tailored to meet your specific business needs.
