Did you recently take the step of starting a new business?
As exciting as this may be, it’s only natural to feel a bit of fear in the early days as a small business owner. With so many unanswered questions, you may be concerned as to what will happen next.
Add in the fact that competition is heating up with each passing year, and you may soon be questioning your decision to branch out on your own especially when battling it out for search engine optimization, email campaigns, click to tweets, conversion rates, and content creation. It’s a whole other world and it takes a lot of work.
But don’t let any doubt creep into your mind. Instead, it’s time to take control, establish a plan to reach your target audience, and put your business on the right path to success.
In the past, we’ve discussed everything from WordPress plugins for improving your blog’s usability to the best blogger outreach tools.
In this post, we’re going to examine 10 best online marketing tools that can help accelerate the growth of your new business. This can include social media success, search results success, and driving forward your email campaigns and general marketing efforts. Each one is meant to provide you with the power you need to quickly and efficiently take your business to the next level.
Let’s examine each of the best online marketing tools, including advice on how it can benefit your small business.
1. GetResponse
With approximately 350,000 customers spanning nearly 200 countries, GetResponse is one of the biggest names in the email campaign and email marketing service industry.
However, there is much more to GetResponse than its email campaign and marketing tools. As of late, the company has become an all-in-one digital marketing platform, giving users the ability to tackle a variety of tasks and easily automate many day-to-day marketing activities.
While email campaigns will always be a big part of the pie, you can also use GetResponse to:
- Conduct webinars.
- Create landing pages.
- Track visitor behavior.
- Review website analytics
- Edit images.
- Conduct online surveys
- Email automation and analytics
- Set autoresponders to match customer behavior.
Businesses of all types can use the platform, but it’s best for those that are interested in a simple and effective solution. With its attractive interface, friendly onboarding process, and top of the line customer support, it remains a favorite of new small business owners who are interested in accelerated growth.
There are many digital marketing platforms to consider, making it a challenge for new business owners to decide on a direction. Fortunately, when you turn your attention to GetResponse, you’ll be in good hands from the start. With a combination of affordable pricing and superb quality, it’s a great option for many businesses.
2. BuzzSumo
Are you interested in better understanding what type of content will work best for your business? How you can create content that reaches your target audience?
Do you want to keep a close eye on your competition?
This is where BuzzSumo can step in and help any new business excel. Here’s its tagline:
Analyze what content performs best for any topic or competitor.
As simple as that may be, using this tool is even easier which is why its one of the best online marketing tools. It all starts with a topic or domain. For example, a search for NeilPatel.com results in the following:
While this is a list of the most popular content on my site in terms of social media shares, it’s the data supplied next to this that you want to pay the most attention to:
Broken down individually, you can see how each piece of content is performing on social media. For example, the first title – How to Get Google to Instantly Index Your New Website – has the most total social media shares. However, it’s not as popular as the second piece in regards to Facebook shares.
New and small businesses can use BuzzSumo in many ways. I suggest running a search for both your primary keywords as well as your top competitors as part of your digital marketing plan. This will give you a clear idea of which type of content curation performs best in your space, what your target audience will want to click to tweet, and what works for search engine optimization. From there, you can create a content calendar to help you take advantage of this information.
With straightforward results and the ability to use BuzzSumo for free, this is one of the best online marketing tools that all small business owners should experiment with.
3. Buffer
There are businesses out there that want nothing to do with social media, but they are few and far between.
If you’re starting a new or small business in 2016, you need to put plenty of resources into popular social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms. This is particularly true if you have a business that is of local interest. Do not underestimate the power of social media for your marketing campaigns.
But here’s the million dollar question: how will you find enough time to share and manage numerous social media accounts?
Buffer is one of the best online marketing tools for social media management, thanks to features such as:
- Schedule your social media posts for later.
- Post to all social media sites within a matter of seconds.
- Track interaction and engagement from your twitter users, Facebook users, and other social network users.
Here’s how simple it can be:
All you have to do is complete the necessary information and make a few key decisions, such as when you want to publish the content on your social media sites From there, Buffer will do the rest of the work for you.
One of the best ways to accelerate the growth of a new business is through a sound social media marketing plan. The only issue with this is that it can be a time drain if you don’t have the right system in place across your social networks.
You can rely on Buffer to save you time and keep your social media updates fresh.
4. Google Analytics
From day one, you know that one of the best ways to grow your small business is through organic traffic. The more the better.
But don’t overlook the fact that there is more to this than the number of visitors. Sure, you want to push as much traffic as possible to your website, but you should also take the time to learn more about your visitors and target audience.
Using a tool like Google Analytics allows you to answer questions such as:
- What keywords are driving the most traffic to your website?
- How much success are you having with social media?
- In what parts of the world do your visitors live?
- How long are people staying on your website?
- Which pages are most popular?
You should install Google Analytics on day one, as this tool can help you answer all these questions among many others.
Here is an example of what the “Acquisition” tab can show you:
As a small business owner, this data can teach you a lot about the way people are finding and interacting with your website.
You can drill down even deeper, such as by clicking on the organic search link. This will show you the following:
And that’s just the start.
The only way to fully realize the power and potential of Google Analytics is to install the tracking code and spend some time poking around. Soon enough, you’ll see how this is one of the best online marketing tools that can help you accelerate the growth of your business and tweak your digital marketing strategy.
5. Yoast SEO
Is your website built on the WordPress platform? Do you have a strong interest in search engine optimization?
If you answered yes to these questions – just the same as many others – you don’t want to overlook the power of the Yoast SEO plugin. Here is how it’s described on the official download page:
Improve your WordPress SEO: Write better content and have a fully optimized WordPress site using Yoast SEO plugin.
It really is that simple to use and is sure to boost your marketing efforts. Once you download the plugin, everything will begin to come together. You are presented with a variety of options, while also being asked for some key information regarding your site.
Best yet, if you don’t know what you’re doing, you can rely on the plugin to give you professional advice. This is perfect for new businesses that don’t know much about search engine optimization.
There are many top level features of this plugin, with one of my favorites being the Page Analysis functionality.
With this, the plugin checks for all those details that you are sure to overlook from time to time. This goes a long way in ensuring that every page and post is optimized for the search engines.
As a free digital marketing plugin, you don’t have anything to lose. Install Yoast SEO on day one, explore the dashboard, and see what it can do for your website. You’ll probably find that it’s exactly what you need from a search engine optimization perspective.
6. Hello Bar
At the time of this post, there were more than 100,000 websites using Hello Bar. This alone should give you a better idea of what it brings to the table when it comes to digital marketing. But don’t let others dictate what you do. You should personally learn more about why this is one of the best online marketing tools and how it can help accelerate the growth of your success as a new small business owner.
You can give Hello Bar a try by simply visiting the homepage. It’s here that you are asked to enter a URL:
From there, you’re presented with a piece of code to add to your website. Once it’s verified, you’re off and running.
While it always helps to experiment with the backend, let’s take the time right now to see what types of features are available:
- Email collection
- Sliders
- Popups
- Top and bottom bars
- Custom designs
- Templates
These are some of the most popular features, but there are others for you to experiment with as well.
The page take over feature is one of my favorites, as this helps promote something when people are leaving your website, such as:
- Asking people to like your Facebook fan or social network page
- Asking for an email to improve your email campaign
- Offering a coupon or discount code if you are selling products
Even if you only use one feature of Hello Bar, it’ll probably have a positive impact on your website. And that’s exactly what you want early on.
7. Ahrefs
As one of the most popular and one of the best online marketing tools out there, you probably know a thing or two about Ahrefs. It is described as follows:
Track your backlinks, keywords, brand mentions and know what your competitors are doing.
All of these things have a lot to do with how your small business grows in the early days and how you can improve your marketing efforts. Here are some of the many questions you can answer once you begin to rely on this tool:
- How many backlinks are pointing to your website?
- Which keywords are driving the most traffic?
- How much success are you having on social media in terms of engagement?
- What is your competition doing?
I have been a big fan of Ahrefs for many years, using it for everything from tracking backlinks to learning more about other companies in my space.
The nice thing about this tool is the 14 day free trial, giving you the opportunity to learn more before committing on a monthly basis. A search will provide you with the following:
At first glance, you may be overwhelmed by all the numbers. But it gets easier to understand as you spend more time with the tool.
For instance, you will see the total number of backlinks to the site. This is displayed at the top of the page. From there, you can click through to see each backlink one by one.
As a new business, it’s a good idea to run a search for all your competitors in order to improve your own marketing campaign. From there, see which backlinks they have to determine if you can secure the same ones.
The way you use Ahrefs will not be the same as the next person. The only thing that matters is that you devise a marketing campaign and strategy that helps you better understand your website’s performance, as well as the finer details of your top competitors.
8. Piktochart
If content marketing is on your radar, you aren’t alone. Many new businesses realize that this is one of the best ways to engage their audience, drive traffic, and eventually boost revenue.
But what if I were to tell you that there is more to content marketing that the written word?
As you’ll see in most my blog posts, I always include images and screenshots. Not only does this help me better explain each point, but it provides the reader with additional value.
With this in mind, Piktochart is one of the best online marketing tools that you should have on your side from day one. With this, you have everything you need to create visually stunning infographics in a time efficient manner.
It doesn’t matter how much design experience you have. It doesn’t matter what industry you are in. As long as you have an idea for an infographic, this tool can help you take full advantage of your creative juices.
Getting started is simple. Here are the steps you need to take:
- Choose a template.
- Customize the template with your own words, charts, graphics, and more.
- Share your creation with the world.
The biggest benefit of this tool, as compared to others, is access to more than 500 templates. This makes it easy to find one that suits your style and industry.
Once you create your free lifetime account, you’ll be in the company of more than four million others who rely on this tool to create beautiful infographics.
Content marketing will always be a big part of what you do, so don’t overlook the many ways an infographic can increase your reach either via social media, to add to your email campaigns, or to encourage people to click to tweet. Infographics can help you reach new heights.
9. Pitchbox
There are many things you can do as a small business owner to accelerate the growth of your company. And while you should consider every strategy that is available to you, none are more effective than influencer outreach.
Even if your company is brand spanking new, when you align yourself with the right influencers you have the chance to achieve immediate results, to hit the social networks running, and to improve your search engine optimization.
Pitchbox is one of those tools that makes your life easier. Rather than manually contact influencers in your space, you can use this tool to speed up the process, all without losing that ever so important personal touch.
Here is how the company describes its tool:
“Pitchbox automates the grunt work so you can focus on what you do best: creating real, person-to-person connections with the people you want to reach.”
When you don’t have to concern yourself with the grunt work, the work that sucks up all your time, you have the opportunity to move forward in a faster and more efficient manner.
The features of Pitchbox run deep, so take your time as you explore the system and determine how it can work for your business.
For example, the Prospecting feature is all about finding opportunities for outreach. This goes well beyond the basics, including everything from social profiles to contact information and much more.
Influencer outreach is often put on the backburner, as many new business owners think this has to take up many hours of their day. With Pitchbox, this is never the case. And that’s why it’s become one of the best online marketing tools for entrepreneurs.
10. SEMrush
You may not consider yourself a digital marketing professional, but that’s exactly what you are when you start a new business. Even if you don’t know the first thing about online marketing, this will change as you look for ways to accelerate your growth.
SEMrush can help your business in many ways. It all starts with a simple search:
From here, you’re presented with more data than you’ll know what to do with.
For example, content marketing may be your primary keyword, but that doesn’t mean it’s the right target keyword for each new post that you publish. You can use SEMrush to find related keywords, including volume, CPC, and SERP data.
If you’re interested in learning more about your competitors, use this tool to find the top ranking content for any keyword. Sticking with the “content marketing” example, the tool displays the following:
You can then formulate a plan for competing with these sites, hoping to move your property to the top of the search engine results.
I am a big data guy, so a tool like SEMrush is always of interest to me. The sheer volume of information should be enough for you to give this tool a try.
Conclusion
Some small businesses succeed, but many fail. If you want to avoid trouble and serve your customers for many years to come, now’s the time to take action. You don’t want to let another day go by before you implement some of the best online marketing tools that can help your business grow.
You may not use all 10 of these marketing tools, but it only takes one (or a few) to have a major impact on your business.
Would you add any other tools to this list? Do you have experience with any of these? Share your thoughts with the rest of us!
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