If you are a digital marketer or are responsible for the online marketing strategies of your company, you probably wear a lot of different hats. Social media, content writing, search engine optimization (SEO), website management, and online ads are just some of your responsibilities and they can be quite time consuming. Luckily, there are productivity tools out there to help make your life easier and we’ve identified the top 10.
Collaboration
If you work with a team of marketers, collaboration is important for maintaining that well-oiled machine. These three tools will help your team work together, even when you aren’t in the same office.
- Dropbox
Do you need to share large files and images with your co-workers? Dropbox is perfect for you! Dropbox is a file-sharing site that allows you to upload and share links to large images, PDFs, slideshows, and more. Instead of trying to send an unreasonably large file via email, just send a link to your Dropbox folder and you’re instantly connected!
- GoToMeeting
If you want to connect with colleagues that work in other locations or a co-worker that had to stay home sick, give GoToMeeting a try. This application allows you to hold conference calls in which you can share your screen, giving the user on the other side a glimpse of what you’re seeing. This is perfect for geographically dispersed marketing teams that want to hold daily or weekly meetings.
- Evernote
Collaborate on a whole new level with Evernote. Evernote is great for note-taking because it is cloud-based, allowing you to access your notes on multiple devices. If you invest in Evernote Business, your team can access one another’s work notes, chat in real-time, and so much more!
Social
Managing multiple social media sites and all of the things that people are saying about your brand can take up a lot of time. You may have heard of these two tools, but are you getting the most out of them?
- HootSuite
If your company either manages more than one social media site or has more than one social media manager, you will find HootSuite worthwhile. HootSuite is a social media management platform that allows you to create an editorial calendar, schedule posts, and collaborate with other social media managers on your team. Instead of visiting Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn separately, you can manage all 3 from one dashboard!
- Mention
Mention is a real-time media monitoring application that helps you keep track of the online conversations surrounding your brand and keywords. By creating a Mention account you can set up alerts to see what is being said on the web and social media about your company, helping you to join and manage the conversation.
Content Writing
Whether you are writing content for your website or blogging, there are a lot of roadblocks that can present themselves. The three tools outlined here will help you be more efficient when creating and curating content.
- SelfControl
Are you easily distracted by your Facebook page or Buzzfeed? Install SelfControl for your Mac OS X. This application allows you to block your own access to distracting websites, mail servers, and more. Now you can write that blog in half the time!
- Feedly
Curating content for a blog can be time-consuming as you find yourself visiting site after site searching for that perfect article. Feedly offers you a single place to read your favorite blogs, online newspapers, and magazines in an easy-to-use format. Identify your favorite go-to websites and Feedly will bring them into one feed!
- Hubspot’s Blog Topic Generator
Writer’s Block? Give Hubspot’s Blog Topic Generator a try. While, these blog topics should only be used as a starting point, they can truly help you recharge. Input your keywords or basic topics and they will give you bigger, better ideas.
SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) is an ongoing process and it seems like your job is never done. Try these two tools to make things just a bit easier going forward.
- Google Analytics
Did you know that it is free to create your own Google Analytics account? Once you create the account, you or your developer can add the code to your site, and in no time you will have data on how your site is performing. Stop assuming that you know your keywords and which pages are the most popular. Get a real idea of how successful your SEO strategy is by installing and using Google Analytics.
- SEObin
SEObin is a simple and straight-forward tool. While it may not have all the bells and whistles, it is a free, easy-to-use online tool for optimizing your Meta Page Titles and Meta Descriptions. These two meta tags are very important for your SEO strategy. While the content of the tag itself is the most important thing, the length matters too! SEObin helps you keep track of the number of characters in these tags and will let you know when they’re too long.
