If you're a marketer, you obviously know how important software is to the growth of your business. But with so many softwares to choose from, how do you know which ones are right for your company? We know how intimidating it can be to sort through the long list of tools you can leverage to boost your marketing efforts, and, unfortunately, software reviews can sometimes be misleading — not every company has your same perspective or standards.
If you're looking for a truthful answer in your quest for the perfect software stack, here it is: The best tech stack you can choose for your marketing efforts will depend on the specific needs of your company. But, there are some types of software that every marketer should be leveraging.
A website is a necessity for every company. Content management systems should be the first software on your list to enhance your marketing efforts. Creating a clean website with well-laid-out conversion paths is key to executing a strong marketing strategy. While there are a ton of options out there you could take into consideration, here are a few of the top CMSs we suggest:
The HubSpot CMS allows developers to build flexible themes and content structures while providing marketers with an easy way to create and edit pages on their own. The HubSpot platform is also a one-stop shop for all your marketing, sales and service needs, making it a great option for companies looking to grow their business on a consolidated tech stack.
WordPress is definitely a standout CMS. Users say one of the top benefits of WordPress is that it is extremely user-friendly. WordPress started out as a blogging software but now allows users to create and host their website too. One of the biggest drawbacks of WordPress is its frequent updates, causing changes to your website without warning.
But overall, many WordPress users would highly recommend it. While we created our website on the HubSpot CMS, we frequently work with WordPress users and can attest to the strength of the platform.
Wix is another CMS that has gained a lot of traction recently. It is a great option for those who are new to web development and know little about HTML. Wix is one of the cheaper options, which could be great for people who are testing the waters with website creation. The downside many users have found with Wix is their customer service. If you are facing a problem or have a question, there is not an actual person there to help you. Instead, you have to go through help forums.
Another foundational software you'll need in your marketing tech stack is a CRM software. Gone are the days when people successfully tracked their leads through an Excel spreadsheet. CRMs help you manage relationships with your customers and prospects. But more than that, CRMs enable you to simplify your outreach methods through workflows and reminders. Here are a few CRM options we recommend considering.
The best thing about the HubSpot CRM is the fact that it is user-friendly and integrates seamlessly with other tools in your tech stack to promote better marketing and sales alignment. If you are looking to get the most bang for your buck for all your marketing efforts, HubSpot seems to be the obvious choice. While HubSpot had catered more to small and medium sized businesses in the past, they have recently added more advanced features and flexibility for the complex needs of enterprise sized companies.
Salesforce has long been the leader in the cloud-based CRM industry for pretty solid reasons. With its ability to tailor, schedule and individualize reports, the flexibility with this CRM software is one of its key attributes. The setback with Salesforce is its lengthy implementation process and the fact that it is definitely better suited for enterprise companies rather than small-to-medium businesses.
Dynamics is another solid option for larger companies who are seeking deeper insights regarding business intelligence. The problem Dynamics faces is integration capabilities. Because it is a Microsoft product, it is optimized for integration with other Microsoft products such as Sharepoint, Outlook and Office 365, but if you are looking to implement other types of marketing software, your options are limited.
The last CRM software we'll mention is Zoho. This software is suited for those smaller companies who likely have little experience with CRM software. Zoho is a great option if you are looking for something cheap. However, Zoho is basic in that it lacks a good share of the advancements other CRMs offer.
The final must-have tool in your marketing tech stack is a marketing automation software. Marketing automation platforms play a pivotal role in campaign execution and have been proven to be key growth drivers for businesses. Marketing automation platforms are flexible in that they provide users with the ability to run their email marketing campaigns, social media campaigns and nurture campaigns all from one central location. If you are considering a marketing automation software, we recommend looking into:
If it wasn't already evident, we are definitely HubSpot fans. HubSpot is the world's #1 inbound marketing platform. From blogging, social media monitoring and publishing, SEO, email marketing and analytics, Marketing Hub provides their customers with a user-friendly and well-rounded marketing experience for customers of all sizes.
Pardot is owned by Salesforce, and with a good share of the market leveraging Salesforce as their CRM software, the fact that Pardot integrates with it rather seamlessly is a huge advantage for this software. Unlike some of the other options though, Pardot is not the most user-friendly of marketing automation platforms.
Marketo is best suited to enterprise-level customers due to its scalability. Users say their favorite part about Marketo is that the customers have a strong voice. Marketo takes their customer's recommendations on features into consideration on a frequent basis. The biggest issue with Marketo is its speed. It can be slow, particularly when creating smart lists, which tends to be one of the more frequently used features in marketing automation.
Mailchimp is probably less notable than the previously mentioned software but could be a great choice for companies who have little experience with marketing automation. It is affordable, easy to use and provides users with a wide variety of email templates. Unfortunately, Mailchimp provides users with little customization and flexibility and would not be a great choice for those who are experienced with marketing automation platforms.
The foundational software we mentioned above are critical elements of your marketing strategy. If you don't already have a CMS, CRM and marketing automation platform then those should be your top priority. But if you already have the foundational software and are looking to expand your marketing tech stack even further, here are some other types of software that can improve your marketing efforts.
The use of conversational marketing has increased significantly over the last few years. With its ability to shorten sales cycles and improve customer experience, incorporating chat into your overall marketing strategy should be top of mind for most companies. Here are some of our top suggestions for software to implement your conversational strategy:
Video marketing is starting to become a must-have for all companies. But leveraging it effectively requires not just tools for video production but also software to host the finished product. Here are some platforms to help you get started:
In today's data-driven world, it's no surprise that reporting and analytics tools are on our list for software you should adopt. Here are a few of our favorites:
After you've successfully executed your marketing initiatives, you'll want to make sure your sales team is set up for success when you pass off your qualified leads. Sales acceleration and enablement tools are where your sales reps will live in order to work the database. Here are some sales enablement tools we recommend for sales acceleration and enablement:
Organic traffic plays a huge role in your lead generation efforts. Aligning your website content with a solid SEO strategy is a great way to make people more aware of your brand. Here's a list of what we consider to be the best options for SEO software:
Google Analytics
While SEO is a huge driver of website traffic, it typically takes a while to gain some traction. We suggest doing some paid advertising to get some quick wins while working toward improving your organic reach. Our top SEM platforms are:
Unlike inbound marketing, account-based marketing focuses on identifying good-fit companies prior to identifying their interest. This marketing strategy typically works well for companies with a niche customer base. Here are some suggestions for platforms that would be beneficial to you if your company leverages account-based marketing:
As marketers and salespeople, we wear a lot of different hats. Sometimes, it's difficult to keep up with all the projects we have going at one time. We suggest using a project management software not only to keep yourself up to date with ongoing projects but to keep the rest of your team up to date as well. Some great project management platforms include:
Content marketing is the backbone of a successful inbound marketing strategy. A strong content strategy differentiates successful companies from the unsuccessful. Here are some ideas for content creation and collaboration software:
Making sure your content is designed in a visually appealing, readable way can majorly improve its effectiveness. Here are some tools we recommend for graphic design:
As you can see, there are a lot of software out there that would be beneficial to your marketing tech stack. And while we've mentioned quite a few in this post, there are way more out there that could be an asset to your business.
Making sure your tech stack is set up to support your company's growth while aligning everyone around the same goals is just as important as choosing the right technology and platforms to begin with.