5 Tools To Help You (And Your Team) Be Better Marketers

As a marketer, you are likely bombarded with emails on a daily basis attempting to persuade you to try some new social media planning platform, schedule organizer, or team communication system. There are thousands, if not hundreds of thousands out there. Are you even looking? If so, how will you ever choose? Personal preference is a key player in this decision-making process, because ultimately, what matters is the functionality fit for your team. But, if you want to save yourself some time in researching, feel lost, or simply want to get the thoughts of another agency, here are a few of our favorite online marketing tools:

Grammarly

Do you still have trouble determining whether to use “your” or “you’re”? Is spelling not your cup of tea? Grammarly is quite essential for any business person who sends emails on a daily basis, and best of all, it’s free! Like everything else, you can pay more for the bells and whistles, but the free version really is perfect for disseminating professional emails, documents, etc. This tool functions in two ways: as a Chrome extension, and as an addition to Microsoft Office applications. Do yourself a favor and get both. You’ll never have to worry if it’s “there,” “their,” or “they’re” ever again.

Slack

Communication, even with the newest or fanciest technologies, can still be an issue for many companies and teams. We have found that Slack provides lots of benefits for those with both great and limited tech abilities, and creates spaces for organized conversations. For example, you can have the traditional message between two people, but you can also set up specific “channels” for teams, projects or clients to keep work flows methodized and catalogued. In this space, you can share documents as well, minimizing your inbox from blowing up with internal emails.

Teamweek

Do you work for a creative agency and have difficulty managing projects amongst the team? Teamweek may be a fit for you. This platform allows you to organize and assign projects, and best of all, it allows you to assign time to them for the rest of the team to see and plan around. This ensures a feasible workload, while also managing expectations with your client. If you happen to use Slack, you can integrate Teamweek to keep the team update in the space they are used to working in which makes it even better!

Basecamp

Another very useful work planning/assigning platform is Basecamp. While it is in many ways different from Teamweek, the majority of the goals are the same; Basecamp helps with keeping work flows organized and concise, and allows you to plan out your entire project so your team knows what lies ahead and can move through the steps realistically. Another helpful piece for perhaps your less motivated team members, or even those with a hectic workload, is the nudges it sends. Basecamp sends reminders as due dates creep up to assist in making sure deadlines are met- definitely a perk. Lastly, this tool keeps track as you check off tasks throughout the project, so you are able to see how much progress you have made and what is left to go overall which can be helpful in status updates to your clients.

Sprout Social

It is a challenge to find a social media platform that does it all without breaking the bank. Planning the content, getting the content approved/making revisions, scheduling the content and then pulling analytics that you can truly learn from are real needs that are not often met all in one space. Sprout Social is all these things and continues to get better, all while being friendly to the budget. Sprout makes everything easy to upload and provide feedback on, and the analytics are nothing short of fantastic. They are robust in what information they provide, and they provide competitive data as well. You and your clients will have big grins on your faces after trying this tool.

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Having the right tools to get the job done makes all the difference in the world. Now that we have helped you reassess your marketing tool belt, you can provide your clients with great work and give yourself a pat on the back for streamlining your internal efforts.