5 Effective Tools for Inbound Marketing | Inbound 281

Inbound marketing isn't easy, but there are lots of tools out there that can make your job easier. Whether you're focused on social marketing, email marketing, website optimization, analytics, or SEO, there's a tool out there for everybody. Today we’re going to discuss five of the best and most popular inbound marketing tools around, and they can all be used to bolster your efforts and improve your results.

Marketing tools can make the day to day of growing your business a whole lot easier. 

1. HubSpot COS

HubSpot is one of the giants in the world of inbound marketing, and no discussion of inbound tools is complete without mention of them. HubSpot is, primarily, a developer and marketer of inbound marketing software, but they're also an all-in-one platform that offers training, content creation, analytics, social media marketing, SEO, and more.

They also provide consulting services and have tons of online resources and tutorials that people can use to help master the arts of inbound marketing. Furthermore, HubSpot COS is a content optimization system they offer that can help you build an optimized website that’s responsive to every device and browser, personalized for individual visitors, and that integrates all your existing marketing tools.

2. Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a classic, but even though it’s been around for a while, it’s still a relevant tool that can help you with all your website analytics. It’s still the most widely used web analytics tool around. On top of being free to use, Google Analytics also offers a host of services, including:

• Page-specific analytics
• Audience reporting
• Ad measurement
• Ad reports
• Data collection and management

And in case you're not sure where to start, Google even has an Analytics Academy that you can attend to learn everything you need to know about maximizing this tool.

3. Hootsuite

When you need social media management, you need Hootsuite. There are both free and paid versions of Hootsuite tools, but all versions offer engagement tools, analytics to help you track your social media campaigns, and cross-platform capabilities that let you network and manage all of your social accounts from one convenient location.

One of the best features about Hootsuite is that it allows you to create and schedule social media posts for the future, so you can stay active on all your social sites daily without having to log multiple hours each day.

4. Moz

In the world of SEO software, Moz is the name of the game. Their software can do everything you'd expect from a comprehensive SEO toolbox, including a keyword research platform and keyword suggestions, competition ratings, search volume data, and keyword opportunities. There are also other services available through Moz, such as site crawling to find SEO errors and opportunities, competitor tracking, search engine result page tracking, and an SEO browser tool.

5. MailChimp

MailChimp is the go-to web-based email marketing service. Not only can you create newsletters using their templates, but you can also use the service to customize the templates, send bulk emails that don’t get marked as spam, and tailor messages to different buyer personas. Plus, the service will tell you who has read the email, who has clicked through, and who hasn’t opened it. Other great things you can do with MailChimp include:

• Social sharing
• A/B testing
• Keeping and tracking subscriber profiles
• Having multiple user accounts

With these five inbound marketing tools, you can reach more people, target your best customers more effectively, engage prospects with interesting and shareable content, and track all of your efforts. Inbound marketing takes time, dedication, and skill, but with these tools, you can at least make your job a little easier, and automate a few of the processes that are so integral to this task.