10 Tools To Set Up Before Spending Time On Marketing

We always say that before you spend time on your marketing strategy you need to have foundational tools set up. We take all of our clients through this process at the beginning to ensure they are set up for success. We call this the foundational setup. Here are the 10 tools tools to set up before spending time on marketing.

The Tools

1. Google Analytics
2. Google Search Console
3. Google Tag Manager
4. Google My Business
5. Email Marketing
6. Branding Guidelines
7. Website
8. SEO Optimization
9. Content Direction
10. Automation 

Google Analytics

The first of the tools to set up before spending time on marketing, is Google Analytics. Without it you’d have a hard time getting information about who is coming to your site and how your website is performing. We’ve done two previous blogs about Google Analytics. One is about the types of goals and how to set up a destination goal and the other is about analyzing your target market demographics. 

Making sure you’re effectively using Google Analytics and understand the different reports will help you set up a baseline for your marketing strategy.

Google Search Console

Another tool from Google is Google Search Console. Google Search Console helps you monitor, maintain and troubleshoot your site’s presence in Google search results. For example, this tool will tell you if you have any broken links or if your website is mobile friendly. It’s extremely useful when developing your SEO strategy. You’ll get reports on what websites link to your page, what search terms people are using to find you and much more. 

Google Tag Manager

For those looking for a more advanced way to track, Google Tag Manager is the tool to use. Although it’s not as important to use at the beginning of your marketing strategy, unlike Google Analytics or Google Search Console. It’s still a very valuable tool. Google Tag Manager allows you to manage and deploy different marketing tags or code on your website without actually having to modify your website’s code. 

It allows you to go more in depth when it comes to understanding user behaviour and how people move around your site. Using that data you can then adjust your website to optimize for conversions. 

Google My Business

The final Google tool that we suggest our clients to use is Google My Business. We like to think of it as an online business card. It’s a one stop shop for your customers to get all the information they need about your business. It allows you to create an online presence across Google search and Google maps. 

If you haven’t set up your Google My Business account we have a blog that takes you step by step through the process. 

Email Marketing

The next tool to set up is an email database and collection process. You might think ‘why should I set this up if I have no emails’ well just because you have no emails currently doesn’t mean you won’t in the future. Especially if you’re providing opportunities for your customers to sign up. 

Email marketing is the process of targeting your audience and customers through email. It helps you boost conversions and revenue by providing subscribers and customers with valuable information to help achieve their goals.

For a more in-depth look into email marketing read through our two blog posts:

Branding Guidelines

Each company has a set of branding characteristics that makes them different from their competitors. Think of big companies such as Nike or McDonalds. They have set colours, fonts and design principles to make their social media posts look consistent. You want to do the same. Decide what your font, colours and design principles are. If you’re not a designer, use Canva. They have thousands of templates that you can customize to fit your brand. 

Website

If you don’t have a website already then developing one should be your absolute first priority. Without a website none of these tools can be implemented. COVID-19 significantly increased the need for businesses to have an online presence where customers can shop. Similarly, if you have an outdated website that is hard to use then updating your website should be a priority. Having a good website will increase the likelihood of appearing on the first page of Google and thus appearing in front of your customers.

If you don’t have a website or or looking to change your website platform some of the most popular website building platforms are Squarespace, WordPress and Shopify. 

SEO Optimization

Making sure your website is SEO optimized is important. There are many things to go into an SEO strategy. Including: keyphrases, URLs, inbound and outbound links, website authority and credibility and more. It takes a lot of work but it pays off. SEO helps you get to the top of the Google search page results resulting in more traffic coming to your website. 

Not sure how to make your website SEO friendly? Read our guide on how to create an SEO friendly blog post.

Content Direction

Probably the most difficult part for business owners is coming up with content to post. You want your content to be useful and understand the why behind it. In other words, why are you posting this and how does it benefit your customers? There are 3 types of content that most companies use. Multipurpose, unique and recurring. We’ve created 3 separate blogs that go in depth on how businesses can leverage their content marketing strategy.

Automation 

These are a lot of tools to keep track of that’s why whenever we can we implement automation. We usually see this in email marketing. Where you can schedule emails to be sent out at a certain time or if people fit a requirement. We also see this in LinkedIn InMail. Where you can set automated messages to be sent out. There is also content scheduling software such as Hootsuite that allow you to automatically post your content at a specific time. Using automation saves you times and allows you to spend your time doing something else. 

Now you know the tools you need to set up before spending time on marketing. This may seem like a lot and overwhelming but using all these tools together will help drive your marketing strategy to success. But that’s where Tactycs can help! The Tactycs software will break down your strategy into manageable terms by giving you a marketing calendar. Telling you when and what channels to post on. While also learning from data and making suggestions.