Internet marketing is the future of business. And social media is the present and future of internet marketing. You need to become a Jedi master (or Sith lord) of social media to become a successful business owner online.
You want your business to grow, and you know this takes some hustle, but you can’t be everywhere at once. I sometimes wish I could clone myself, or have a few different brains, maybe multiple limbs… a cyborg arm that could do marketing projects for me subconsciously, because there is a LOT to do and keep up with!
The good news is, there are a lot of solutions. You don’t have to do it alone, because there are softwares that can do it for you! These are the best marketing software tools to advance your business, your reach, your social media presence, and ultimately your road to a freedom filled life.
1. Proof
Social proof is one of the most innovative marketing tactics being used right now. If you’re not familiar with it, social proof lets your website/store visitors know that other people are buying.
It might say something like, Marcus from Oakland purchased this product 10 minutes ago. It may display how many times your page has been viewed or shared. It may inform your website visitors how many people have signed up, etc.
Why does this actually matter? I’ve written an entire post on why social proof boosts sales conversions to the moon, but this is it in a nutshell. When people visit your store, blog, or website, and they can see that many other people are purchasing, it does 2 important things. 1. It creates a sense of urgency to jump on the band wagon. It gives the appearance of being a hot item to purchase, or service to be using, and there is an immediate, instinctive reaction to join the movement. 2. This is an endorsement of your brand. When people see that other people are buying or following you, it builds your credibility. It communicates that other people trust your brand, so they should too.
The reason this is so brilliant is because it doesn’t feel pushy. It’s subtle. It’s not an abrasive, in-you-face advertisement demanding people notice you and fork out their money. It’s just a gentle nudge saying, hey… other people think is a good idea. Let me prove it.
PROOF is a cool little innovator from Silicon Valley that makes a plugin for your website or store that gives you this social proof. When you sign up for PROOF, you get this on your site. Here’s an example of what it looks like:
Try out the free trial of PROOF to see how it works. It’s one of the most worthwhile investments you can make for a physical products business or an active marketing blog.
2. TailWind
TailWind is one of the most popular marketing tools on the internet, so there’s a pretty good chance you’ve already heard of it. It has a few different uses, but primarily TailWind is a social media post scheduler.
If you’re promoting a blog or a physical products business, it’s 100% necessary to post regularly to Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram. Optimal times will vary: on Pinterest you should be posting at least 3 times a day, at varying times. 1 Instagram post a day is ideal, and the most active times tend to be around 6:45 to 8 for posting. Creating original posts every day, and launching them at the exact right times, and then keeping track of all interactions and comments on your content is totally exhausting.
I can confirm this, because that’s what I did when I started out. I had to squeeze post creations into every single day, no matter how busy I was, and the more your business grows, the more it will drive you insane.
TailWind allows you to spend a solid day creating dozens and dozens of original posts, and then scheduling them, so that it will post them for you automatically over the course of weeks and months. It will even monitor the post, without you having to do it actively.
The analytics that TailWind provides you also lets TailWind post automatically at the times when your target audience is the most active. Try it out – TailWind is a perfect marketing tool, because your time is your most valuable resource.
3. MiloTree
One of the most important things in marketing is building a following. It’s more than 4x as expensive to get new customers and traffic than it is to make repeat sales from repeat customers. When you get people’s attention, and they’re interested in what you have, you need to keep them around.
So how do you go about list building? Almost every successful internet marketer in existence will tell you to use a plugin like MiloTree. MiloTree is a plugin that makes a pop up on your site that will invite your visitors to follow you for more content. You can completely customize a MiloTree pop up, so instead of making it annoying and generic, you can put intriguing pictures into the pop up and word the invitation how you would like.
For most bloggers and shop owners this results in hundreds and hundreds of followers. While asking someone to surrender their email is much more difficult (no one wants to be spammed), you can gain followers on Pinterest and Instagram pretty easily. Once you have these people repeatedly seeing your posts, you’ve set up for yourself a free source of advertising. This will even result in regular readers and customers.
MiloTree only costs $9 per month, so it’s not a significant business expense. If this is too much to invest in a business, it’s probably too soon to launch. As you gain more traffic and visitors, it will be your #1 tool for turning 1 time visitors into fans.
4. Email Marketing
I’m not an email marketing fanatic like a lot of other internet marketers (the same way I hate cold calling when selling insurance), but as you build out and scale your business, it will become more and more important. ESPECIALLY for ya’ll trying to sell higher ticket stuff! While a buyer might not have to think twice about buying a $9 coffee mug they like, selling something like a $900 kayak, or a $1,000 training course, usually takes a lot more convincing.
Email marketing is where you nurture these higher ticket sales. By following you over the course of many emails your follower can get to know and trust you, and thus be coaxed into a big sale.
There are a few solid options for email software, so you can take your pick. The 2 best I’ve experienced are ConvertKit and Aweber.
5. Keyword Research Tools.
Though it’s not strictly speaking a social media marketing tool, keyword research is totally… well… key for your marketing plan.
Stabbing around in the dark, or trying to guess good keywords, can waste a ton of your time, or make it almost impossible for you to rank. Keyword research tools help you to pick super targeted keywords, and they can help you find the words with the highest search count/lowest competition. By using the right keywords, your content will be able to rank in Google. Keywords are what give you a competitive edge.
There are a bunch of good keyword tools out there. For basic keyword research there are free options that work reasonably well. They don’t tend to provide the same level of analytics or research capabilities of paid options but they’re much more budget friendly. Google Keyword Planner is a popular free option, and there are similar keyword tools for marketplaces like Etsy (i.e. Etsy Rank).
For more advanced keyword research the 3 best and most reputable options are:
Jaaxy
SEMrush
Ahrefs
And for online marketplaces like Etsy, Marmalead is the strongest choice.
Equip Yourself For Success
If you’re going to take your business seriously, you’ve got to equip yourself. I fumbled around online for a while, trying to figure these things out on my own, until I finally realized I was flushing my valuable time down the toilet…
These tools are designed to help you succeed. Building a profitable business online is a lot more possible than it seems in those daunting early stages, but without the right tools, you’ll barely get off the ground.
If you have any questions, let me know in the comments below!
Hey Jordan:
I do thank you for the heads-up about the best social media marketing software essentials that are available.
Your explanation of the software — what they do and why I’d want to use them gives me a very good overview and helps me plan my own marketing strategy.
Hey Netta, I’m glad you found it helpful!
These software will give you a huge boost in your marketing campaign.
It’s good to know that there are some softwares that can help us automate our social media posting activity. But I’m little skeptical about using this type of software. As I know this can lead to termination of your social account by Facebook or Twitter. Have you personally tried any of the softwares you recommend in your article?
Hello! Yes, I’ve had a lot of success with these softwares. I’m not currently using MiloTree on this blog, because it’s still too new and isn’t getting enough views for MiloTree to be useful. MiloTree and PROOF in particular are only useful when you’ve already got some traffic coming to your website.
No, Tailwind won’t create any issues with Facebook or Twitter. Tailwind and Facebook are designed to sync together, just as it is with Pinterest and Instagram. The only thing you really can’t do is spam the exact same post repeatedly in comments or on group boards. This sends up a red flag. But that’s bad marketing anyway.
Ha ha ha! Very true very true. I had a few laughs while reading your article. The end is near loll. Good one. I can tell you that I said just today that I wish I could clone myself!!!! These are some awesome tools that 90% of them I have never heard of . The ones I have heard of I have used or use and they are good tools as well.
Thanks because I learned a lot and social media is one of my weak spots. Both my social media skills and my social media intensity as far as posting frequency. Nice to talk to someone who understands the obstacles of success online and the emotions that internet marketers go through.
Having extra weapons aka tools as an internet marketers can help us to get an edge over our competition and maximise our great content. I favorited your site so I can come back and read this again and try some of your suggestions. Thanks for the great info!
Hello sir! Thanks for dropping by, I’m glad you liked it!
Internet marketing is really tough! It’s tough for everyone I think. Every successful affiliate marketer I’ve talked to before has said that. It takes a lot of work and resilience in the beginning because getting traffic is tough, and the money is slow in coming.
Social media marketing takes a lot of learning, but once you’ve got the hang of it, it just feels natural. Once you get comfortable with creating posts you’ll get faster and faster at it, and then you just need to make it a habit to build into your day. 100% of the sales I’ve made on my Shopify store came through free social media traffic, I just persisted until it started paying off.
You can do it! You’ve got a great perspective on it, just stay as consistent as you can my friend!
Loved the article and your 5 suggestions. I would like to add one more suggestion to it for business owners and managers. Get yourself a good web filtration and internet monitoring software (like Pearl Software’s Pearl Echo Suite) which helps you control what is being watched and what is being shared by your employees. In today’s world of Phishing, Malware and Viruses, this is of utmost importance.
Thanks, I’m glad you liked it!
Great point – thanks for the tip. I haven’t Pearl Software’s Pearl Echo Suite but I’ll need to check it out. I don’t have any employees myself, most of my systems are automated, but I have several good friends with businesses that are very vulnerable online. Working online is sort of a two edged sword. There’s a huge frontier of opportunity on it, but it also comes with new pitfalls and risks.
Great work did by you. Informative and problem-solving content that users can easily digest can work for all types of blogs. When a user finds something informative on a blog, he/she is more likely to come back from your side.
Custom Writing Services
Thanks! I’m glad you found it helpful my friend.