Digital marketing can take a variety of formats. Search engine optimisation (SEO), paid advertising, social media marketing, email marketing – the list goes on, but what do they all have in common?
Data!
Without constant review of marketing data, professionals cannot obtain the necessary insights on campaigns that define what is working, what isn’t, and what changes need to be made to improve return on investment (ROI). But with all of the different marketing channels available, what is the best way to obtain this data in a simple, affordable fashion?x
In this article, the Clearwater team explore some of the most widely used digital marketing analytical tools that you could be using.
Why Should You Rely on Marketing Analytics Tools?
Some businesses may be reluctant to introduce new platforms into their organisation, but failing to do so with the right marketing analytics can prove costly. Your budget placed behind marketing campaigns isn’t endless, after all, so you need to know the ROI behind your campaigns to know what actions to take moving forward. Analytical tools allow you to have reliable insights in real-time on the traffic coming to your website, how they are interacting with your ads and digital platforms, and how effectively budgets are being allocated to build brand awareness, engagement and conversions.
Google Analytics
So much of modern digital marketing is conducted over search engines, and the most dominant search engine is Google. It is only logical that the company has introduced a simple, yet powerful analytical tool for business to use across the world.
Google Analytics allows users to both track and monitor the behaviour of your website visitors, providing vital information on how they found their way to your landing pages, how they behave whilst visiting, and also how they leave. This information allows you to not only build on your SEO and Google Ads performance, but also understand the traffic generated from your social media, email marketing, and external outreach campaigns. Google Analytics is the perfect place to start, but only delivers an aggregate of customer data – not individual user data. The platform is largely free, but enterprise organisations can opt for the more expensive paid option to have the full support from the Google team.
SEMrush
Looking to check in on your search engine rankings and for ways to outperform your competitors? SEMrush provides information around keywords dominating both organic and paid searches in your industry. This information allows you to establish a keener understanding of what you need to focus on in your campaigns, in terms of both quality and budgets, to obtain dominance in a competitive landscape. This is a paid platform, primarily affording marketers the ability to boost search engine traffic whilst keeping a close eye on competitors.
BuzzSumo
Content is king, if you haven’t already learned that fact in digital marketing just yet, chances are you soon will. Content filled with relevant keywords aids in SEO, it builds social media and email marketing campaigns with the value needed to engage audiences, and it’s the way to differentiate yourself amid growing trends in your industry.
BuzzSumo provides content analysis on popular and trending topics across the world. You can filter by location and drill-down into the specifics, helping your campaigns with:
- New content ideas that are sought out by your audiences
- Advanced keywords that will help you rank
- Backlink information to improve outreach
- Influencer marketing to assist on social media
BuzzSumo has a free option available, but you will find greater value when you upgrade to one of the tiered paid options.
HubSpot
If you are seeking some deeper insights into your social media performance, then you can try HubSpot’s analytics tool. Social media platforms have a range of metrics that outline performance at various stages of the marketing funnel, and HubSpot allows you to see this information regardless of whether you publish directly through the HubSpot platform or not. This saves you having to delve through Facebook, Instagram and any other social platform you might be using. In fact, HubSpot offers a full, in-bound marketing tool that provides data across all of your marketing campaigns, making it a sensible choice for teams searching for a tool to centralise their efforts. Pricing starts at a low monthly rate, but can scale upwards based on your needs.
If you would like more information on how to obtain a greater return on investment for your digital marketing campaigns, please do not hesitate to speak with a member of our friendly team at Clearwater today.
