5 Simple, Useful Digital Automation Tools for 2017
Simple and useful, two of our favourite words. Technology is one of the best ways to help a small company look bigger, reach more customers, and leverage scarce resources. It can also help a big company be more responsive, engaging, and approachable. But if you spend more time configuring the tool than responding to customers, there’s a problem. Here are our 5 favourite tools that don’t require a team of consultants to find the on button.
1. Fan Page Karma: Because what’s better than battling robots? A tool that helps marketers do head-to-head competitive comparisons of Facebook pages on metrics such as fans, growth, engagement, post interaction, and service level, that’s what. For about $160 USD per month, you get tagging, head-to-head competitive analytics, metrics for 5 major social platforms, and Shitstorm Alerts. And who doesn’t need a Shitstorm Alert?
2. Squarespace: Our go-to for designing websites. Easier to use than Wordpress, with visually arresting themes and built-in mobile responsiveness. Drag and drop, without the hassle of trying to get plug-ins to work and not cancel each other out. But it also allows the insertion of code blocks for sophisticated applications such as animation and interaction. Check out some of our work on Squarespace at www.blutipower.com. The business hosting plan, which includes access to beautifully-designed themes, is less than $300 per year.
3. Bablic: International multi-language sites made simple. Gone are the days of complicated CMS setups with a separate page for each language. Simply copy and paste the Bablic code onto your existing website, then login to Bablic's visual editor and select the language you want to add. From there all you have to do is click on any page element you'd like to translate and replace it with your translated content, whether it be text, videos, or images. Once published, Bablic displays a simple language selector on your site so your visitors can easily toggle between languages on any page of your website. Check it out in action on Blutip's website.
4. Vidyard: Create your own branded video player on your website, upload videos to it, and publish to all your social channels in a few clicks. Then, personalize it for an individual prospect’s name and title, embed a call-to-action form in the video, and automatically create Opportunities in Salesforce or other CRM tool with every completed form. Hubspot co-founder Brian Halligan recently said that 50% of the content marketers create today should be video. Better get on that. It’ll run you a little less than $5,000 USD per year, but your marketing partner (we know a good one) may be able to host it for you for less. https://www.vidyard.com/platform/tour/
5. Sprout Social: Sprout is a social listening, monitoring, and response tool that includes an uncluttered dashboard for all your social platforms and the ability to track social media responses by team member, ensuring adherence to brand voice and social media standards. Presentation-ready reporting reduces prep time. Our favorite feature? No contracts – cancel at any time. $149/user/month for the team version.
So many tools, so little time. And that’s the point. Get a tool that doesn’t come with a tax on your time. #SimplicitySells
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