Tools, as we know it, are items that can be used to achieve a set goal. We are most likely as humans, going to use a tool when we know it will help achieve a goal easily and fast. In online marketing, finding the right tool that will help achieve your marketing goals is very important. (by the way… Martech is just a fancy way of saying marketing technology, just in case you are wondering what it means.)

Using the right tools can be the difference between good marketing and great marketing. Here’s how.

4 ways using tools can improve your marketing:

1. Monitor visitor behavior: As an online marketer, knowing what your visitors are up to – i.e that specific thing they came looking for is very important. If you could only read their minds, then you’d provide just what they need right? Well, it’s unfortunate you can’t read their minds, but with tools like Google Analytics or Kissmetrics you can get an understanding of their behavior and with that, know what it is they actually need. Analytic tools help to analyze behavior data and optimize user experience. Apart from the Google analytics tool and Kissmetrics, another tool that helps with monitoring visitor behavior is HotJar. HotJar allows you to see a video playback of visitor activities on your website including mouse movement, scrolling, clicks, device and other attributes. Cool right?

2. Monitor competition: How many times do you just sit and stare at the wall while your brain is trying to figure out why your competition is performing better than you are? Wanting to know what your competition is up to is a trait everybody in business should have. But we all can’t be spies yeah? Of cause, we can. Tools such as SEMRush and SerpStat allow you know just how much your competition is spending on keywords and even the most performing content your competition has published. This allows you to capture a valuable share of impressions and also learn some few tricks from your competition.

3. Automation: So you have just realized that you can’t efficiently carry out all your marketing tasks by yourself, perhaps because of insufficient time or workload. This is common amongst those people who have large or growing business. Sometimes you just need one tool that can help you with all your marketing tasks and basically reduce the workload.  Tools like HubSpot and GetResponse can help with this. They are an all-in-one marketing platform that helps with quite a number of marketing tasks including landing page, email automation, and analytics.

4. Schedule and deliver: This is all about scheduling and posting content all with one tool. Just doing in a few sittings what ordinarily, you would need to do time and time again. Social media management tools like Buffer and DivvyHQ help improve organization and reduce workload.

Most people get excited with the acquisition of a tool only to discard it later. Don’t just get a tool because it seems fancy. Understand what problems you are facing as a marketing unit and get the right tool to help out with that problem.