A recent Harvard Business Review study asked hundreds of Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) to explain the pressure surrounding growing budgets and how they do more with less. 

In that report, over 70% of participants acknowledged concerns about their company’s marketing strategy due to inadequate finances or resources. Additionally, 75% of those surveyed needed to accomplish more with limited resources. That’s led some of those leaders to embrace modern digital tools as a means to inspire growth by creating efficiency through technology.

Have you considered adding the best marketing tools to your tech stack to reduce expenses in 2024? Our digital marketing team has increased productivity and improved results by implementing the following tech tools into our workflows:

Embracing these marketing tools can help organizations work smarter, faster, and more cost-effectively. Let’s take a look at each. 

1. Project Management: Asana

A computer and phone screen each show the Asana project management software logo.
Asana is a project management software that seamlessly connects teams company-wide using a variety of dashboards, goal-setting techniques, API integrations, and other task settings under one program. As a digital marketing tool, we use it to customize workflows individualized by project, keep us deadline-focused, and stay collaborative without missing a beat. 

Asana makes executing processes faster. It does this by offering a wonderfully designed interface packed with everything a marketing team needs, including some of our favorite features like: 

  • Simplifying project organization, collaboration, and communication through task features and boards
  • Providing project management features that highlight goals, scope details, deadlines, and stakeholder information
  • Automating workflows that reduce time spent creating tasks from scratch, like duplicating prior examples 
  • API integration through Slack, Outlook, Adobe products, and other marketing tools 

The Asana team designed their platform with simplicity and efficiency in mind. 

2. Performance Tracking: Google Analytics 4

A man holds a cell phone that shows the Google Analytics app.
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is another way to streamline workflows and reduce spending. This tool collects quality data so you can make better decisions around where to allocate your budget. 

GA4 drastically improves how we track user behavior and website data through machine learning, automation, and access to more robust reporting. This platform automates tedious tasks and allows us to better understand customer touchpoints and enhances our clients’ cross-channel marketing experiences. 

We recommend making the switch to GA4 ASAP. Doing so will allow your marketing team to leverage new tools and insights that expedite reporting and reduce the time it takes to make data-driven decisions. Nevertheless, we understand the learning curve is difficult, so we invite you to download our GA4 migration guide here for added help.

3. Keyword Research: Semrush

A screen showing Semrush's keyword research and mapping tools.
Semrush is a digital marketing tool that goes beyond keyword research by offering everything from competitor analysis to backlink profile insights.

For example, our SEO team uses Semrush to better understand how to position our content to improve search rankings organically. They do that by assessing the following data for a specific keyword: 

  • The average cost-per-click (CPC) of a keyword
  • Its monthly search volume
  • SERP features surrounding a specific keyword
  • And the top-ranking sites for a targeted keyword

In contrast, Semrush has become a Swiss Army Knife for our content team by reducing the time spent on:

  • Generating new ideas based on keyword data
  • Assessing competition by understanding a rival’s organic traffic for a specific keyword
  • Producing a data-driven keyword map that produces results 

Other digital marketing teams can also use it to save time and money by understanding which long tail keywords to target, the competitiveness surrounding a keyword, and more.

4. Social Media Management: Loomly

A screen shows the Loomly social media management calendar.
Marketing automation tools like Loomly are perfect for digital teams needing a solution to manage multiple social networks under one platform. Loomly is fantastic at streamlining social media management and is an excellent tool for reducing time spent on associated tasks. 

That can include reducing hours dedicated to: 

  • Maintaining a consistent posting schedule by preparing posts ahead of time 
  • Optimizing content performance through automation and platform insights 
  • Scheduling posts across all social networks on one platform 
  • And leveraging Loomly’s other automated marketing features 

5. Email Marketing: Mailchimp

Phone and computer screens show the Mailchimp website and logo.
Email marketing is one of the more challenging digital channels for folks to master due to time constraints, high budgets, and knowledge gaps around automation. Still, there are solutions to limit overhead. Mailchimp not only makes email marketing more productive, but it can also help you measure ROI.

We use Mailchimp because it offers a user-friendly interface while allowing us to increase our clients’ sales through custom campaigns, automated emails, and targeted audiences. For the budget-minded marketing team, the platform also lets them create automated email flows triggered by user behavior and other means. That saves time by automatically sending newsletter greetings, birthday emails, and other promo content easily. 

6. Content Ideation: ChatGPT

A computer screen shows the ChatGPT website.
Our creative team does the heavy lifting regarding ideation and content creation—full stop. And remember, a good content strategy also requires a team of writers, marketers, and strategists who understand a business on a human level and can create a cohesive marketing plan with that knowledge alongside other best practices. 

Still, we’ve cozied up to using ChatGPT as an ideation marketing tool because it prompts solid ideas while expediting our work when needed. As a digital marketing tool, we use it in the following ways: 

  • Jumping off points for content ideation
  • Call tracking
  • Streamlining internal workflows

We’ll acknowledge ChatGPT can’t provide deep or even elevated content like a real content strategist who understands a company’s unique needs, KPIs, tone of voice, or other practicalities. Setting that aside, it’s become a decent tool for marketing teams feeling stuck on an individual piece or needing help moving through an idea quicker. 

Connect With Our Digital Marketing Agency to Maximize Your Marketing 

We specialize in developing comprehensive marketing strategies, including paid media and SEO to content strategy, social media, email, and digital design services. We’re excited and fully prepared to collaborate with you on your digital marketing aspirations, whether you need help improving your digital presence or are simply looking for a consultation. 

Connect with us today. We look forward to speaking with you!