Did you know that 49% of organizations have no clearly defined digital marketing strategy? Did you also know that marketers who document their strategy are 538% more likely to report success?

And your strategy is only one of the four pillars of marketing success:

  • Strategy
  • Research
  • Process
  • Goal

If you want to succeed in 2018, you’ve got to step it up. Top marketers document their marketing strategy and their marketing process. They also conduct audience research and set goals.

Why is this important to you?

It means acquiring new digital marketing tools is only part of the 2018 marketing equation. You must find tools for each of the four marketing pillars. Then you need to firmly establish each of those pillars in your marketing campaigns.

Read on to discover the best five marketing tools to grow your business in 2018.

1. Buzzsumo (Strategy)

When you design your marketing strategy, you need not start from scratch. You can look over your neighbor’s shoulder and cheat off their test. And believe it or not, it’s permitted.

With Buzzsumo, you can discover your competitors’ most successful content strategies. Simply input their web addresses, and Busszumo does the rest. It’ll tell you which of their articles received the most attention.

Then you can create your own articles on those topics. Your target audience has already guaranteed their interest. It’s the perfect tool to build your inbound marketing strategy.

2. Ahrefs (Strategy)

Since it’s allowed, let’s continue cheating. Ahrefs will give you feedback on where your competitors get traffic, how they rank for specific keywords, how many backlinks they have, and who links to their site.

It’s the perfect tool to use with Buzzsumo in your inbound marketing arsenal.

3. Google Analytics (Research)

This tool is used by 54.9% of all websites. With Google Analytics, you can track all things user.

You can create special reports to learn more about your visitors’ behaviors. This includes understanding where they come from. Learn which channels provide the best leads, the highest sales, the most downloads, etc.

You can also perform A/B testing. You can give your visitors two different options to see which converts the best.

4. Google Data Studio (Process)

Google has so many phenomenal tools; they make it hard not to choose them. You can use Google Data Studio hand in hand with Google Analytics. Where Analytics helps you perform audience research, Data Studio helps you visualize the data.

You can see which parts of your strategy are working and which aren’t. You can keep track each part of your process along the way.

5. Todoist (Goals)

And finally, keep track of your goals, Goals, GOALS! Todoist is a to-do-list app. You can use it on any device.

The design is clean, and you can color coordinate your projects. You can also create child projects. Everything is drag-and-drop, so it’s easy to use.

After You Gather Your Digital Marketing Tools

If you liked this article, come check out the other articles and resources on our website. We offer tips, tricks, and news about your website management and marketing.

Digital marketing tools are only the tip of the iceberg. If you plan to implement your own marketing strategy, check out our article on lead generation marketing. If you’re going to hire someone to do the job, read outsourcing your marketing.

Go ahead. Pick the above article that best suits your needs and read it. Do it now while it’s fresh in your mind.

So long and good luck!