While it is good news that there are so many useful marketing tools out there, there is, of course, a flipside. We can’t use them all, although it’s tempting to aim for innovation and use all the latest products and services. What we really need is to be effective and find the right tools for us.

It’s becoming harder to know which is the best option. It requires knowledge of your product or service, an understanding of the market and your customers, and an overview of the choices of tools. Industry professionals should feel comfortable achieving this, but it’s a big task to stay on top of.

This brings us to the main issue, which is time. Any tool that’s used to enhance a companies’ marketing strategy and end products should get the job done and should give marketing teams more time, not less. If you have too many services on the go, the team will spend a lot of time setting things up, checking social listening accounts, filling out CRM databases, and scheduling posts.

If it’s necessary and useful, then you can make it work, but it’s worth taking a step back to see if your set up can be streamlined.

Reviews Within the Industry

If you’re looking to revamp your marketing efforts, then you’ll be on the lookout for some tools that can boost your performance, give you more information, or increase your reach. Attending network events can help, so you can pick the brains of successful marketing executives.

Every industry, and in fact, every company has its own requirements and goals. While there’s value in advice from other companies, it might not suit your needs. Another even quicker way to get some intelligence is to check a review site like BazaarOfMarketing.com. For example, on the site, you can find a review of MarketerMagic, which looks at whether it can help you “ditch expensive of inefficient tools.”

Resources and Requirements

In marketing, it can be very easy to get lost in the objectives and vanity metrics, instead of focusing on your company goals. You’ve reached 10,000 followers, but what next? It’s beneficial to revisit the bigger picture to remind yourselves how you’re using social media or your content as tools to enhance your business.

This reflection will give you the answers to what you should focus on. With this reestablished, it’s a good time to consider how you’re using your resources to achieve that. This encompasses staff members, tools, and time. Knowing that you have a set budget and a specific amount of time to put toward your goals should help you focus on what you need.

Automation

If there’s one good reason to add another tool to your marketing approach, then it is automation. These tools help save time and keep track of an ever-changing landscape. They can work wonders when used for repetitive tasks.

Social media, and therefore content, never sleeps. Feeling like you need to keep on top of it 24/7 can be overwhelming. This is where automation really shows its value. It can be used for social listening, post scheduling, and many other tasks.

If you’re looking for one automation tool that works in a number of different areas, then you might be interested in the idea of XaaS or everything as a service. An example of this is IFTTT, which stands for if this then that. You can create different triggers; one action happens, and another is done automatically as a result. 

Navigate the Marketing Service Landscape  

Just like buying something in the sales that you don’t need isn’t saving money, the same is true for using marketing tools that don’t help you achieve your business goals. They may be innovative and efficient, but they need to contribute something to your marketing efforts.

Stay in touch with information about the latest services from review sites, but have your business goals in mind when you make decisions about resources. If you do decide to add a new tool, look to see if there’s potential for automation. Cutting down the time spent on repetitive tasks is a great way to streamline.