Marketing

3 (Cheap) Platforms to Track Your Small Business Marketing

We can all agree that digital marketing is the coolest thing since well, the internet! You have the opportunity to reach millions within a matter of minutes whether it’s across town or across continents. Not to mention it is considerably cheaper when compared to traditional marketing channels. Pretty cool, right? We think so!

But before you enter the digital marketing world and start running a variety of ads on different platforms, consider setting up a few extra systems that will help you optimize for quality leads and help get you the most out of your marketing dollar….no matter which digital marketing path you decide to go down (Facebook, Google Adwords, Instagram, YouTube, etc.).

Here’s What We’ve Found Works…

1. CRM (Customer Relationship Management)

In general it is good business practice to have a CRM setup. It allows you track customer interactions, send mass emails and strategize for future marketing campaigns among other things. From a digital marketing standpoint, you can integrate most CRMs with your digital marketing efforts to better understand how leads are finding out about your brand, where they landed on your website and it gives you a way to save lead information for future interactions. There are many CRMs to choose from, from Salesforce to ConstantContact, but here at Caffeine, we use Infusionsoft. It is an excellent, mid-level CRM that offers a variety of options that integrate well with our marketing efforts.

2. Google Analytics

Google Analytics tracks and reports website traffic, so it is a great, FREE resource that can help you understand how people are getting to your website and their behavior once they land on your site. It is also a great resource that can help you identify problematic web pages, audience demographics and location. What is unique about Google Analytics is you can be as technical and granular or as simplistic and surface level as you want with it. Even if you are just starting your online presence, we highly recommend you setting up a Google Analytics account to begin tracking your website traffic. As your company grows, so will your knowledge of Google Analytics.

3. Hotjar

Hotjar allows you to “see how users are really using your website”. It gives you three tools for analysis: Heatmaps, Visitor Recordings and Conversion Funnels and three tools for feedback: feedback polls, surveys and the opportunity to recruit user testers for your website. Hotjar allows you to see the big picture from a user standpoint. If you’re consistent in monitoring Hotjar and make tweaks to your site when necessary, you’ll see major user experience improvements. While there is a paid version, there is a free version that is sufficient for most small businesses.

Conclusion

Besides the cost of the ads and the monthly recurring CRM cost, you can track your digital marketing efforts for a fairly cheap price. Time will be your biggest investment, but it is definitely worth it to grow your business!

If you want to learn more about digital marketing, check out our post: Brief: Social Media Marketing.

Dustin DeVries

Living and breathing software strategy and architecture, Dustin has been building software for over 20 years. He really enjoys working with clients to determine the right technology, whether it’s a web application framework like Django or NodeJS, or a simple CMS solution like WordPress. He received his BS in Computer Engineering from Texas A&M University. During his spare time, Dustin enjoys reading, gardening, cooking, playing guitar, running, and hanging out with his family.