10 Inbound Marketing Tools To Skyrocket Your Business

inbound marketing tools

Inbound marketing is a buzz word in the world of digital marketing. It’s an approach to acquiring customers by generating interest in your product or service through content and social media, as opposed to traditional outbound methods like advertising. In order for inbound marketing to be successful, you need inbound marketing tools that can help you manage your campaigns. This blog post will teach you how inbound marketing works and why it is so effective, then give examples of inbound tools that will help you do inbound successfully.

How do you do inbound marketing?

Inbound marketing is a way in which you attract potential customers to your product or service by providing them with helpful content that keeps their needs in mind. Marketers, bloggers and small business owners all use inbound tactics because they are easy to implement, free of charge and often provide immediate results. In order for inbound marketing strategies to work, inbound marketing tools are essential to help you manage your campaigns.

Examples of inbound marketing strategies

Picking the right inbound marketing strategy can be tricky. You need to pick something that is in alignment with your business, has the ability to drive qualified visitors to your website and converts them into leads. Here are some inbound marketing strategies you can implement in your business to start growing:

  • Blogging: If you have a blog that has inbound links and is full of helpful information, then your site will be very attractive to search engine bots. They see your content as relevant and authoritative in the eyes of potential customers who are searching for what you offer. Content can include articles and videos and should always give value first so that your readers will trust you and want to buy from you in the future.
  • Social Media: This is a great way in which inbound marketers can attract customers, especially through Facebook and Twitter marketing campaigns. When you share helpful content on social media sites such as updates about your business or industry news, then people who see these posts might be intrigued enough to visit your site in order to learn more.
  • Email Marketing: This inbound tool is very effective because it provides you with the ability to contact past customers and potential prospects in a non intrusive way. Customers who have already purchased from you will be happy about receiving updates, specials and other helpful information through email marketing campaigns. On the other hand, in order to attract new customers through email marketing you need to create a list of prospects which can be done by offering something free in exchange for their contact information.
  • PPC Marketing: Pay per click campaigns are another way in which marketers acquire inbound leads and traffic to their websites. This inbound tool is very successful because it allows you to target very specific in terms of demographics in order to bring in a high quality inbound lead. For example, if your business sells wedding dresses and you want young women in their 20’s in the US who make more than $75k per year, then this is possible with PPC marketing.
  • SEO: This term stands for Search Engine Optimization and it is inbound marketing at its best. SEO allows marketers to attract inbound leads by optimizing their website so that they show up on the first page of Google for specific keywords related to what you offer. For example, if your business sells wedding dresses then writing an article about “wedding dress trends” might be very inbound in terms of SEO.

How can you be the best at inbound marketing?

In order to be best in class at inbound marketing, you need the right tools. Even though some of these strategies can be successful if they are done manually, it is best when software helps marketers manage them properly so that their efforts are not wasted.

What is inbound marketing software and how inbound marketing tools work?

Inbound marketing software is a tool that automates the tasks of an inbound marketer and allows him to be more productive. These tools also have features which allow marketers to monitor their campaigns, collect customer data and analyze performance so that they can make informed decisions about how best to improve. In other words, these are some examples of what inbound marketing software can do:

  • manage your blog posts
  • keep track of social media interactions and measure ROI on campaigns
  • create landing pages which are best converting for various keywords related to what you offer
  • boost your SEO with inbound links from other blogs that have the same target audience as yours.
  • manage your email marketing campaigns
  • provide insights into best performing content and keywords that lead to inbound leads
  • monitor the performance of all of these tasks so you can best optimize them for success.

What are inbound marketing tools?

Inbound marketing tools are in fact software that allow inbound marketers to have a big impact on their business. Since there is so much competition in the online world, it is not enough to just have a website anymore. In order for your business to succeed you need to be constantly attracting new leads and customers using inbound marketing strategies such as blogging, SEO, email marketing and more.

What are the 5 marketing tools everyone should use?

These inbound marketing tools are extremely useful for marketers who want to grow their audience and attract inbound leads. The best inbound marketing tools are:

1. HubSpot Marketing

best inbound marketing tools

HubSpot Marketing is an inbound marketing tool that can help companies grow their audience through blogging, SEO, PPC advertising, social media management etc.

Hubspot also offers many features which includes content outlining for blogs & landing pages with lead capture forms – Hubspot makes it easy to create free or paid membership sites which are optimized for search engines so that they will show up when searched for specific keywords related to what you offer.

Hubspot also provides stats about ROI on PPC campaigns and best performing content/keywords leading to new inbound leads so that the marketer can easily improve their efforts.

Hubspot’s basic plan is free while the other plans are paid, but you get a 30 day trial for each so that you have enough time to try out all of HubSpot’s features and see if it fits your business needs.

2. Marketo

free inbound marketing tools

Marketo is an inbound marketing software that helps companies optimize their marketing strategy by creating landing pages, conducting customer surveys, distributing content through blogs and social media etc.

Marketo also offers the best customer data management in order to measure ROI on PPC campaigns and to better serve customers with the content they like best.

Marketo has a free trial period of 30 days for Marketo’s basic plan (they offer paid plans), but it doesn’t require credit card information so you can try Marketo before you buy it.

They also have features such as “create surveys” for your website visitors so that you can get feedback from them about what they came to your site for. Marketo is great if you want to create surveys for your website visitors.

3. Pardot

inbound marketing platform

Pardot is a marketing software that helps marketers market to leads, build better relationships with prospects and manage their leads. Pardot lets you create landing pages, run PPC campaigns, make marketing emails and set up social media interactions.

Pardot has an entry level plan which costs $10 per month or $10 for the first year (with Pardot’s pro plan costing $25 per month).

Pardot also has powerful features like “segmentation” in order to optimize PPC campaigns by targeting specific people within your audience that are most likely to convert into leads. Pardot offers email marketing automation which can help you figure out what days and times work best for sending out your newsletters so that you know when the most people will see them.

Pardot is a great inbound marketing tool for those who want to simplify their PPC campaigns and manage all of their leads.

4. Buffer App

inbound marketing software

Buffer is a social media management tool that is used to schedule posts on blogs, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn as well as find content to share. Buffer allows you to schedule posts at the best times possible by using Buffer’s Buffer app which instantly updates your Buffer profile with your updated post or tweet according to Buffer’s algorithm.

Buffer also allows for the creation of content which includes Buffer blog, Buffer library of over 100 articles and Buffer’s Social Media Guides Network where you can find a range of guides on how to use Buffer.

Buffer has Buffer app for iOS and Android devices, Buffer browser extension which allows you to interact with Buffer right from your web browser (in Gmail for example) as well as “updates” apps in order to allow Buffer’s updates to be sent straight into LinkedIn groups. Buffer is great if you want a social media management tool that helps optimize when posts are sent out.

Buffer also offers Buffer for Business which allows you to monitor brand mentions, schedule links and create custom plans in order to better serve your customers. Buffer is free up to three social profiles while Buffer’s paid plan starts at $102 per year (with a 14 day trial period).

5. Moz Pro Campaigns

inbound marketing systems

Moz Pro Campaigns is Moz’s premium subscription service which allows Moz to work with their customers to improve their marketing efforts. Moz has a basic plan at $99 per month, but Moz also offers a 30 day trial period so that you have enough time to try Moz before you buy it.

Moz also has features such as Moz Local, Moz Link Explorer and Moz Social Media. Moz is great for those who want premium quality search engine optimization campaigns. Moz also offers Moz Analytics which is a great tool for tracking your website’s search engine rankings.

Moz offers MozCast – a Google weather report, access to MozBar and rank tracker tools as well as tutorials on how you can optimize your site. Moz is available with a 14 day trial period while their basic plan costs $99 per month (or $999 per year).

Moz Pro Campaigns is a great tool for those who want search engine optimization campaigns. Moz offers Moz Analytics which allows you to track your website’s rankings, Moz Local helps promote your physical location and Moz Social gives social media insights.

This list is in no way exhaustive because there are many other options available in the inbound marketing software market, but it is a great starting point for marketers who are looking to improve their inbound efforts.

What are the best free marketing sources for inbound marketing?

There are many free marketing sources for inbound marketing. One free source is Moz’s blog which has a lot of free guides as well as links to other free resources. Moz Pro Campaigns also offers free tools like their MozBar tool as well as access to Rank Tracker, free keyword research tool and MozCast.

The Buffer community forum, Inbound.org and Quora have great FAQs from top marketers who answer questions on how people can improve their online efforts.

Hubspot also offers free resources such as free guides for those who want to build a website from scratch, free eBooks and free social media courses. Hubspot also offers free guides for those who want to learn how to use social media or web design tools such as Inbound Marketing University where you can learn the ropes of inbound marketing from top marketers.

Another great source of free information is Inbound’s blog which has over 100 free articles that can help you learn the ropes. You can also check Quora which has a lot of free information on how you can improve your inbound marketing efforts.

More paid and free inbound marketing tools and platforms

We’re just scratching the surface, but inbound marketing tools are in no way limited to these top five inbound marketing tools. Here are even more inbound marketing software options to help you improve your inbound efforts:

6. Unbounce

Unbounce - The Landing Page Builder

Unbounce is a landing page creation tool that is used in order to provide conversion-focused pages. Unbounce lets you create high converting Landing Pages and Lead Generation Forms with drag and drop ease, Unbounce also integrates with several CRMs so you can import your contacts automatically. Unbounce’s templates are mobile responsive, Unbounce also provides A/B testing so you can test which version of your page converts the best.

Unbounce offers 3 plans: Starter, Plus and Enterprise which start at $49 per month for up to 20 pages. Unbounce also offers their Unbounce Partner Program which allows Unbounces partners to sell Unbound products on their own site for a split of the sale. Unbounce offers a Unbounce API to allow Unbounce users or third party applications to access Unbound pages.

Unbounce is great for those who want premium quality landing page creation campaigns, Unbounce also has features such as CRM integration and A/B testing so you can test which version of your page works the best. Unbounce is great for marketers who want to create high converting Landing Pages and Unbound Lead Generation Forms.

7. BuzzSumo

BuzzSumo - content insights

BuzzSumo offers a variety of tools and resources for those who want to research content. BuzzSumo provides statistical data such as the number of shares, likes and comments that a particular article has. BuzzSumo also provides BuzzRank which is BuzzSumos measure for popularity within an industry or topic. BuzzRank can show those who use BuzzSumo the most popular posts in their industry or topic.

BuzzSumo allows you to find influencers based on their content’s BuzzRank so you can find who influences your audience. BuzzSumo also hosts a library of over 1 million articles so you have access to a lot of content to choose from.

BuzzSumo is great for those who want a lot of different features, BuzzSumo also has BuzzRank so you can find the most popular content in your industry or topic. BuzzSumo is great for those who want to research content and influencers within their niche, BuzzSumo hosts a large library of articles as well.

8. Mailchimp

Mailchimp - email marketing service

Mailchimp is a great tool for those who are looking to build their email list. Mailchimp is also free with Mailchimp’s basic plan which allows you to send 12,000 emails with Mailchimp per month, Mailchimp also has Mailchimp Pro which starts at $199 per month and allows you to send 24,000 emails with Mailchimp per month.

Mailchimp also has Mailchimp Enterprise which starts at $399 per month and allows you to send 400,000 emails with Mailchimp per month. Mailchimp lets you send newsletters or work with databases so that customers can subscribe to your email list.

Mailchimp automation features allow you schedule when your customer receives your email newsletter. Mailchimp provides you with analytics that can help improve your campaigns. Mailchimp also has a mobile app to allow you to track and monitor customer activity on the go.

9. Google Analytics

Google Analytics - web analytics service

Google Analytics is Google’s free web analytics tool. Google Analytics helps analyze your website traffic. Google offers Google Analytics 360, Google Adwords, Google Adsense, Google Adplanner, Google Search Console and Google Webmaster Tools.

Google Analytics is used for website traffic analysis. Google Analytics is great for those who want Google’s free website analytics tool. Google Analytics is used on over 31 million websites. Google Analytics 360 lets you have more control of your data with custom reports, unlimited integrations and customized dashboards so that you can monitor the health of your business in real time.

Google also offers advanced reporting options on what content is performing the best, Google Analytics 360 also lets you track your campaigns to see what’s working and improving conversion rates. Google Analytics is great for those who want Google’s free website analytics tool.

10. Hotjar

Hotjar - online behavior tool

Hotjar is a tool for user research and usability testing. Hotjar also offers a visual feedback widget which provides you with a set of questions to ask your customer. Hotjar is great for web reporting because Hotjar is able to track the browser your customer is using, Hotjar monitors where on the website your customer clicks and Hotjar’s heatmap let’s you see what parts of the website are getting more attention.

Hotjar can help you identify sources of frustration from visitors since Hotjar records videos of every visitor that interacts with your website. Hotjar lets you watch these videos and identify where on the webpage the visitor encounters issues.

Hotjar allows you to use it within WordPress so that Hotjar can monitor and record sessions while people actively engage with your website. Hotjar is great for those who want to see where visitors are having issues with their site.

Best inbound marketing platform for you?

Inbound marketing is a powerful way to increase sales in your business, but it can be difficult without the right tools. In this article we have laid out some in-depth strategies for how inbound marketing works and what you will need in order to succeed with inbound marketing.

If none of these seem like they fit your needs or if you just want help implementing them, please contact our team of experts today. We’re ready and waiting to partner with you on an SEO or digital strategy that increases revenue through inbound traffic from customers who are seeking products online.

Which tool do think would work best for your company?