It takes more than just a great strategy to run an impactful content marketing campaign. To make waves in today’s competitive market, B2B content marketers need to step up their game by adopting the right set of tools for their content strategy.

A recent survey by Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs shows that only 28% of 925 respondents believe that they are equipped with the right technology for content management. 31% responded that they have the technology, but are not using it to its full potential. On the other hand, 30% of respondents said that their organization has not yet acquired the right technology to manage their content.

Figure 1. The Right Technology in Place to Manage Content Across the B2B Organization

To run a digital marketing campaign, you will need the right marketing tools to help you reach your target audience. Additionally, if you have the tools but are not using them properly, you are not optimizing your investment and wasting your resources. Before you can successfully implement your marketing strategy, you will need to take into account the type of technology that you have in place and fully understand how it can help your team achieve your marketing goals more efficiently.

Why Tech Matters in Marketing

With 65% of B2B companies now selling online, the competition in gaining and nurturing the right target audience has become more challenging. That’s a 12% increase from the 53% of B2B companies that offered e-commerce in 2021. The increase was driven by the surge in digital adoption at the start of 2020, urging these businesses to cope with the changes so that they can take advantage of the growing market online.

Even after the pandemic, the e-commerce trend continues to thrive, with more companies joining in the digital wave to expand their reach. By going digital, businesses are able to build their brand visibility online, acquire and nurture a strong customer base, and thrive in the B2B e-commerce industry. This is where marketing technology tools can come in handy.

Must-Have Technology Tools for Marketers

If you are among the 61% of B2B content marketers that are not using (or not optimizing the use of) marketing technology tools, it’s about time that you consider adopting the right technology that will support your online marketing tactics. Here are some tools you should consider adding to your content marketing resources.

1) Web Analytics

Web analytics tools allow you to collect and analyze your website’s performance data. This allows you to acquire some valuable insight that will help you to recalibrate your content marketing strategy. You can obtain information about the sources of your web traffic, what pages of your site are getting more visits, how your site visitors interact with your website, the duration of your page views, as well as how they exit your website.

2) Social Media Scheduler

Social media scheduling tools are designed to help prepare your social media content calendar and schedule them for publication on your chosen social media platforms. By properly scheduling your content, you can gain more traction online. Most social media scheduling tools also offer analytics features which helps you understand how and when you can reach out to your target audience more effectively.

3) Email Marketing Software

This kind of software allows content marketers to create, send, and track email to their subscribers. Most email marketing tools are already equipped with templates and formats which make it easier to create emails that will help convert. They are also equipped with analytics features that allow you to measure each email’s performance, such as their open rate, click-through rate (CTR), conversion, unsubscribes and more.

4) Content Creation and Collaboration Tools

If you are working with multiple team members to manage your company’s content marketing campaigns, a content creation and collaboration tool is a must for your marketing team. This tool gives your team a more efficient way to create, brainstorm, and plan a content calendar, strategy and workflow that works for your brand. With the right collaboration platform, your marketing team can easily plot out a highly effective content plan week on week.

5) Content Management System (CMS)

Content management systems are applications that allow you to create and publish digital content, making it available to the public on the internet. CMS allows you to take control of the content that you publish on your website. Through this application, you can update or delete any digital content, such as texts, audio files, images or videos.

6) Marketing Automation System (MAS)

A marketing automation system is a handy tool, especially for businesses that have a small marketing team. This automation tool allows marketers to automate marketing processes and campaigns across various channels. Through MAS, you can automate some repetitive tasks within your marketing process, such as messaging, email marketing, lead prioritization, personalized advertising and behavioral targeting.

7) Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Tools

Search engines play a huge role in getting you at leading you towards the right audience. This is why search engine optimization matters and why businesses put in a lot of investment in acquiring the right SEO strategy and tools. By using an SEO tool, your marketing team can gain some actionable insights on the overall health and performance of your website.

SEO apps can provide you with the data you need to identify any issues or areas for improvement your website might have, which may be preventing it from being included and ranking at the top of search engine results pages (SERPs). It can also give you suggestions on what keywords and content ideas are suited for your type of business, what keywords or content your competitors are ranking at, as well as your website’s ranking versus those of your competitors.

8) Content Distribution Platform

Content distribution tools allow content marketers to share their content to a large, targeted audience. This way, every content that you publish gains traction from people who have a bigger potential to convert and buy from your business. Content distribution platforms can help amp up the percentage of your conversions, which helps you gain a return on investment (ROI) for every content that you release.

Improve Conversions by Adopting the Right Marketing Tools

The main goal of marketing is to get your brand closer to your customers. In today’s tech-driven world, marketing without the use of technology is moot. As people spend more time online, there is a huge opportunity for your brand to be discovered by the right people, and potentially, your next customer.

By taking advantage of the right marketing technology, you can empower your content marketers to push your brand to the right audience. If you need guidance on what marketing technology tools are best suited for your business, schedule an on-site or virtual adoption session with us today. Our team is ready to help transform your business and help you achieve your efficiency and productivity goals through our carefully devised adoption campaigns.