Data Center POST recently attended WISPAmerica, an industry event that brings together Internet Service Providers (ISP), industry experts and leading suppliers to network, inspire, perform demos and discuss the hottest innovations in the Wireless ISP sphere. This year’s seventh annual WISPAmerica, which took place in Cincinnati, OH, provided three days of education on a range of topics, including one that is especially critical for all businesses, not just those in telecommunications or technology.
In a presentation titled “Cool Marketing Tools to Help You Succeed,” a group of industry professionals described a fantastic and exhaustive list of unique online tools and services that will help businesses listen to their markets and successfully engage with them. While it would be great to be hands-on with all elements of your business and how it’s marketed, it’s important to know your limits. Trying to do everything yourself can mean certain aspects aren’t getting the critical attention to detail they need to be effective.
Luckily, the digital world is full of partners that can help you accomplish critical marketing strategies, almost all of which can be reached via a click of the mouse. Here’s a list of just a few of the tools you can leverage today to help rejuvenate and amplify your brand in the eyes of your customer base.
Here at Data Center POST, with insights from our marketing partner firm, iMiller Public Relations (iMPR), we can attest to the success of some of these great tools and platforms. Read on to learn more:
Canva: This content creation tool is ideal for logos, presentations, business cards and more. It offers a range of free templates as well as a paid version so you can design and create your ideal marketing materials.
According to the team at iMPR, Canva is a robust tool that helps give clients a visual idea of concepts without having to use valuable time from their in-house design team. This helps to keep project costs low and delivered on time as expected.
HubSpot: HubSpot is a developer and marketer of software products perfect for inbound marketing, including social media marketing, content management, web analytics and more.
When asked, Laura Pirmann, a Client Engagement Manager at iMPR, commented, “HubSpot has an easy to use web portal with various amounts of training tools and help links that can guide beginners step-by-step through an entire campaign set-up. It also saves time since everything is on one platform, which also provides great reports that you can export to track and share the results of your efforts.”
Sprout Social: For businesses looking for a social media tracking and response tool, this is a perfect option.
Stefanie Cronin, Social Media Manager for iMiller Public Relations, states, “Sprout Social is a comprehensive social media management tool that allows you to seamlessly monitor and manage your social activity. In addition, the user-friendly reporting feature provides valuable metrics to help you monitor how well your content performs and if your social media strategy is working. Sprout also provides analysis of keywords, hashtags and topics as well as cross-channel social listening tools.”
Fiverr: A hub for talented freelancers, this is a one stop shop for graphic design, digital marketing, video and animation, and more. Plus, Fiverr makes it easy to find the services you need at the prices you want.
“For proof of concept and quick projects, Fiverr is a great crowd-sourcing platform that we use for some of our more fun projects. For instance, we used a cartoon illustrator to create cartoons of our team for use in one of our holiday cards, it was easy and very cost-effective,” comments Ilissa Miller, CEO of iMiller Public Relations.
MailChimp: MailChimp is a marketing automation platform and email marketing service that is great for helping you send mass emails to your various lists, including email marketing and ads and more.
The iMPR team doesn’t use MailChimp but they did advise that there are many tools and resources out there much like MailChimp. “The key concern for any type of mass email program is ensuring you have a firm opt-in list and can show providers how you added people to your database. Otherwise you may be kicked off for violations to their standard usage policies,” adds Jennifer Hartley, Vice President of Business Process Management for iMiller Public Relations.
Of course, there is an ever-expanding list of helpful services and resources out there for your business, so there’s no shortage of help where you need it. Whether it’s designing, applications, management, scheduling or any number of other business needs, partners are at the ready, ensuring you keep your head above water and helping your business run smoothly and grow successfully.
To learn more about the extended list of great tools that can serve your business, you can view the entire presentation here. If your firm needs assistance with any kind of marketing or public relations efforts we certainly suggest you contact the team at iMiller Public Relations. To learn more about WISPA (the Wireless Internet Service Provider Association), please click here.
