There's no good way to do CPG marketing without help from software in today's complex marketplace. With almost as many marketing software systems as there are companies that need them, it can be daunting to make choices that will meet your needs.
Here are some elements to consider when making a decision about a marketing software system:
--The size of your company. A smaller company or startup will have different needs than a midsized company or major corporation with many employees.
--Keeping sales separate or together. Some software includes sales and marketing solutions together, while others keep the two separate. There are advantages to both for different reasons.
--Automation options. Most large companies have found they can benefit from marketing automation features, and many smaller brands are finding the costs of automation and AI to be worthwhile.
--Cost. On our list, Google Analytics is the only free program, but costs vary widely depending on a company's size and features.
--Complexity. If your marketing only involves a website and email, a simple program should do. If you have social media, e-commerce, and ads, you may need a CRM or integrated program with more features and capabilities.
--Tracking and performance. If you want to track and measure your marketing results, or if performance marketing is part of your strategy, you'll need a software program that can track the KPIs you want to measure.
Here are some of the best marketing software programs for 2023 and discussions of their features and strengths:
- Great for social media marketing
- Schedule and automate posts for multiple platforms
- Interact with the client for realtime feedback
- Best for websites and simple marketing
- Free to use
- Tracks sources of web traffic, conversion rates, and time spent on sites
- All-in-one solution for websites, email, and more
- Integrates tools from other programs
- Measures marketing ROI
- Best for SEO
- Helps improve search rankings
- Compares rankings with competitors
- Marketing automation program
- Owned by Adobe
- Uses AI to predict target audiences and segments
- Facilitates personalized, multichannel campaigns
- Best for cross-channel lead nurturing
- Email, social media, ads, and more
- Hub integrates data from various tools
- Ecommerce integrations
- A-B testing to refine marketing efforts
- Advanced reporting features to measure effectiveness
- Best for small businesses
- Marketing automation together with sales
- Email and e-commerce features
These are some of the best marketing software programs available in 2023 for businesses of all sizes and types. Having a marketing software program will take your CPG marketing to the next level and make it possible to maximize your efforts.
If you need help developing your CPG brand voice or marketing strategy, Hangar-12 provides resources for all your CPG marketing needs.