So, you have done market research, studied the target audience, and made a business plan. You probably already have a website! In other words, you are fully prepared to take your small business online. However, there's one crucial thing every small business owner should know before making that leap: how to choose the right software tools for online marketing.
You see, the internet is full of numerous applications for this and that. And if you're lost in online marketing software, even the best business plan won't save you.
Table of Contents
- Why the Abundance of Online Marketing Software Can Be a Problem for Small Businesses
- High Expenses
- Technical Complexity
- Integration Issues
- Why Choose an All-In-One Platform
- Conclusion
Why the Abundance of Online Marketing Software Can Be a Problem for Small Businesses
The world of online marketing is vast and diverse, filled with a range of software applications, each designed to handle different aspects of your digital strategy. From website building and email marketing to CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and chatbot creation, there are countless tools at your disposal. And this causes troubles.
High Expenses
Running a small business can be a bit tight on the budget sometimes, right? And now even more expenses — online marketing software. Some of these tools can really make you feel like you're digging deep into your pockets. Some applications come with monthly or annual fees, while others might charge per user or feature.
Imagine being a small bakery just starting out and wanting to reach more doughnut lovers. You find this awesome marketing software, but then it turns out it's a bit too pricey. And sometimes, you might end up paying for features you don't even need! It's like buying a fancy mixer with ten attachments when all you wanted was to whip some cream.
So, it's super important to find a tool that fits not just your needs but also your budget. After all, every cent counts when you're growing your business.
Technical Complexity
Online marketing software can sometimes feel a bit overwhelming. It's not just about installing the software but also about configuring, integrating, maintaining, and updating it. There may be compatibility issues — ensuring the software works well on different platforms and devices can be another hurdle. All this can be pretty time-consuming and challenging if you don't have a background in tech or tech-savvy guys on your team.
Plus, the world of online marketing is always evolving, with new trends and technologies popping up all the time. Keeping up with these changes can be a tough task for small businesses.
Integration Issues
Separately, we will discuss the integration of applications. With different vendors for different tools, you might find yourself caught up in vendor dependencies or conflicts. A vendor might not support integration with another vendor's tool, or they might charge extra fees for integration. This can limit your flexibility and control over your marketing software stack and make it harder to switch or upgrade tools.
Plus, marketing tools come with their own set of technical requirements, architectures, and protocols, which can make integration a bit tricky. Applications might not all speak the same data language. Different formats, standards, and quality can result in inconsistencies, duplicate entries, or even mistakes when you try to bring them together.
All these technical complexities can add to the cost and time of integration and increase the risk of failures or security issues. In the end, most likely, you will have to use third-party software called iPaaS (Integration Platform as a Service). And it's not cheap.
Why Choose an All-In-One Platform
All the problems described above associated with the use of software from different developers are solvable. No need to jump between different marketing applications — just start using the all-in-out marketing software platform. The coolest feature of such a solution is that all your tools are in one place. They are designed to seamlessly work together, so you don't need to mess with integration.
For example, our TruVISIBILITY Suite consists of several tools:
Chat — build chatbots of any complexity. You can build simple rule-based chatbots, hybrid AI-powered chatbots, and set up a live chat.
Messaging — automate welcome emails, abandoned cart emails, newsletters, promotional emails, and first emails in response to a customer's question or complaint.
Sites — create websites and landing pages. You can boost your website's functionality by adding a contact form, payment gateway, or even an SEO-friendly blog.
CRM — track and optimize every interaction and opportunity with every contact for pre- and post-sales activity.
Email — send private information through secure email. It supports compliance regulations in multiple industries and guidelines, such as HIPAA, CFPB, FINRA, and ESIGN.
Since all these applications are part of the TruVISIBILITY Suite, they are naturally related to each other. So it takes you just a couple of clicks to transfer data from one app to another. And at the same time, you can connect third-party applications thanks to API calls. Thus, thanks to the all-in-one marketing platform, you save yourself the trouble of choosing the right apps and dealing with technical complexities.
As for the cost, TruVISIBILITY offers you freemium pricing. It means that you get fully functional software and free monthly allotment. You can:
- Create a chatbot that can conduct up to 100 conversations per month
- Launch email blasts, start drip campaign, etc, with 1000 free emails sent monthly
- Send 1000 SMS texts per month
- Build 1 website, including a blog
- 1 GB of storage usage
- 1 SSL certificate
- Unlimited API usage
As your business grows, you only pay for what you use without any contract. Thus it is extremely affordable for small to medium businesses. You can adjust the number of conversations your chatbots can have, the number of emails and SMS that can be sent per month, the number of websites you can deploy, and the capacity of your cloud storage.
Conclusion
Well, let's sum up. The number one thing a small business owner should know before going online is not to overwhelm themselves with multiple software applications. Instead, opt for an all-in-one platform. It saves you the hassle of solving technical problems and saves you money. By choosing an easy-to-use, yet powerful all-in-one marketing platform, you can focus more on delivering quality products or services, ultimately leading to the growth and success of your business in the digital realm.
Register a freemium TruVISIBILITY account and get unlimited access to fully functional marketing software free of cost!
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