Software and Resources We Use and Recommend

08 Nov Software and Resources We Use and Recommend

In today’s fast-paced digital world, marketing professionals need to stay ahead of the curve with the right tools and software to meet their ever-evolving needs. At Emerge Marketing Solutions, we understand the significance of having a robust tech stack to streamline our operations, enhance creativity, and deliver results for our clients. In this blog post, we will walk you through the essential software tools we use and highly recommend in different categories.

Digital Tools

1. WordPress: Our go-to platform for building and managing websites. It offers flexibility, ease of use, and a wide range of themes and plugins to create a customized online presence for our clients.
2. Poll Everywhere: A fantastic tool for engaging audiences during presentations, webinars, and live events. We use it to gather real-time feedback and opinions, enhancing interactivity and communication.
3. JotForm: A versatile form builder that simplifies data collection, lead generation, and feedback gathering. Its user-friendly interface allows us to create custom forms quickly. Lots of our clients implement JotForm!
4. Meta Business Suite: An essential for managing social media accounts effectively. It helps schedule posts, analyze engagement, and optimize content strategy for our clients. Another tool we use almost daily.
5. InfluenceKit: This tool is invaluable for tracking influencer marketing campaigns and measuring their impact. It provides insightful analytics to help us make data-driven decisions. We use it to measure analytics on social campaigns for ourselves and our clients.
6. Localhood: A great new tool that helps us connect with local communities and manage local marketing efforts for our clients. It’s particularly useful for businesses looking to strengthen their local presence. Great for tourism and economic development!
7. QR Code Generator Pro: An efficient way to create QR codes for marketing materials. QR codes have become essential for contactless information sharing, and this tool simplifies the process. The paid version is great because you can track how many scans the code receives.

eCommerce

1. Faire.com: A wholesale marketplace connecting retailers with unique products. We recommend it to clients looking for a variety of high-quality merchandise. Check out our store on Faire! 
2. Etsy.com: A popular platform for artisans and small businesses to sell their unique products. It’s great for clients in the handmade and vintage niche. Check out our Etsy store! 
3. ShopIowa.com: A local eCommerce platform that allows clients to tap into their local customer base. It’s ideal for businesses looking to boost their regional sales. Check out our Shop Iowa store! 
4. JotForm: As mentioned earlier, JotForm’s flexibility makes it a versatile tool for collecting customer information and processing orders.

Productivity

1. Microsoft 365 (especially Microsoft Teams): Microsoft’s comprehensive suite for productivity and collaboration. Microsoft Teams is our choice for efficient team communication and project management.
2. Asana: A project management tool that helps us streamline tasks, manage deadlines, and improve team coordination. Highly recommend!!!
3. Quickbooks: A reliable accounting software for managing finances, creating invoices, and tracking expenses. It simplifies financial management for both us and our clients.
4. Quickbooks Time: A time tracking tool that helps us manage billable hours and ensure accurate client billing.
5. Chat GPT: We just recently dove into this new world of AI and have been using this AI-powered tool to help with sparking creative ideas and content creation.
6. Mosyle: A mobile device management solution for efficient device and app management, which is especially useful for our team’s mobile devices.
7. Google Docs, Sheets, & Forms: Google’s suite of office productivity tools, which we use for collaborative document editing and data analysis. We love how everyone can be on and editing a document at the same time!

Creativity

1. Adobe Creative Suite: The industry standard for creative professionals. We use Adobe’s software to design and create visually stunning content. A must-have for designers and creatives!
2. Shutterstock: A vast library of high-quality images and graphics for use in marketing materials.
3. Unsplash: High-quality, free stock images. We like the aesthetic of these images since they are from real, professional photographers.
4. Canva: Although we would use and recommend Indesign or Illustrator before Canva, we recommend Canva to clients who want to easily execute their brand identity on their own. It offers user-friendly design tools and brand management.
5. AVR Pro: An audio recording tool that allows us to create compelling radio ads and videos for our clients.

Storage

1. OneDrive: Included in a Microsoft Office subscription, it provides cloud storage and easy file sharing with seamless integration.
2. Apple iCloud: Ideal for Apple users, it offers easy syncing across all devices and ensures that important files are accessible from anywhere.
3. Dropbox: A robust cloud storage platform which we recommend for clients who need to collaborate on files but can’t all edit the same file simultaneously like in the Google suite.

Financial

1. Quickbooks Go Payment: A mobile payment solution that simplifies payment processing for businesses on the go.
2. Capital One: A trusted bank for business and personal financial needs.
3. Apple Pay: A convenient payment method for Apple users, enabling seamless transactions.
4. Venmo and PayPal: Widely used for secure online payments. We recommend these platforms to clients for their convenience and reliability.

Having the right tools in your arsenal is essential for success in the world of marketing. Here at Emerge, we’ve carefully selected and tested these software tools to improve our efficiency, enhance creativity, improve communication and collaboration as a team, and deliver top-notch results for our clients. Whether you’re looking to enhance your digital marketing efforts, streamline your eCommerce operations, boost productivity, or get creative, this comprehensive list of recommended software will help you achieve your goals. Keep these tools in mind as you continue to grow your business and marketing strategies.

What would you add to the list?