In the modern digital marketing landscape, there are countless tech tools and top digital marketing platforms you can use to reach your advertising goals.
It’s not always easy to choose the best ones, so we asked eight entrepreneurs to weigh in on the following question:
What is your favorite digital marketing platform, and why?
Let’s explore!
But First: What Are Digital Marketing Platforms?
Digital marketing platforms are tools and technologies used for promoting products, services, and brands through digital channels.
These platforms enable businesses to reach and engage with their target audience using various online and electronic methods.
Here’s a brief overview:
- Social Media Platforms: Websites and applications like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest where businesses can create content, engage with users, and run targeted advertising campaigns.
- Search Engines: Platforms like Google and Bing where businesses can use search engine optimization (SEO) to improve their visibility in organic search results or use search engine marketing (SEM) for paid advertising.
- Email Marketing Tools: Services like Mailchimp, Constant Contact, and Sendinblue that allow businesses to create, send, and track email campaigns to a list of subscribers.
- Content Management Systems (CMS): Platforms like WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal that help in creating and managing digital content, often used for blogging and website content.
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems: Tools like Salesforce, HubSpot, and Zoho CRM that help businesses manage customer interactions and data throughout the customer lifecycle.
- Analytics Tools: Services like Google Analytics and Adobe Analytics that provide insights into website traffic, user behavior, and campaign performance.
- Advertising Platforms: Online platforms like Google Ads, Facebook Ads Manager, and LinkedIn Advertising for creating and managing digital advertising campaigns.
- Affiliate Marketing Networks: Platforms that connect businesses with affiliate marketers who promote products or services in exchange for a commission, such as Amazon Associates or ClickBank.
- Influencer Marketing Platforms: Tools that help brands connect with influencers for promotional activities, like AspireIQ or Upfluence.
- Video Platforms: Sites like YouTube and Vimeo where businesses can create and share video content, often used for advertising, tutorials, or brand storytelling.
Each of these platforms offers unique features and benefits, and they are often used in combination to create a comprehensive digital marketing strategy.
Let’s discover what the 8 entrepreneurs we’ve interviewed think about choosing your go-to top marketing platform:
1. Facebook – A Leader Among Digital Marketing Platforms
As a digital marketing expert, I have been using Facebook advertising for my clients’ businesses for several years. I always go back to Facebook because the platform has very granular targeting to find your ideal target market.
No other marketing platform allows for such in-depth capabilities as Facebook.
Plus, Facebook is constantly making improvements to have a better user experience. – Jean Ginzburg, Ginball Digital Marketing
2. LinkedIn – Tailored for B2B Advertising
I like LinkedIn for B2B advertising because you can customize the ad and make it highly targeted to a buyer persona.
What makes LinkedIn unique is that you can target the ad to people’s professions instead of simply what they like on Facebook.
This helps B2B companies stay top of mind to the executives they are aiming to target. – Jared Atchison, WPForms
3. Quora – Top-of-the-Funnel Lead Generation
We have received a high volume of qualified leads through Quora as they tend to be great, top-of-the-funnel leads at a great price.
When combined with remarketing through Facebook and Google, it’s a great way to fill the top of the funnel with inexpensive leads, and then push them down the funnel through remarketing. – Marcela De Vivo, Mulligan Funding
4. Google Ads – Ubiquitous Among Digital Marketing Platforms
Google Ads is ubiquitous. There’s no way to get serious about digital advertising without going through Google Ads and many of the lessons you learn from running a tight Ads campaign will serve you well on other digital advertising platforms. – Tim Chaves, ZipBooks Accounting Software
5. The Google Ecosystem – Unified Audience Targeting
The reporting and attribution integrations make Google’s advertising products second to none.
Many platforms don’t play well together for attribution.
Google has unified audience targeting across their stack of products from search display to video, so you can understand every customer touch-point and apply the different tactics within the platform. – Dan Golden, BFO (Be Found Online)
6. ShareASale – Empowering Affiliate Marketing
Creating an affiliate program on the ShareASale platform has been one of my favorite ways of advertising.
Bloggers and content creators can then make a commission from the sale of my products, motivating them to write about my products and recommend them to their readers. – Syed Balkhi, OptinMonster
7. Instagram – The Platform for Influencer Marketing
Instagram has made its way to be the best advertising platform for sales.
It’s all about influence and marketing. If you know who your audience is and there is a product/market fit, then Instagram will help you target that audience and increase your engagement, unlike any other platform.
The other platforms require huge ad budgets and give you very little in return. – Sweta Patel, Silicon Valley Startup Marketing
8. Content Marketing – A Slow Burn to Success
Content marketing has a slow, slow burn.
Over time though, it can become the most valuable lead gen source out of any of your marketing mix.
All of your content pieces, from case studies to white papers, build up into a snowball of traffic and leads that continues to perform week over week, month over month, year over year.
Good content is at every level of a well-crafted marketing funnel. – Justin Cooke, Empire Flippers
Evaluating the Impact of Digital Marketing Platforms
After exploring the best digital marketing platforms of various entrepreneurs, it’s essential for businesses to understand how to evaluate the impact of these platforms on their advertising goals.
In the dynamic world of online advertising, picking the right digital marketing platforms is key to hitting business goals. A close look at each platform’s effect can help businesses make smart choices, making sure every dollar spent adds to growth and visibility.
Here are some main points to think about:
Return on Investment (ROI)
Checking the return on investment (ROI) is vital to see how well a platform is doing financially. By looking at the money made versus the cost of ads, businesses can see which platforms give the best value.
This also helps in moving budgets around to get more profits and spend less.
Audience Engagement
How much the audience interacts is a clear sign of a platform’s power to grab and keep user attention. High levels of likes, shares, comments, and clicks mean a strong connection with the audience.
Looking at these numbers lets businesses understand what users like, helping them make better content and ads.
Customization Options
Being able to customize ads to target specific groups is key.
Digital marketing platforms that let advertisers create more relevant and appealing content are top picks. Discovering how flexible and varied the ad options are is important for reaching the right people with the right message.
Integration Capabilities
Integration with other marketing tools adds to the usefulness of top digital marketing platforms.
Those that easily connect with CRM systems, analytics tools, email marketing services, and social media channels make for a smoother marketing approach.
Evaluating integration capabilities ensures the chosen platforms fit well with the overall marketing plan.
User Experience and Interface
A user-friendly experience and interface are essential for navigating and utilizing the platform well. Platforms that are easy to use and offer help contribute to a smoother advertising process.
Assessing the user experience helps avoid operational challenges and lets marketers focus more on strategy and creativity.
Data and Analytics
Having access to accurate and detailed data is key for monitoring how campaigns are doing and making data-driven decisions. Platforms that offer detailed insights help marketers see how effective their strategies are and where they can do better.
Ultimately, by carefully evaluating digital marketing platforms based on these points, businesses can pick the ones that best fit their goals and needs.
This not only boosts online visibility and growth but also makes sure resources are used well, adding to the overall success of online advertising efforts.
Conclusion: Choosing the Best Digital Marketing Platforms
Selecting the top digital marketing platforms is about balancing personal success stories and closely evaluating at what each platform offers.
Entrepreneurs have shared the strong points of various platforms, but the final choice should match a business’s specific goals and needs.
By assessing things like ROI, audience engagement, customization, and integration, businesses can make the most of their online presence and make sure their advertising efforts are successful.
Choosing the online marketing platforms will lead to better visibility, efficient use of resources, and ongoing growth in the competitive online marketing world.