It doesn't take a business genius to inform you that executing dozens of redundant micro-tasks is a waste of precious time and money. The less time you can spend on mechanical tasks, the more time you can spend on creating content, analyzing data, and maximizing ROI. Of course ROI is typically applied to money, but there's no reason it can't also be considered as a time metric.
In fact, our entire business model hinges on that very point - that business owners are better off spending their time on high level activities rather than mechanistic tasks like bookkeeping. And you know what? In the past 3 years that philosophy has gotten our clients pretty damn far.
Here are 23 automation tools that can help cut your workload and make you more efficient.
1. SEO Meta in 1 Click: SEO Marketing Automation
Once you install the browser extension 'SEO Meta in 1 Click', you can get all of the meta information you want from a page. As pictured above, the extension will tell you what's wrong with your post in an abrasive red ink. Headers, images, links, social media, tools - this extension checks it all within seconds, saving you lots - and we mean lots of time. Whether you want to scope out the competition, or you'd like to know how to improve your own posts, 'SEO Meta in 1 Click' takes all the pain of analyzing headings, images, links and other meta data.
2. Buffer: Social Media Marketing Automation
Unlike the red button in Agent Kay's car (Men in Black) that you're never supposed to touch because of the chaos that will ensue - the "Buffer Button" creates a seamless automated experience. With the exception of Snapchat and Instagram, you can send your content to almost of the major social networks with a couple of clicks.
3. Convert Kit: Email Marketing Automation
Convert Kit is all about customizing your communication from the convenience of a single dashboard. There are dozens of optimization tools i.e. email targeting for non-opens ( a quick hack for more open rates), easy email scheduling, smart AI that knows when you have duplicate contacts (and actually treats them as such). You can also add tags to site visitors see how they interact-giving you the optimal info for retargeting purposes. All of these options combine for an automated email marketing experience that is intuitive and robust.
4. Automate Ads: Digital Advertising Automation
Anyone who works in digital advertising knows how annoying it is to switch between dashboards, passwords, and account usernames. Automate Ads fix this by providing a one stop hub where you can combine all of your ad accounts into single place.
With this tool you can automate ads, get custom reporting, and receive automated attribution tracking. The last feature (automated attribution tracking) is especially helpful, as it analyzes what visitors do once they get to your site, and uses this data to optimize your campaigns.
5. Google Analytics: Data Automation
Google Analytics is probably the most essential and widely used data source out there, and for good reason - it's freaking Google. Google is where 64% of online searches happen and most likely where the majority of your traffic comes from. This tool automates all of your search engine traffic giving you insights into traffic funnels, referrals (the sites where people found you), search engine queries, and demographic information. Best of all? It's free.
Marketing Automation Pro Tip
Exclude your IP address from the results as to not have your own company's activities be confused for organic results.
6. SumoMe: Automated CTA Pop-Ups
SumoMe is one of our favorite new marketing tools. After you download the extension and integrate it with your website, you'll be able to make beautiful "Welcome Mats" and elegant pop-ups for your visitors within minutes. The best part? You can customize it so that pop-ups only appear on certain pages, and as much or as little as you want. This means you don't have to ping people over and over again... well, unless you want to (but we definitely don't recommend that).
SumoMe has both a free and paid-for version. The paid version will give you lots of customization options including your own images, videos, and custom calls to action.
Marketing Automation Pro Tip
A/B test different color schemes, background images, fonts, and text to see what performs best.
7. Colorpick Eyedropper: Design Automation
The Chrome Extension ColorPick Eyedropper lets you hover over images to determine the exact color being used. This is extremely helpful when you feel inspired by images/fonts you see others using or when you want to keep your content succinct and need to reference previous works for color schemes.
8. Slack: Automated Communication + Applications
Virtual Chat has been around for a long time. From AOL Instant Messenger to Skype, the product has seen its fair share of evolution. But none of them approach the robust nature of Slack. Slack has dozens of apps that can be integrated into your chat, providing everything from metrics, bots, polling, marketing assistance, social media share options, project management tools, and even silly/fun integrations like Giphy.
It's quick, it's fun, it's got a suite of automated tools and most importantly - it improves communication in the office.
Marketing Automation Pro Tip
Set up lots of chatrooms for different purposes as well as one company-wide chat. This will allow teams to work on projects without clogging up the main line of communication.
9. Hootsuite: Social Media Marketing Automation
Hootsuite is a suite of social media tools that gives you many time-saving options from a central hub. Share content, schedule posts, track mentions, see your stats, add team member profiles, and tap into their integrated app directory.
10. Sharethrough: Headline Automation
Creating headlines that engage is a science. Sharethrough hopes to take away the pains of scientific investigation by grading your headlines much like a school teacher would. Simply type in a proposed title, and watch as Sharethrough tells you your strong points and weaknesses.
Marketing Automation Pro Tip
After you receive suggestions, play around with different variations to see what works best.
11. Hashtagify: Hashtag Automation
As you can see in the image above, when we typed in the word "food" - Hashtagify generated 10 suggested hashtags for us to use - the bigger they appear, the more popular the hashtag.
When not being used for branding, hashtags serve as a great vehicle for people to organically find your content. Why waste your time creating dozens of variations and randomly guessing which hashtags are the most popular when Hashtagify does all of this for you?
12. InfusionSoft: Automated Customer Management
Infusionsoft is one of the biggest player's in the CRM space (not to mention they have a really cool office). There's a lot to consider when it comes to managing leads and customers. Small missteps can cause big ripples like the loss of current and future clients, but Infusionsoft rectifies this by helping you improve conversion rates and create a more "seamless sales process." Including Infusionsoft in your workflow will allow you to spend less time on research and more time reacting to customer's needs.
13. Booker: Scheduling Automation
Booker is a scheduling software that does more than act as a calendar. Booker takes scheduling to the next level by creating an ecosystem for repeat customers by "filling slow days" and "locking in repeat customers". Booker comes mobile-ready and integrates with sites like Yelp so people can book appointments without having to directly visit your site. Booker is a solid tool for service type business looking to achieve a higher level of coordination with prospects.
14. Narrow: Twitter Marketing Automation
There are a lot of spammy and low quality apps that promise to "grow your following" - but many of them require lot's of time and money with poor results. Narrow is the real deal. Narrow automates the process, working on its own to free up time so can focus on other projects. One of its biggest advantages is its targeting features, simply create a list of words that fit your vertical and start targeting those within your niche. Narrow also has an automated follow/unfollow function allowing you to weed out those who unfollow you.
Marketing Automation Pro Tip
Check your stats often and abandon keywords that aren't performing. Experiment by targeting both bios and tweets.
15. Colour Hunt: Design Automation
Why stress over color schemes and website templates when it's already been done for you? Color Hunt provides dozens of elegant upbeat color palettes so that when you're formatting your site or trying to pick fonts that jive - you don't have to waste your time testing thousands of color options.
Want to know what resonates with people? Take a look at the amount of likes, or the what's "hot" section.
16. Unfollow: Social Media Automation
Simple, helpful, easy to use. Unfollow is a phone app useful for one reason - unfollowing those who aren't following you back. It sounds rather petty right? Maybe, but the truth is people like to be part of something. Most people don't want to follow someone who only has one follower, they want to feel validated in their decision to follow someone else. It might sound cyclical but followers breed followers. Ask most people who have grown a large following - the first few thousand are their hardest to get.
17. Evernote: Automated Note Taking
Evernote is a tool we at the Bookly marketing team can most definitely vouch for. This widely used application is a wonderful platform for marketers to organize articles, ideas, and reminders. The best part? It syncs automatically and can be accessed from any computer from anywhere.
Can't access a computer? Don't worry, there's an app for that. Just whip out your phone and take notes on the go. Too lazy to use type something? Take a voice note and sync it to your Evernote.
18. Stringify: Workflow Automation
Stringify is a platform that helps you create workflows by connecting tools and apps in ways that hopefully save you time, money, and energy. Stringify has a little bit of a learning curve, but it has a lot of potential - their website also suggests flows for you to help you get ideas.
19. Google Alerts: Research Automation
Utilizing Google Alerts is like having an automated research assistant. Google Alerts can help you stay apprised of any topic you wish. Want to know what people are saying about your business? Your competitor's business? Need to stay up to the minute on certain news bits, or happenings so you can make informed decisions or create relevant content? Simply type in the phrases or topics of your choice, and Google will send you an email whenever any news about the topic pops up.
Marketing Automation Pro Tip
Google Alerts is not always 100% full proof. If a certain topic is extremely important, you might considering using some other similar programs in conjunction with Google Alerts to make sure you don't miss anything.
20. Grow: Custom Data Automation
Data, data, data. It's how Google makes their billions, and how companies stay on top of trends. Wouldn't it be nice if you could combine data from all areas of work into a single place? To make custom charts and graphs with metrics you define? That's exactly what Grow dashboard let's you do.
In fact, from time to time we put the dashboard on a big screen TV for the whole office to see while we work. Not only does this keep everyone informed, it helps to keep us motivated.
21. Davinci Virtual: Customer Response Automation
This unique business lets you automate your receptionist services so you can give off a professional image, have your calls rerouted, and screen unwanted calls. For those who prefer web-based communication, the same service is available for live web chat services.
22. BuzzSumo: Marketing research Automation
What an incredible tool. BuzzSumo is in essence a search engine for bloggers, content marketers, and SEO specialists. Simply type in a topic, and see which articles have performed the best in the past year. You can even search for your own articles and see who is sharing your content, and on which platforms.
Marketing Automation Pro Tip
Get inspired by articles that are performing well in your niche, study them hard and see if you can't improve upon them.
23. MarkMaker: Graphic Design Automation
When you're a lean startup, you need to cut costs wherever you can. Admittedly a logo might not be the most intuitive place to cut costs - after all, it's the thing that will serve as the face of your company in many ways. But MarkMaker might be just the tool to convince you otherwise, and for one reason - choice. The genius behind this marketing tool is the sheer volume of options it provides, giving you dozens of unique options to choose from.
This post originally appeared on the Bookly.co Blog.