One of the secrets to success for any marketing agency is the right technology.

When they get together, marketers love to talk about their tech stack and all the tools that work together to deliver their results. There’s no end to specialized software tools for marketers, and it’s essential to have the right one for the job at hand.

Although more and more developers claim an “all in one” experience for marketers, most experienced pros have their own hand-curated selection of preferred tools. This can lead to higher licensing fees but gives a marketing team granular control over their workflow.

When you hire your own Central Florida marketing agency, they bring all their tools to the table at no extra cost to you – not to mention the value of all those years learning the ins and outs of each one.

Of course, there’s lots of software out there that promise the moon. Of all the dozens of new apps that come out every year, it’s tough to know which ones are worth learning and sticking with. But there are a few that have proven their mettle time and time again over the years.

In the world of marketing technology, the big-name brands everyone has heard of aren’t always the best fit. Likewise, the most expensive alternative on the market isn’t always the winner. It’s critical to look beyond the hype until you have proven results you can compare between solutions.

After years of refining our process, there are some apps we at New York Ave always go to first. Yes, we can do without them – just like you can journey through the woods without following the beaten path.

But they are effective, intuitive, reliable, and just like that path, they keep you from getting lost. So, if you’re considering doing a little marketing of your own in-house, start with these three powerful tools:

1. Trello

Marketing isn’t “just” about marketing – it’s also about project management. Imagine you’re getting started in blog writing. You need a writer, to start. But you also need a defined project calendar, a designer, potentially a separate researcher or proofreader, and someone to oversee the process …

When what seems simple starts to get complicated, you want a project management solution to keep all the moving parts trucking along. That’s where Trello comes in: It’s all about making collaboration easier by raising visibility between all the different members of your team.

Trello takes the form of a “board” that represents one project. Boards are customized using “cards,” which hold just about any kind of information. Those cards are the main asset for managing, tracking, and sharing individual tasks. They interact with “lists“ that keep efforts on track.

This slick system gives you the building blocks for the project management style that works for you, whether it’s simple or sophisticated. It only takes a few minutes to learn, and it’s designed to be highly visual – so your team really can see what’s new and what matters most “at a glance.”

Some of the top Trello features include:

• Codeless automation that reduces tedious tasks and redundant clicking around
• Full integration with popular productivity apps like G Suite, Slack, and Dropbox
• Completely customizable collaboration that helps people work together
• Unbelievable pricing (which starts at $0 and peaks at $17.50 per user per month)

If you have more than two people working on a project, you need Trello. Its free plan means the barriers to entry are as low as can be. It only takes a few days to know whether Trello is right for you – you’ll see it in faster, more streamlined projects that get done right the first time.

2. Buffer

Let’s face it: The world of social media is nuts. One of the biggest risks, when Central Florida business owners set out to do their own marketing, is that they’ll spend hours scrolling through a social media feed without much to show for it. And the number of platforms is increasing every month.

Social media can connect you with thousands of ready customers right in your own neighborhood. It can also cost you whole days of productivity. To get more of Option A and less of Option B, you need Buffer. It is hands down the best social media automation app available today.

With Buffer, you can pull together all your efforts across a diverse list of today’s most impactful social media platforms. The scheduling interface for posts is the most crisp we’ve ever seen, allowing you to see exactly what’s planned for each platform on a visual timeline oriented around your audience.

Buffer has features that help you take advantage of today’s two hottest social platforms, Instagram and TikTok. TikTok marketing has never been easier with the reminders that help launch your Stories at the right moment. And the Instagram integration supercharges e-commerce and commenting.

But our favorite perk of Buffer is its engagement features.

Whenever you get a comment on a Buffer-connected account, you can respond right away from a single, unified interface. It’s super simple to monitor brand mentions, hashtags, and other signals that tell you when you need to be part of a trending conversation.

Since you won’t be logging into social websites individually to take advantage of their analytics, Buffer centralizes all the relevant data for you. It only takes a few minutes a day to understand which content is resonating with your audience, so you can focus your attention on what works best.

3. Mailchimp

Email marketing is known far and wide for its excellent ROI.

But lots of Central Florida business owners have been spooked about email. With all the new rules and regulations – from California and as far away as Brussels – they wonder if they’re going to get burned.

And who wants to write all those emails, anyway? (Well, we do … but we’re outliers.)

Mailchimp takes the mystery out of email marketing and makes it fun again. And, yes, it should be fun: The bigger your mailing list, the more enjoyable when you send an offer and get a 10% response rate.

Not only does Mailchimp ensure compliance with email marketing laws, it works hard to keep your messages out of the spam folder. With its attractive templates, you can develop amazing emails in minutes. Automation ensures audiences get consistent experiences based on their interests.

With a suite of sleek tools, Mailchimp will get you up and running in no time at all. If you want to go deep, you can create email chains that respond to all kinds of important events, like shopping cart abandonment or reading particular pages on your website.

(Or you can hire a Central Florida marketing agency to set it all up for you.)

With the right technology, marketing can be a blast, even when you’re new. But you’re not here to pick up a hobby: You want results. Contact New York Ave to learn how we can get you off to a running start.