Must-Have Tools for Industrial Marketing Analytics
You’ve got your industrial marketing strategy ready to execute- sweet! Being prepared to take your field by storm is an awesome first step toward ensuring your success. However, once your industrial marketing strategy has been put into action, what are you going to do to evaluate its performance? How will you know when to stick to your guns and when pivoting your approach may be the smarter move?
To keep track of the success of your industrial marketing efforts, you’re going to need the right tools for the job. Today we’ve gathered a list of the most important analysis tools to keep in your industrial marketing arsenal, along with a few of our favorite examples.
Keyword & SEO Research Tools
On the MFG Tribe blog we’ve long touted the importance of on-page SEO, off-page SEO, and having a keyword strategy in place. When it comes to selecting the right keywords and evaluating the SERP ranking of your web pages, it’s critical to have the right keyword and SEO research tools. There are loads of paid and free options available on the web, each with their own pros and cons. Take a good look around to find the option that’s best for your needs. The following are some of our keyword and SEO research tools of choice.
Semrush
You know it, we love it- it’s Semrush. This platform has everything you need to perform in-depth keyword and SEO analysis wrapped up into one neat package. Users can track the performance of keyword targeting efforts, keep up with SERP rankings, compare rankings against competitors, and find new keywords with ease using the Keyword Magic tool. Semrush can be integrated with other useful tools that we’ll be covering later, like Google Analytics, to give users a bird’s eye view of how their SEO efforts are impacting web traffic and ultimately sales.
Ahrefs
Similar to Semrush, Ahrefs is an all-in-one SEO analysis tool that allows users to conduct research on their own pages and competitors’ domains as well. Some of Ahrefs’ standout features include thorough competitor analysis, detailed backlink data, and a user-friendly interface- but what really sets this research tool apart is its web crawling bot. Ahrefs claims to have the most active web indexing bot on today’s market, which gives it an edge over Semrush for those who prioritize having the latest data at any given moment.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Programs
For industrial businesses big and small, a customer relationship management tool (often shortened to just CRM) is a game changer for managing customers in all stages of your sales pipeline. In addition, CRM tools help measure the effectiveness of your industrial marketing efforts by providing metrics on which efforts are driving the most traffic and resulting in the most closed deals.
HubSpot
It should come as no surprise that we’re taking the chance to gush about our CRM tool of choice, HubSpot. HubSpot offers a comprehensive suite of tools for all things industrial marketing, sales, and customer service. It helps businesses attract leads, convert them into customers, and nurture ongoing relationships. HubSpot’s standout features include lead tracking, email marketing automation, and customizable reporting dashboards, so users can keep track of the metrics that matter most to them. With its user-friendly interface and extensive integrations, HubSpot empowers businesses of all sizes to manage their customer relationships effectively and drive growth.
SalesForce
Another leading CRM solution that we’re no stranger to is SalesForce. SalesForce is trusted by businesses worldwide for its scalability and customization options. It offers a wide range of features, including lead management, opportunity tracking, and sales forecasting. Salesforce’s standout factors include its robust analytics capabilities, advanced workflow automation, and AI-powered insights through Einstein Analytics. With its extensive ecosystem of third-party integrations and industry-specific solutions, Salesforce helps businesses streamline their sales processes and deliver exceptional customer experiences.
Kajabi
A lesser-known CRM tool that we like to use here at MFG Tribe is Kajabi. Kajabi is an all-in-one platform designed specifically for knowledge commerce, enabling users to create, market, and sell online courses, memberships, and digital products. While not traditionally categorized as a CRM, Kajabi includes CRM functionalities tailored to the needs of course creators and digital entrepreneurs. Its standout features include customizable pipelines, email marketing automation, and integrated payment processing. Kajabi’s user-friendly interface and focus on education-based businesses make it a popular choice for individuals and businesses looking to monetize their expertise and build sustainable online communities.
As your industrial marketing journey presses on, it’s important to keep an eye on which web pages of yours are getting the most attention and which ones can use a little love. Thankfully, it’s easy to get these insights with the right website traffic analytics tools. Both Google Analytics and HubSpot offer a valuable perspective into web traffic analytics, but they serve slightly different purposes and cater to different user needs.
Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a powerful web analytics tool offered by the Big G itself. Google Analytics, now often referred to as GA4 after the most recent update, provides detailed insights into website traffic and user behavior. It allows users to track various metrics, such as the number of visitors, page views, bounce rate, and average session duration. Google Analytics also offers advanced features, including goal tracking, e-commerce tracking, and event tracking, which enable businesses to measure the effectiveness of their online industrial marketing efforts. With its intuitive interface and extensive reporting capabilities, Google Analytics is a valuable tool for understanding audience engagement, optimizing website performance, and making data-driven decisions to improve overall online presence.
HubSpot
While HubSpot is known primarily as a CRM platform, it also offers robust tools for tracking web traffic analytics through its Marketing Hub. HubSpot’s analytics tools provide insights into website traffic sources, visitor behavior, and conversion metrics. Users can track key performance indicators (KPIs) such as website visits, landing page performance, and lead generation effectiveness. One advantage of using HubSpot as a web analytics tool is its ability to integrate seamlessly with other HubSpot tools for lead nurturing and industrial marketing automation, as well as its customizable reporting dashboards that allow users to monitor and analyze metrics specific to their business goals. HubSpot’s user-friendly interface and comprehensive analytics make it a valuable tool for businesses looking to optimize their industrial marketing efforts and drive results.
Most industrial companies think that email marketing is dead, but the truth is that it’s just really easy to suck at it without the right tools. Especially in industrial marketing, email outreach is something of an art form and something of a science- you have to do a lot of experimenting to find out what works best for your target audience. These email outreach tools are ideal for keeping your best and worst emails organized, so you have the data to prove what works and what doesn’t.
HubSpot
Our CRM of choice for industrial marketing is making its third appearance on today’s list and for good reason. HubSpot’s aforementioned Marketing Hub includes robust email marketing features that enable users to create, send, and analyze email campaigns effectively. Users can design visually appealing emails using customizable templates and personalization tokens to tailor messages to specific segments of their audience. HubSpot’s email marketing tools also include features such as A/B testing, email automation, and detailed performance analytics. Integration with the HubSpot CRM allows for seamless lead nurturing and tracking of email engagement throughout the customer journey.
Apollo.io
Apollo.io is a comprehensive sales engagement platform, but here at MFG Tribe, we find ourselves most often utilizing its email marketing capabilities. With Apollo.io’s email marketing features, users can create, personalize, and automate email campaigns to engage prospects and nurture leads effectively. The platform provides intuitive email campaign builders, customizable templates, and advanced segmentation options to target specific audience segments with relevant messaging. Apollo.io also offers email tracking, follow-up automation, and performance analytics to measure the effectiveness of email campaigns and optimize engagement rates. Integration with CRM systems and sales tools ensures seamless coordination between email marketing efforts and sales activities, enabling users to drive results throughout the customer journey.
Simpli.fi
Not unlike Apollo.io, Simpli.fi is a digital advertising platform that we most often use for its targeted email marketing capabilities. With Simpli.fi’s email marketing tools, users can create, send, and track highly personalized email campaigns tailored to specific audience segments. Simpli.fi’s email marketing features include customizable templates, campaign scheduling, and detailed performance analytics, allowing users to measure the effectiveness of their email campaigns and optimize results. Integration with Simpli.fi’s programmatic advertising platform enables coordinated multichannel industrial marketing campaigns across various digital channels, maximizing reach and engagement with target audiences. And speaking of that…
Some games are pay-to-win, and in the case of industrial marketing, there’s no reason to shy away from paid ads if you’ve got the budget for them. Like email marketing, there’s a lot of trial and error involved in finding what works, so it’s important to be able to track the performance of any and all ad campaigns. There are a lot of advertising channels out there with their own built-in analytics tools, like these.
Google Ads
With Google Ads, advertisers can target specific keywords, audiences, demographics, and geographic locations to reach potential customers across Google’s vast network of search results, websites, and apps. The platform provides detailed analytics and reporting tools to track ad performance metrics such as impressions, clicks, conversions, and return on investment (ROI), enabling advertisers to measure the effectiveness of their campaigns and make data-driven decisions to optimize results.
LinkedIn Campaign Manager
LinkedIn Campaign Manager is a powerful advertising platform that enables businesses to run targeted ads on LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network. With LinkedIn Campaign Manager, advertisers can create sponsored content, sponsored InMail messages, and text ads to reach LinkedIn’s professional audience based on criteria such as job title, industry, company size, and more. The platform offers robust analytics and reporting features to track ad performance metrics such as clicks, impressions, engagement, and lead generation, helping advertisers measure the impact of their campaigns and refine their targeting strategies to achieve their advertising goals.
Meta Business Suite
Meta Business Suite is a comprehensive advertising platform that allows businesses to create, manage, and analyze ads across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Audience Network and Meta’s most recently released app, Threads. With Meta Business Suite, advertisers can run various ad formats, including image ads, video ads, carousel ads, and more, to reach targeted audiences based on demographics, interests, behaviors, and connections. The platform provides detailed insights and analytics to track ad performance metrics such as reach, engagement, conversions, and ad spend, enabling advertisers to optimize their campaigns and drive business results across Meta’s family of apps and services.
Honorable Mention: Geofencing
Not so much a tool but still incredibly important is the practice of geofencing. Geofencing is a location-based advertising technique that allows businesses to target potential customers within a specific geographic area. Using GPS or RFID technology, geofencing enables advertisers to create virtual boundaries around physical locations such as stores, events, or neighborhoods and deliver targeted ads to mobile devices or other connected devices within those boundaries. Advertisers can then track and analyze metrics such as impressions, clicks, and conversions to measure the effectiveness of geofencing campaigns and optimize their advertising strategies for maximum impact.
Marketing Performance Reporting Tools
Now that you’ve got all of this industrial marketing data, you might feel like you’re drowning in a sea of metrics and trends. To keep your industrial marketing analytics organized you’re going to need a performance reporting tool. If you ask us, there’s only one program for the job:
AgencyAnalytics
AgencyAnalytics is THE versatile performance reporting platform for keeping your industrial marketing analytics in one place. It consolidates data from various industrial marketing channels into customizable dashboards and reports, enabling users to track key metrics, monitor campaign progress, and demonstrate ROI to clients effortlessly. With integrations with tools like Google Analytics, HubSpot, Google Ads, LinkedIn Ad Manager, and Meta Business Suite, AgencyAnalytics provides a comprehensive overview of campaign performance in a single, branded interface. Its automated reporting and client portal features streamline communication and foster transparency between agencies and clients, making it a valuable asset for agencies looking to showcase their results and drive success.
