“What’s in my bag?” Digital Marketing Edition

Let’s take a look at what our specialists have in their bags. 

Cristina, The Keyword Finder

I never go anywhere without a good keyword finder! It helps me better understand the search queries for my product or client and build my content to rank as high as possible.

I currently use CognitiveSEO, a competent tool, which makes keyword research a breeze. I also love it because it can audit websites, analyze backlinks, and research competition. It is a bit pricey, but it has all the tools I need.

If I were to choose a more affordable version? I think I would choose maybe the Mangools keyword tool, Google suggestions, Google Search Console, or the freemium versions of Ahrefs or Semrush.

Rozina, The Writing Helper

My everyday tool is Grammarly. Yes, the hype is real! As a digital marketing professional, I often have to write content for websites, and this tool helps me save at least half the time I would spend spellchecking or remembering that smart-sounding synonym.

But my favorite feature is the AI writing suggestion: it analyzes the sentences and offers more confident, graceful, and concise alternatives. Everyone loves it when you express your point briefly and clearly, and that is what Grammarly can help me achieve.

If I didn’t have Grammarly? I would probably choose LanguageTool to help clean my writing (I love that “Picky Mode” tone-of-voice checker). I also like Hemingway App to make texts clearer and catchier, ProWritingAid for passive voice check, or PaperGen AI, a great assistant for long-form texts, with a special Text Humanizing feature.

Pro-tip? I sometimes use multiple tools at once to power up my writing. We even have a full guide if you want to try the same thing.

Andreea, The Performance Tracker

I’m always that digital marketing girl who likes to track the success and performance of our work, so I analyze traffic data, user behavior, and conversion paths to help plan further strategies and marketing decisions. It’s all about making sure every click counts.

For that, I am a fan of Google Analytics forever, especially GA4! This tool gives me a clear picture of how users interact with a site across platforms. It’s flexible, powerful, and integrates easily with other tools like Google Ads and Tag Manager.

If I were to use other tools for performance tracking and optimization? Maybe Adobe Analytics, which is fit for large enterprises, or Hotjar, perfect for understanding what users do on a page.

Lorena, The Brand Listener

I always start my research with a new client by checking their status among competitors, as well as assessing the brand sentiment. It is extremely important to position your brand in the most fitting light to rank as high as possible.

My favorite tool for brand monitoring and listening is HubSpot, because it has a large range of free features, but it is also very reliable. But I also use Social Mentions and Google Alerts to find if my brand was mentioned on social media or in other articles.

For more complex brands, I sometimes use Determ AI, a sentiment analysis tool with AI capabilities, that saves me almost 20 hours of data analysis time per week. And if we were to be talking about the powerhouse of social listening, that would be SproutSocial.

Eliza, The Email Marketing Champion

I am your friendly neighborhood digital marketing specialist for email campaigns! Whether it is a periodical newsletter or a cold outreach program, I love a simple, visual tool that allows me to customize my emails without coding.

My favorite tool for emailing campaigns is MailerLite, since it offers many of the features I need in a comfortable pricing range, including a drag-and-drop emailer composer to make my emails look professional, catchy, and easy to read. SendGrid is also a powerful tool for campaigns, especially if you have a developer friend. I also recommend MailChimp if you must appeal to a larger database. Read more details here!

For cold outreach, the most reliable tools I have used are Lemlist and Apollo. Lemlist excels at email personalization (especially the AI ice-breaker generator), while Apollo has a stronger lead generation filter. They both feature extensive automation options and reporting tools.

And sometimes, when you need a little boost in writing, my best friend is Write for me by ChatGPT, a ready-to-use program with a talented “pen”.

Anca, The Ad Expert 

As a specialist in social media marketing, my go-to programs for ad campaigns are… surprise! Meta Ads Manager and Google Ads Manager. Together, they cover the full spectrum of online advertising.

These are the frameworks, but I also use two amazing tools that help me generate engagement, traffic, and even revenue in a few minutes. Creatopy, for instance, can generate several types of ad-sized images, thus saving me many hours designing. I also use Poppy AI sometimes to repurpose long-form content into short posts, ads, and to generate ideas for related content.

P.S. Depending on the platform you are using to display your ads, you can also use LinkedIn Ads for B2B clients, TikTok Ads, or Pinterest Ads.

Bonus: Which AI tool to use?

Our team has already named a few AI-based tools among their favorites, after having tried several options. In the end, the most useful AI-powered program is meant to increase efficiency by shortening work time, creating higher engagement, and being budget-friendly.

We recommend a more in-depth discussion on this topic in our article: What AI really means for digital marketers.

Wrapping up: The best tool for your activity

There’s no universal solution when it comes to digital marketing tools; the best one depends entirely on your role, goals, and budget. Whether you're focused on search engines, email outreach, or social media marketing, your digital toolkit should reflect your strategy.

And remember, any tool is an asset as long as it provides efficiency, can create engagement, and generate ROI. Analyze which one fits your brand’s needs and KPIs, and of course, budget.