Imagine yourself coming home after a long day of work only to find your kitchen completely flooded. You run to the sink and quickly realize that you have no idea what the problem is. Time to call the plumber! Now, imagine that plumber shows up and the only thing in his tool bag is a screwdriver. You’d probably be pretty upset, right? That’s because you know that a screwdriver isn’t the right tool for a leaky pipe. Digital marketing is no different; without the right tool for the job you will not be able to accomplish your goals.

Choosing the right tool is essential for a company’s approach to creative marketing solutions. Without the right tools, you may overlook valuable information, miss out on new customers, or fail to recognize a new opportunity in your industry or business. So how do we choose the right tool for the job? Here are four things to consider when you ask yourself that question. 

1. What are my goals?

Goal creation is often the first step in any business decision. Why should choosing your tools be any different? Lets take a look at the plumber again. If his goal was to fix a pipe then he should have known that a screwdriver is not the best tool to achieve this goal. We know that a wrench is much more useful for this kind of problem. Obviously, we are not saying that screwdrivers are a useless tool. Our point is that different tools should be used for different tasks. If instead the goal were to install a door into a doorframe then a screwdriver would be the perfect tool to use. By laying out your goals, you are better able to decide which tool fits best.

2. Will these tools accomplish those goals?

Lets say the problem with the plumber wasn’t that he had one tool, but far too many! You watch him fix the sink, but feel frustrated as he wastes time digging into his bag, leaves tools all over your floor, and goes back and forth from your kitchen to his truck outside as he tries to find what he’s looking for. You feel upset because, though job gets done, the amount of time it took was much longer than what you were anticipating. The problem of having too many tools for a task is problematic in two ways.

First, having too many tools can make even simple tasks complicated. By having multiple software applications that have overlapping features, your employees may become overwhelmed with how much they are expected to understand. Software should be easy for your employees to learn, whether they’ve been with you for 20 years or 20 days. This will minimize the number of hours it takes to learn how to use the tools and maximize the number of hours they spend actually using them.

Second, any money that is used to buy tools for your company is money that could be used in areas that have a proven ROI. If you buy tools that are unneeded or overprice, you are essentially wasting money for your business. By buying tools only when you need them, you are ensuring that your company uses its resources efficiently.

By making sure you have the right number of tools you minimize your company’s spending and maximize its growth!

[Read About 8 Great Case Study Questions To Ask Yourself When Attracting Prospects]

3. How much is too much?

Do you know someone who has to have everything brand new? They buy the newest smartphone and the fastest computer only to play Angry Birds and browse the internet. If you’re anything like me, you probably get frustrated with this person. You might think to yourself, “why are you spending so much money when you don’t need to?” Some businesses are the same way. They spend too much money on the best software when they really don’t need to. We see the same two problems here as we did in the example above – unneeded upfront costs and wasted hours of employee training. Make sure the tools you’re considering will accomplish your goals, but won’t do more than you need them to. 

4. Do my tools work together?

One of the most frustrating things in business can be working on a team project. Maybe there is someone who works remotely and everything has to be accomplished online. For others, it may be that their available hours don’t mesh well with your schedule. Every company has a vested interest in minimizing the number of obstacles their employees encounter on a daily basis. By using software that integrates between users, a company is better able to track of the progress of their employees and employees are better able to focus on their work. GoogleDocs is a great example of integrated technology.

For many years, even just changing a text document could be very frustrating. One of the main ways people would update documents was through email. A frustrating experience when working with multiple people who make multiple revisions. Who’s changes do you go with? Did they change the most recent version of the document or do you need to backtrack to an earlier copy? Who’s revisions does your team ultimately to go with?

This was one of the main problems Google aimed to address with their release of GoogleDocs. By using GoogleDocs, we are now able to collaborate and make changes to the document in real time. Coworkers can track who made revisions to the document, at what time, and leave comments to one another. And the best part? No endless chain of emails filling your inbox! Finding the best software for your company may take time, but truly integrated technologies can make a significant difference to your everyday workload.

Creative marketing solutions can be complex, but they don’t have to be difficult. By optimizing the tools you and your company uses, you will find that working together will become much easier. Remember, you can’t fix a sink with a screwdriver. Go out and find the tools you need! If you’d like some advice on where to start, please follow the link below for more information