Launching a small digital marketing agency right after graduation was like a dream come true. Since I wanted to create compelling ads and grow as a marketer, it was a perfect opportunity for me.
However, never in my dreams did I ever think that running my digital agency would become a tiresome job. I, too, was excited about the idea of starting a digital agency, but in the process, I completely sidelined some major business operations.
For instance, I had to keep a watchful eye on expenses, meet clients, manage operations, and whatnot. And, if it wasn’t for Alex, my business partner, who pitched the idea of using SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) tools, I’m dead sure that we would’ve wrapped our agency till now.
Fortunately, my digital agency is thriving, and here, I’ll share how all those AI tools made it possible. So, let’s start!
Data Handling and Analyzing
Data, impressions, clicks, views, shares, etc, are incredibly important for a digital marketer. Also, it’s a fact that without understanding customer demographics, a digital marketer might not be able to create targeted campaigns across several marketing channels.
Efficiently collecting and analyzing such data sets had also become a major concern for us, and HubSpot came to our rescue.
Besides monitoring multiple campaigns across different social media platforms simultaneously, it automatically collected data. Additionally, with an interactive dashboard, it became easier to understand complex data sets, and key metrics like impressions, shares, comments, etc.
Having said that, there’s one thing you need to watch out for.
HubSpot became unresponsive at times, which impacted our productivity. It took us a while to figure out that the issue occurred due to our spotty internet connection.
We had recently started using multiple SaaS tools without upgrading our internet plan, so there was no spare bandwidth available for them. However, we resolved this issue by switching to Verizon Internet, a much faster and reliable connection than our previous service provider.
Task Delegation and Collaboration
We had a team huddle every day for delegating tasks, monitoring KPIs, and sharing updates on different projects before using Asana. But now, we collaborate on Asana, and that too, for free.
Asana offers a free plan for individuals or small teams. Other than this, you can easily delegate tasks to your teammates, set deadlines, create projects, and add collaborators.
Additionally, you can also add priority tags to different projects. And, with a Kanban board, calendar, and list view options, you can easily assess your team’s workload.
Lastly, what I like the most about Asana is how easily it can be integrated with other SaaS tools. Be it Google Drive, Microsoft Teams, Dropbox, or other tools that businesses use, Asana can work seamlessly with them.
Expense Tracking and Monitoring
As a small digital marketing agency, we didn’t want to bear the expenses of hiring an accountant. Instead, we opted for QuickBooks, a SaaS tool that could keep a vigilant eye on our expenses.
From recording every single expense to tracking our business’s monthly revenue, this SaaS tool efficiently handles all our finance and accounting-related operations. Not just this, it also allows us to generate custom invoices and quotes to send to our clients.
Additionally, one of my team members also uses this tool to generate financial documents like balance sheets, ledgers, account statements, etc, which help us while filing taxes.
Having said that, what I appreciate the most about QuickBooks is how it makes the complex financial information easy and digestible. For someone like me who’s not good with numbers, this SaaS tool can create detailed graphs and charts that help me understand a business’s financial position.
Last but not least, as we work with clients from all over the world, QuickBooks automatically adjusts financial reports in different currencies.
Customer Support and Services
As a small business, hiring live agents was a costly proposition. And since we couldn’t afford it, we opted for Zendesk, which offered reliable support services to our customers.
We’ve assigned one teammate who actively handles Zendesk and manages several AI-powered chatbots. These chatbots can instantly reply to our customers, which helps us reduce the waiting time.
Additionally, we’ve also deployed these chatbots across our social media platforms. This way, they comprehensively take care of our customers and make them feel valued. Other than this, we’ve also created an email and ticketing support system.
Even though we rarely receive email queries, I believe it’s a good approach to offer multiple channels of communication to your customers.
So, these are a few ways SaaS tools have helped us thrive as a small digital marketing agency. But before I conclude, I’ve got some advice for you.
While I don’t believe that SaaS tools are extravagantly expensive, most of them offer a free trial period. As a small business, I understand that every penny counts, and I’d suggest you always avail the trial period.
Explore what the tool has to offer and how it can help your small business. And, once you’re
sure about it, only then should you subscribe to it.
