The best marketing platforms of 2021

There is a raft of marketing platforms available to help charities with advertising and promotion, engagement with users and communities, and the encouragement of donations.

 

Marketing platforms cover email marketing and help create exciting content. They also ensure effective management of web marketing, including Google Ads, as well as making sure that social media marketing is working efficiently.

 

But which platforms are the best? And which are suited for each charity’s distinct needs and goals? Here we look at some of the best for charities looking for digital solutions to support their marketing operations.

 

 

GetResponse

 

A number of large private sector brands, such as Ikea, already use marketing platform GetResponse and charities are becoming increasingly interested in its features.

 

Among its many email marketing functions is the ability to create emails and autoresponders, access to analytics to track performance, strong list management services, and the option to send transactional emails.

 

It also offers a ‘conversion funnel’ that offer charities the chance to build landing pages, automate email marketing, sell products, and manage customers.

 

This is an ideal platform for small and large charities alike, with a £10 monthly Basic option available to send emails and build a contact base for a list size of 1,000.

 

The cost increases the larger the list size, with a 25,000-strong list size costing around £100 a month. A further package, which includes organising webinars, costs around £128 a month. Meanwhile, the ‘professional’ package includes more functionality around sales funnels and webinars and costs around £183 a month.

 

You can get discounted rates on GetResponse on Charity Digital Exchange. 

 

 

Monday.com

 

Collaboration is a key aspect of marketing platform Monday.com, which promotes its features with the line “one platform, better teamwork”.

 

It enables charities to organise, collaborate, and develop marketing strategies across one highly visual platform. Organising marketing content by date and ability to assign writers, designers and editors is a key benefit of the platform.

 

Project management, sales, design, software development, task management, as well as human resources and recruitment are among the array of services Monday.com offers alongside marketing functions.

 

It has three types of ‘board’ for customers to use. This includes a main board that is visible to anyone in a team, a shareable board that can be accessed by people outside of a team, and private boards for confidential information.

 

This platform is particularly useful for small charities, with monthly packages ranging from £7 to £14.

 

There is also an ‘enterprise’ package for larger charities, which includes further storage, automation actions, and reporting and analytics. Pricing for this is provided when contacting the platform.

 

 

HubSpot

 

HubSpot offers charities the chance to use an integrated content marketing platform, with functions for search engine optimisation (SEO), social media, and email marketing, as well as handling landing pages.

 

Analytics and marketing automation are other functions for the Hubspot platform, which also has a raft of sales capabilities. Distinct features include being able to drag and drop email marketing templates and offering suggestions for improving SEO.

 

It offers a range of pricing options for small and large charities. Its ’Starter’ package starts at £38 a month and includes ad management and list segmentation, among other functions.

 

Other features, such as SEO recommendation and video hosting and management, are available with a £655 a month ‘Professional’ option.

 

Meanwhile, the £2,624 a month ‘Enterprise’ option offers additional functions such as programmable chatbots and extra reporting tools.

 

 

CoSchedule

 

Planning content is the key function of CoSchedule. Features include an editorial calendar, tools to manage social media campaigns, and tools to allocate tasks to staff and volunteers. It also has a ReQueue feature, which identifies which content is popular for reposts across social media.

 

Elsewhere, its text editor tool allows users to write posts and content directly to the platform. Google Docs can also be imported. 

 

Its calendar function costs around £20 a month. Meanwhile, the price of its full marketing suite is available by contacting the platform. This includes functions to track team progress, automate workflows, and manage marketing requests.

 

 

Dotdigital

 

Dotdigital is a cost-efficient and effective email marketing platform that can be found on Charity Digital Exchange. The platform allows teams to design and send great emails at cut-rate prices, dependent on donations and discounts exclusively offered by Charity Digital. 

 

The email marketing platform provides powerful tools such as integrated automation, segmentation, and personalisation so that charities can make the most of their time and effort.

 

Dotdigital is priced based on charity needs. A free-of-charge option allows charities to set up an account and platform support. Dotdigital offers more functionality for small one-off payments.

 

The Light package (£149) offers ongoing client management, training sessions, and two bespoke templates. The Pro package (£249) offers more training sessions, more templates, and two surgeries with an email specialist. The Ultimate package (£349) goes even further, offering even more surgeries and templates, as well as unlimited training and guidance on the migration of existing data, suppressions, and segments.

 

For more information on eligibility and discounts, check out Charity Digital Exchange.