Cyber Bazaar

Small and Medium businesses (SMBs) continue to move funds aggressively to online marketing channels.According to BIA/Kelsey,Digital marketing will constitute 70% of the total marketing budget for SMBs by 2015 in US. The Kauffman foundation of Entrepreneurship reports internet sales of 26.8% for Start-ups and SMBs as opposed to 6% for all firms combined, in 2011. These facts prompted me to dig into the available online marketing resources and here is a list I came up with,based on user reviews and recommendations from notable marketing firms,  that could be highly relevant  for SMBs and Start-ups-

Search Engine Optimization

1. SEOmoz – SEO and Social Monitoring software in one. Apparently its the world’s most popular SEO software that provides a robust link intelligence API, and hosts the web’s most vibrant SEO community. Read this for comprehensive information  to get on the road to professional quality SEO.
2. Planet Ocean – Specializes in revealing and simplifying search engine strategies and gear  services toward online marketing professionals to give them a competitive edge.
3. Raven Tools– Provides a broad spectrum of e-marketing solutions,for  SMBs and big businesses alike. Basically an online platform that helps users quickly research, manage, monitor and report on SEO, social media and other Internet marketing campaigns. Its collaborative, multi-user features and fast, professional reports make it the software choice of thousands of online marketers worldwide.

Advertising

1. Google Adwords – Google’s flagship advertising product that helps webmasters create ads and choose keywords,relevant to the business for both SMBs and big businesses alike. When people search on Google using one of your keywords, your ad may appear next to the search results, and you have a qualified target audience as they searched for the keywords themselves in the first place.
2. Nextmark Mailing list finder -Focuses primarily on media- finding, planning, operations and  sales. lets you choose from 60000+ targeted mailing lists from 1400+ suppliers – Virtually every mailing list available all in one place!

Customer Relationship Management

1. Address Two – Simple CRM software for small businesses that helps organize contacts,manage leads,follow up tasks and activities. You can create multiple user accounts, each with their own login credentials, at no additional cost—create unlimited user logins. Customers can be assigned to specific “account managers” according to the different usernames you create.
2. Nimble –  Helps easily connect all of your contacts, calendars, communications and social conversations. Listen to and engage any individual in order to attract and retain the right customers.

Content

1. Hubshout- Transforms business websites into information hubs using SEO techniques and proprietary technology.
2. Inbound Writer – Social writing application.Its essentially a  Cloudbased software for online content optimization.Works equally well for fortune 500 companies and individual bloggers with a flexible price plan to suit the range.
3. Casting Words–  Quick,high quality,Audio transcription service. If you are wondering why transcripts are important content, read this.

Social Media

1. TweetDeck– Its an app  for staying in touch with what’s happening now, connecting you with your contacts across Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, etc.
2. Hoot suite–  Social media management system for brand management. The User Interface is in the form of a dashboard that integrates Facebook,Twitter,Linked IN, Google +,Four Square, Ping and WordPress.
3. SproutSocial– Social media management tool that offers contact management, competitive insight, lead generation, reporting, analytics and more