10 tools to run growth marketing experiments at early stage start-ups

As a founder of an early stage startup, growth is likely at the forefront of your mind. However, finding the right marketing strategies to drive that growth can be a challenge, especially when resources are limited. 

The good news is that with the right tools, running growth marketing experiments doesn't have to be complicated or expensive. 

In this article, we will introduce 10 powerful tools that will help you test, measure, and optimize your marketing efforts, all with the goal of driving sustainable growth for your startup. 

Whether you're looking to improve customer acquisition, engagement, or retention, these tools are sure to help you achieve your growth marketing goals.

What is a Growth Marketing Experiment?

A growth marketing experiment is an organized process that tests out different hypotheses about how users interact with your product or service. 

This could include anything from testing out new features, improving existing features, or optimizing the user interface to make it easier for customers to use. 

The goal of these experiments is to discover insights into customer behavior that will ultimately lead to more conversions and higher revenue for your business.

The 10 Best Tools to Run Growth Marketing Experiments

Now that you know what a growth marketing experiment is, here are the 10 best tools that you can use to run such experiments. 

1. The Meta Business Suite

If you’re serious about growth on social channels, you can’t ignore the Meta Business Suite. It’s a complete set of social media management tools that marketers can use for managing social media campaigns on both Facebook and Instagram.

The suite provides a range of features designed to help businesses effectively reach and engage with their target audience on these popular social media platforms. 

Some of the key features of the Meta Business Suite include:

• Campaign planning and management
• Audience targeting and segmentation
• Performance tracking, analytics, and reporting

The goal of the Meta Business Suite is to provide businesses with a comprehensive, one-stop solution for managing their social media campaigns, allowing them to streamline their efforts, improve their results, and achieve their marketing goals.

2. HubSpot CRM

The HubSpot CRM provides you with an organized view of all of your customer information in one place, including contact information, sales data, email history, and more. 

It also allows you to track tasks and conversations related to each customer so that you can stay up-to-date on any changes or developments with that particular customer. 

Additionally, the HubSpot CRM integrates with other popular tools such as Salesforce and Outlook so that you can easily move data between them without having to manually re-enter it each time.

Some of its key features include:

• Lead capture forms
• Automation workflows
• Meeting scheduler 
• Email templates and tracking

3. Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic. 

It provides data on your website’s performance, including page views, visitor demographics, bounce rate, and more. 

With these insights, you can make informed decisions about how to improve the user experience of your website and increase your conversion rate.

When someone visits your website, the tracking code sends data to Google Analytics servers in real time so that the information can be analyzed and displayed in meaningful ways. 

You are then able to view this data in the form of reports which contain visualizations such as charts and graphs. 

This allows you to easily comprehend the important metrics that reveal how well (or poorly) your website is performing. Other key features include:

• Audience insights 
• Comprehensive conversion tracking
• Custom reporting
• Ecommerce tracking

4. Ahrefs

When it comes to gauging the success of your growth marketing experiments, Ahrefs is one of the best choices available. Ahrefs is an all-in-one SEO suite that helps users quickly and easily analyze their website’s performance in search engines. 

It lets you track keyword rankings, backlinks, competitor analysis, organic search traffic, content marketing performance, and more. 

In addition to tracking data about your own website, it also provides data about other websites as well so you can compare your performance against that of your competitors.

Ahrefs can be used for a range of different purposes depending on your goals. For example, if you want to improve your website’s visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs), then Ahrefs can help by providing detailed information about keyword rankings and backlinks — two important factors when it comes to SERP visibility.  

Additionally, if you want to keep tabs on what your competitors are up to or identify potential link opportunities then the platform can provide useful insights into their activities as well.   

Here are some of its key features:

• Option to conduct a detailed backlink analysis
• Rank tracking for pages
• Trillions of analyzed backlinks
• Keyword research tool

5. HootSuite

Hootsuite is a comprehensive social media management platform that allows users to manage their social media accounts in one place. 

It enables users to schedule posts in advance, track performance metrics across multiple platforms, monitor conversations related to their brand, and respond quickly and efficiently to customer inquiries or complaints. 

Hootsuite also offers additional features such as team collaboration tools, third-party app integrations, keyword monitoring and analytics capabilities. 

The platform also includes its own suite of monitoring and analytics tools that can help marketers gain valuable insights into their audience's behavior. 

With these insights, marketers can better target their campaigns to reach the right people at the right time.

Its main features include:

• Activity monitoring tool
• Customer engagement and tracking
• Publishing and scheduling content
• Managing multiple social media accounts

6. Zapier

At its most basic, Zapier is a web-based automation tool that enables users to connect different apps together without having to write code. 

This means that you can set up “Zaps” or automated workflows that allow data from one app (such as Google Sheets) to be moved automatically into another app (like Dropbox). This eliminates the need for manual data entry, saving time and reducing errors.

Zapier has over 1,000 integrations with popular software solutions such as Slack, Salesforce, MailChimp, and many others. 

The platform also supports webhooks and API calls, allowing developers to extend the capabilities of the platform even further.

For marketers, Zapier can be used in countless ways. It can be used to automate mundane tasks like adding new leads into your CRM database or creating reports in Google Sheets when content performance hits certain thresholds. 

It can also be used to create automated workflows triggered by certain events—for example, sending an email when someone signs up for your newsletter or posting an update on social media when a new blog post goes live.

Zapier’s key features include:

• Secure logins for every member
• Custom automations for all major apps
• Activity dashboard
• Rules-based workflows

7.  Microsoft Clarity

Microsoft Clarity is a free heatmap and analytics tool created by Microsoft that allows marketers to better understand how their website visitors are using their websites. 

It provides valuable insights into user behavior, including where they click, scroll, and move their cursor, as well as how long they stay on a page or interact with certain elements.

Microsoft Clarity has several features that set it apart from other heatmap tools. First of all, it’s free and easy to use. 

You simply have to add a tracking code snippet to your website in order for the software to start collecting data about your visitors’ actions. 

It also has built-in privacy measures that make sure the data collected is secure and anonymous. 

Additionally, it utilizes AI technology to identify patterns in user behavior, which can then be used to optimize your website design in order to increase conversions.

For growth marketers, here are just some of the reasons why Microsoft Clarity is a good choice:

• Tracking clicks and heatmaps
• Session replays
• IP blocking
• A/B testing 

8. OptInMonster

OptInMonster is an email list building tool that helps businesses grow their email list by converting website visitors into subscribers and customers. 

It offers an array of features designed to increase conversions and make it easy to build a successful email list. 

For example, OptInMonster allows users to create custom opt-in forms, set up targeted campaigns based on visitor behavior, analyze results with detailed analytics, and even A/B test different versions of their forms.

OptInMonster works by tracking user behavior on your website and targeting them with relevant campaigns that are tailored to their interests. 

This ensures that visitors who are more likely to subscribe or purchase from you get the message first. 

Through its advanced analytics dashboard, users can track metrics such as form submission rates and page visits in real time so they can optimize their campaigns accordingly. 

Furthermore, if users choose to use the A/B testing feature, they can test different versions of their forms to see which one performs best.

9. Drift

Drift is a conversational marketing and sales platform that helps businesses connect with their customers in real-time. It provides a suite of tools and features designed to improve communication and engagement with customers, including: 

• Conversational Bots: Drift allows you to create conversational bots that can interact with your website visitors and provide them with information and support in real-time. 
• Live Chat: Drift provides live chat capabilities, allowing you to have real-time conversations with your website visitors and provide them with the support and information they need. 
• Email Automation: Drift allows you to automate your email communications with customers, providing targeted and personalized messages based on their behavior and interactions with your website. 
• Qualification: Drift provides qualification tools, allowing you to automatically identify and qualify the most promising leads, so you can prioritize and focus your sales efforts on the most valuable opportunities. 
• Integrations: Drift integrates with a variety of sales and marketing platforms, such as HubSpot, Salesforce, and more, making it easy to manage your customer interactions and data across all your tools. 
• Reporting and Analytics: Drift provides reporting and analytics, allowing you to see how your conversational marketing and sales efforts are performing and make data-driven decisions about your strategy.

10. Influencity

Influencity is an influencer marketing platform that helps businesses connect with the right influencers to promote their products and services. 

This type of marketing has become increasingly popular in recent years, as it allows brands to leverage the reach and influence of influencers on social media platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.

Influencity provides a comprehensive suite of tools for businesses to find the right influencers for their campaigns and measure their performance. 

The platform's AI-driven search engine helps marketers quickly discover relevant influencers based on criteria such as brand fit, audience size, engagement rate, location, budget, language spoken, etc. 

Additionally, the platform offers detailed insights into each influencer’s audience demographics and past collaborations so you can make an informed decision about who to work with.

Once you’ve selected your ideal influencer(s), Influencity makes it easy for you to manage your campaigns from start to finish. 

You can track the progress of each campaign in real time with detailed reports that show how your content is performing across different social media platforms. 

Plus, you can compare campaign results against industry benchmarks or use A/B testing to optimize your content strategy.

Final Thoughts

Running a growth marketing experiment is key to your start-up growth. It starts with forming a hypothesis, then choosing the right channel, and finally, executing your experiment with the right tools. 

A successful experiment will provide you with indispensable insight and data that you can use to inform strategic decisions to scale your business. 

Confused about where to start? Divisional can help—get in touch today and we’ll help you navigate your growth goals by connecting you to the people you need to achieve them.

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