There are thousands of digital marketing tools out there, and most of them promise to revolutionize your workflow, automate your life, and basically turn you into the Beyoncé of marketing. Spoiler alert: most of them don’t.

At Drizzle Digital, we don’t waste time on tools that sound great on a sales page but flop in the real world. These are the digital marketing tools we actually use—and, dare we say, love. If it’s not on this list, we probably tested it, cursed at it, and deleted it.

Social Media Management Tools

Social media isn’t just about throwing up a cute graphic and hoping for the best. It’s about strategic planning, execution, and—let’s be real—staying ahead of the algorithm’s latest mood swings. As a Denver social media agency, we live and breathe content creation, scheduling, and performance tracking. Here’s what’s in our arsenal:

Adobe Creative Suite

When we need to go beyond quick graphics and get into serious design, Adobe Creative Suite is the powerhouse. Photoshop for image perfection, Illustrator for vector magic, Premiere Pro for video editing, and After Effects for motion graphics—this is where the pros play. When we need precision, customization, and next-level creative execution, Adobe delivers.

Canva: Getting the Designer Side-Eye Since 2013

Graphic designers might scoff, but Canva gets the job done for small projects and graphic creation. It’s our go-to for fast, on-brand graphics without summoning Photoshop. Need a perfectly sized Instagram story? A LinkedIn carousel? A Reel cover that doesn’t look like a bad PowerPoint slide? Canva’s got it.

Databox: Because We Love Receipts

Social media without data is just posting into the void. Databox helps us track performance across Instagram, Tiktok, Facebook and LinkedIn in one place, so we can see what’s working, what’s going viral, and what needs a rethink. It’s like a fitness tracker, but for your social media health. Pro-tip: Databox is a great tool for integrating all your digital marketing results (email, website, etc) so you have one big data dashboard (or a series of them).

CoSchedule: Wrangling Content Chaos

Content calendars keep us sane, and we genuinely love CoSchedule for its easy task assignment, and the ability to customize the content creation process from start to finish. It helps us organize, plan, and schedule posts across multiple platforms all while integrating client feedback, so no one loses their mind.

Hootsuite: Oldie but Goodie

If you’re managing multiple accounts (and of course we are), Hootsuite is still a solid option. We use it to schedule, monitor engagement, and track conversations about our clients. We also use it to aggregate reporting data. It’s not the flashiest tool out there, but it gets the job done, particularly for our large, Corporate clients.

PPC Tools for Digital Marketing

Throwing money at ads doesn’t guarantee results. Smart targeting, killer copy, and constant testing do. As a Denver PPC agency, we use digital marketing tools that actually make our campaigns perform.

Google Ads Editor: Bulk Edits, Zero Nonsense

If you’re managing Google Ads without using this, you’re working way too hard. Google Ads Editor lets us make bulk changes, update bids, and duplicate campaigns like pros—without waiting for Google’s sluggish interface to load.

SEMrush: The PPC Secret Weapon

SEMrush isn’t just for SEO (though it crushes that too). We use it for competitive research, keyword insights, and uncovering gaps in ad strategies that our clients’ competitors aren’t exploiting yet.

SpyFu: Creepy Name, Genius Tool

Want to know what your competitors are bidding on? SpyFu gives us the dirt. We use it to analyze competitor keywords, see their ad history, and make sure our clients aren’t leaving money on the table.

SEO Digital Marketing Tools

No one Googles something and thinks, “Hmm, I should check page two.” As an SEO agency in Denver, we use digital marketing tools that make sure our clients rank where they should—on top.

Ahrefs: The Backlink Beast

If backlinks are the backbone of SEO, Ahrefs is the chiropractor keeping everything aligned. From tracking competitor backlinks to analyzing domain authority and keyword gaps, this tool gives us the blueprint for ranking dominance. If we need to see why a site is winning (or why it’s flopping), Ahrefs has the answers.

SEMrush: The SEO Swiss Army Knife

SEMrush is our go-to for keyword research, on-page SEO optimization, and competitor insights. Need to figure out what’s missing in a content strategy? SEMrush lays it all out. It also helps us monitor site health, track ranking improvements, and uncover sneaky SEO opportunities.

Screaming Frog: Nerdy, but Necessary

A technical SEO must-have, Screaming Frog crawls websites and tells us what’s broken, slow, or missing. If your site isn’t ranking, this tool finds out why—fast.

SurferSEO: Writing for Google and Humans

SEO content has evolved beyond stuffing keywords where they don’t belong. SurferSEO helps us optimize blog posts, landing pages, and website copy so it ranks and reads well. Yes, both matter.

Email Marketing Tools

Social media is fleeting, but email? That’s where conversions happen. Here’s what we use to craft emails that get opened instead of ignored.

Klaviyo: The E-Commerce Whisperer

For e-commerce clients, Klaviyo is the MVP. It tracks customer behavior and lets us personalize campaigns like we’re mind readers. Cart abandonment emails? Win-back sequences? Klaviyo does it all.

HubSpot: The Workhorse

For lead nurturing and automated campaigns, HubSpot is our go-to. It’s not cheap, but its segmentation, tracking, and workflow automation make it worth every penny.

Mailchimp: The OG

Mailchimp is still great for startups and small businesses who need simple email marketing without all the bells and whistles. Easy to use, does the job, and doesn’t require a degree in coding. We love the simplicity of Mailchimp.

Analytics: Because Guessing Is for Amateurs

Marketing without data is like driving blindfolded. These digital marketing tools for data and analytics make sure we never rely on gut feelings.

Google Analytics 4

GA4 is here to stay, and honestly, it’s a powerhouse. It gives us deep insights into website traffic, user behavior, and conversion paths—helping us make smarter marketing moves. The interface might take some getting used to, but once you’ve got it down, the data is pure gold.

Looker Studio (formerly Data Studio): Making Reports Less Painful

Clients love pretty dashboards. We love reports that don’t take hours to create. Looker Studio helps us build visual, real-time reporting that actually makes sense.

Hotjar: Seeing Is Believing

Ever wonder what users actually do on your website? Hotjar’s heatmaps and session recordings show us where people click, scroll, and drop off. It’s basically UX gold.

The Bottom Line: Use What Works

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to digital marketing tools. But these? These are the ones we use every day at Drizzle Digital. If you’re looking for tools that actually help you market smarter—not harder—start here. And if you’d rather let the pros handle it? You know where to find us. Let’s chat.