Today, we interview Ian Cleary, founder of  RazorSocial and social media marketing tech expert extraordinaire. Ian believes that when you understand how powerful social media and online marketing is and then become an empowered user of the right technology and tools to move you forward, your business can take a quantum leap.

Here are his tips for how to select the right marketing technologies for your brand:

‍1. You review thousands of marketing tools in your blog Razor Social. What makes a software or platform best- in-class?

‍When choosing the right marketing technologies for your brand, don't hyper focus on features alone. The reality is, a good marketing software is more than a laundry list of functionalities. Many marketers forget that a strong marketing technology also includes support from the customer success team, attentive engineers, strong educational materials, etc. A good product is the sum of a great customer experience.

‍2. Why is it increasingly important to align social media goals with business goals?

‍Social media, as a channel, provides the opportunity for more customer engagement. Whether it's Twitter, a chat on your website, a live stream on Facebook, etc., most of the web has become social. Businesses are built on strong relationships between customers and brands. The best way to build those relationshipsis to interact with your target audience. The manner in which you incorporate social media into your brand is ultimately going to affect your company's bottom line. Creating strong, authentic, relationships with customers through social is crucial for your business' success.

‍3. You're considered a pro in the marketing tech industry. Why is a visual marketing tool, like Pixlee, useful for brands for driving sales?

‍Like I mentioned earlier, the web has become a social place. The big problem with the internet today is that it's hard to capture the attention of your audience.  Visuals are a sure way to attract consumer attention and to help brands cut through the clutter. Not including relevant visuals in your marketing automatically puts you at a disadvantage.

The right visual content can grab the attention of potential customers and lure them in to engage more with your product offering. The trick is to discover which visual content performs best. As authentic photos and videos become increasingly important for successful brand story-telling, visual marketing tools like Pixlee are essential.