It’s that time of year again! And whether that brings to mind the smells and tastes of chestnuts roasting by an open fire, latkes with sourcream, or jambalaya made with fresh okra, it also means it’s time to celebrate your favorite digital marketer with a gift that keeps on giving…leads and sales.
And to help you out, we’ve put together a list of the best gifts for Digital Marketers that will help them grow their business in 2024 and beyond, whether their focus is SEO, social media, or other types of content creation.
So let’s dive in!
Gifts for SEOs (Search Engine Optimizers)
I mean, the best gift you could give an SEO is the top result, right? But since only Google can hand those out, let’s take a look at some gifts that can help your favorite SEO earn their place at the top of the organic listings.
Our Pick: Ahrefs.
There’s a lot of great pieces of software out there that let you gather critical information about improving your site’s SEO. Ahrefs is a comprehensive SEO tool that offers deep insights into SERPs, keyword rankings, and competitive analysis. With it, they can uncover who is linking to competitors, identify top-performing pages, and find content gaps on their site.
The robust features also include tracking and analysis tools that can help refine and enhance SEO strategies. This gift is not just about giving a utility; it's about empowering your marketer with data-driven capabilities to elevate their online marketing game.
Cost: $99 – $399/mo, but get two months free if you pay annually.
Our Stocking Stuffer: Yoast SEO Premium.
This is a great plugin for anyone with a WordPress website. While Yoast offers a powerful free version, if you want to see your marketer’s eyes light up, treat them to the Yoast SEO Premium for WordPress.
Cost: $99USD/year.
Gifts for Social Media Managers
Blessed are the social media managers, who fill our feeds with customer success stories, inspirational quotes, and behind-the-scenes photos and videos.
Our Pick: Agorapulse
What Social Media Manager wouldn’t beam with an annual subscription to Agorapulse under their tree (or Menorah)?
They’ll get a streamlined dashboard that helps manage multiple social media accounts, engage with audiences, and measure performance with rich, chocolatey analytics. It simplifies social media management by consolidating messages, comments, and social media mentions into one place, making it a thoughtful and practical gift for any social media professional.
Cost: $49 – $119/user/mo
Our Stocking Stuffer: PopSocket.
It’s almost like having a second set of hands! Perfect for that Social Media Marketing Team of One!
Cost: $9 – $25. $23 for this sweet Spider-Man one…just sayin’.
Gifts for Paid Search Experts
Who takes care of us when our sites are new and haven’t built up trust with Google? Who carries us to page one when we can’t get there on our own and who puts us in front of our ideal customers right when they need us most? Paid Search Experts, that’s who! So let’s make sure they feel the love this holiday season.
Our Pick: SEMRush
While many people think of SEMRush for its SEO tools, it’s the go-to tool for many experienced paid search experts as well. With features like Keyword Magic Tool, Keyword Manager, Keyword Gap, and PPC Keyword Tool, your favorite PPC marketers will have everything they need at their fingertips.
Cost: $129 – $499/mo
Our Stocking Stuffer: SpyFu
Help your PPC expert keep an eye on the competition and choose the most effective keywords with this powerful PPC tool.
Cost: $39 – $79/mo
Gifts for Email Marketers
Email marketers are like the middle child of marketers: often forgotten. Well, it’s time to make up for them feeling overshadowed, and I don’t mean with tons of therapy!
Our Pick: MailChimp.
This is a deeply considerate gift, acknowledging their crucial role in connecting with customers. MailChimp arms email marketers with a suite of creative tools, analytics, and automation capabilities, helping them to stand out in a crowded inbox and feel appreciated for their important work.
And with new SMS capabilities, they’ll be on everyone’s contact list!
Best of all, they’ll never scream Marcia, Marcia, Marcia! Again.
Cost: $13 – 20/mo, for up to 5,000 and 6,000 monthly email sends respectively.
Our Stocking Stuffer: BriteVerify
Why pay to send emails to addresses that don’t exist? Help your favorite email marketer increase their delivery rates by cleaning their lists.
Cost: $40 for 5,000 verifications
Gifts for Content Creators
There are a lot of marketers who consider themselves content creators these days, from bloggers to podcasters, artists to videographers, and everywhere in-between. So here are a few of our favorite tools to inspire, streamline, and create.
For the AI Enthusiast: ChatGPT Plus.
Really, this versatile Generative AI tool could be a great gift for any marketer, and really anybody. From ideation to blog frameworks, social media posts to email subject lines, ChatGPT does it all. And now that you–er, I mean your favorite marketer–can engage with ChatGPT using images or voice, you have to wonder: is there anything ChatGPT can’t do?
Cost: $20/mo
For the Image Creator: Canva Pro.
Canva comes with thousands of different social media and marketing templates to choose from, and the ability to upload your own brand colors, logos, imagery, and more.
With new AI tools, Canva can even create the first draft of your next social post, email newsletter, or print piece. It’s a versatile tool that’s a great deal, too.
Cost: $119.99/year for one person
For the Podcaster: RØDECaster Pro.
Not for the beginner, but if your favorite marketer has hit the 100 episode mark, this will take their recordings to the next level! Offering great audio quality and a long list of features that includes four microphone inputs, sound pads for triggering music and sound effects, this is the perfect gift for your budding podcaster.
Cost: $499 – $599
Gifts for Every Marketer on Your List
Let’s face it: most marketers these days wear more hats than Bartholomew Cubbins. In the morning they’re optimizing a website, in the afternoon they’re putting together a social media calendar, and after dinner they’re recording a podcast.
Heck, even overnight they’re counting sheep and finding the best chart to represent their data in Google Looker Studio!
So, when you’re not sure what to get them, get them a ticket to the next Agents of Change Digital Marketing Conference!
OK, since tickets aren’t currently on sale, a simple IOU will have to suffice for this holiday season. But you could also sign up for the AOC mailing list so you can get first crack at the tickets and save a bunch of money, too!
Rich Brooks is founder and president of flyte new media, a digital agency in Portland, Maine, that’s been in business for 25 years. He is a nationally recognized speaker on entrepreneurship, digital marketing, and social media.
He founded The Agents of Change, an annual conference and weekly podcast that focuses on search, social & mobile marketing. He recently co-founded Fast Forward Maine, a podcast and workshop series for growing Maine businesses.
Rich is the author of The Lead Machine: The Small Business Guide to Digital Marketing, a popular and well-received book that helps entrepreneurs and marketers reach more of their ideal customers online.