08 Apr Our Favorite 2026 Marketing Tools: Practical Tech Recommendations for Event Companies
At Path & Compass, we’re always on the lookout for tools that help us and our clients work smarter, not harder. There’s no shortage of platforms out there promising to save time or improve your marketing, and it seems like new AI tools are being released every day. Not all of them live up to the hype, but some really do make a difference!
Utilizing tools doesn’t mean replacing strategy or creativity. We would never be okay with that. But the right tools can help support your team and your workflows. They can help you stay organized, move faster, and keep things running efficiently behind the scenes.
Explore some of our favorite marketing tools at Path & Compass and how we use them across both internal operations and client work.
Legal & Website Protection
Before you start building a beautiful new website, there are some not-so-fun foundations that have to be built. Your website needs to have legal policies and disclosures in place.
Termageddon helps keep your website policies up to date as privacy laws change, especially if you’re collecting any kind of user data. UserWay focuses on accessibility, helping make your site more usable for all visitors while also supporting compliance standards.
Not the most exciting tools, but very crucial ones to have!
Internal Productivity
For businesses that rely heavily on meetings and repeatable processes, the right systems can make a big difference.
AI-powered note-taking tools like Fathom and Otter automatically transcribe conversations in real time, making it easy to capture key points, decisions, and action items without missing anything.
Just a quick note, though: be sure you’re removing AI notetakers from your meetings before you discuss anything sensitive, like trade secrets, financials, or client information. Close out of any tabs that may contain private data before you start recording.
Scribe and Loom help document processes. Scribe captures step-by-step workflows as you complete tasks, while Loom allows you to record quick walkthrough videos. We use both for onboarding and training. If you’ve ever gotten a how-to video from us about navigating the backend of your website or creating a new blog post, we probably used Loom to make it.
Website & SEO Essentials
Your website is one of the hardest-working parts of your marketing, so keeping it clean and functional matters!
Broken link plugins help catch outdated or incorrect links. AI alt text plugins assist with image descriptions for accessibility and SEO. (This ties into the legal compliance we mentioned above.) And Yoast SEO helps structure content and optimize pages so search engines can understand them.
These seem like simple tools, but trust us when we say you don’t want to spend the time to do all this manually!
Inquiry Management
Speed matters when it comes to responding to inquiries. If someone is reaching out to you, they’re likely reaching out to multiple companies. Hostie and VenueX help organize and automate parts of that process, from initial responses to follow-ups, so nothing gets missed.
Workflow Automation
Automation is the backbone of efficiency for many service-based businesses, and Zapier is one of the most popular tools for connecting different apps to automate workflows. Whether it’s adding new leads to your CRM, repurposing content, or sending follow-up emails, Zapier saves time by handling repetitive tasks behind the scenes.
AI Support Tools
AI can be incredibly useful, but it works best with a little structure.
Prompy.app and Promptly.fyi help organize and save your Claude or ChatGPT prompts so you’re not starting from scratch every time. It’s a simple way to get more consistent results and actually make AI feel useful. The stronger your prompts, the less likely you are to end up with boring AI slop.
Content Creation
Canva has changed the graphic design game for small businesses, making it accessible even to those without formal training. We use it for everything from social media graphics to client reports, and its AI features help speed things up even more.
Grammarly helps polish writing beyond basic grammar checks, offering suggestions for tone and clarity so communication stays consistent and professional. While you can use tools like Claude or ChatGPT to help with your copy, always have a human editor involved in the process! Grammarly catches a lot, but all AI tools can make mistakes.
Hovercode allows you to create dynamic, trackable QR codes. This is especially useful for events, print materials, and campaigns where you want flexibility without constant reprints.
Review Management
Reviews play a big role in how potential clients perceive your business and how your business is discovered online, but they’re easy to overlook.
Cloutly helps automate review requests and makes it easier to build credibility over time without constant manual follow-up. We’re already seeing amazing boosts in five-star reviews from our clients who have adopted it.
Social Media Management
Having trouble keeping your social media ideas organized and your posting schedule consistent? Social media schedulers help you manage content so you’re not scrolling through your camera roll every day trying to decide what to post. Buffer keeps things simple, while SmarterQueue allows for content recycling and more structured posting.
Marketing tools can make a big difference in how your business runs, but they work best when they’re supporting a clear (and human!) strategy. You don’t need everything. You just need the right systems in place to help your team stay organized, consistent, and responsive.
If you’re ready to offload your marketing and focus on what you do best, Path & Compass offers partnerships tailored to your needs. Whether you’re looking for guidance or a full-service partner, we’re here to help. Reach out to get the conversation going, and we’ll start with a free audit of your current marketing strategy.