Content marketing continues to evolve as a powerful marketing strategy in the fast-moving and information-driven digital world of today. It is the need of the hour for any business that wants to establish a strong brand image and boost its sales.

According to a Statista report, 42% of content marketing professionals expect their content budgets to increase in 2022. Another report said that 82% of marketing professionals use content marketing as an integral part of their strategy.

Although it is not a new marketing strategy by any means, it’s evident that the popularity of content marketing has grown exponentially in the last few years. The idea of content marketing is to share valuable and relevant content as means of persuading the decision-making audience. Customers today are intelligent decision-makers who are looking for useful and factual information that provides them with some kind of value. So it is your responsibility to ensure the quality and consistency of your content across channels. This is where content marketing tools come in.

Content Marketing Tools – What are they?

Content marketing tools are essentially marketing automation tools that simplify various aspects of the content processes. These tools can help businesses in:

According to recently published research, 61% of marketers say that their organization either has not acquired the right technology or that they are not using existing technology to its potential.

Efficient content marketing is not just about posting on blogs, social media channels, and more. It is about how you execute the content creation and distribution process. It’s about whether your methods are helping you reach out to the target audience effectively and if the methods are helping you produce quality content. Whether they are helping you manage your content teams and ensure collaboration with other teams. The right content marketing software and tools can help you accomplish all this and much more.

But the question remains – Which content marketing tools are the best to use?

In the last few years, the universe of content marketing tools has expanded. A quick google search will present you with thousands of tools to choose from. Knowing which content marketing automation tools to use will help you in carrying out successful content marketing campaigns.

To help you streamline your content processes, we’ve researched and curated some of the best content marketing tools out there. Without further ado, let’s dive in.

Tools for Content Creation

In the wide world of digital marketing, one tenet seems to rise above all the rest—content. Creating highly valuable and easily digestible content is the heart and soul of content marketing.

While content creation may come easy to some, it isn’t exactly a no-brainer for most of us. Especially when you factor in critical elements, such as SEO. Below are a few useful tools to help bridge the gap and make content creation as simple as possible.

1. Narrato

If you want an all-in-one solution for streamlining your content processes, Narrato can be an indispensable tool. This content planning software can be used to manage your teams and content processes on a single platform. It can be used throughout the lifecycle of content, from ideation and planning to creation, optimization, and publishing.

Narrato Features:

  • Content Planning: Narrato comes with a host of features for content planning like an AI topic generator (for topic suggestions), SEO Content Brief (keywords, references, questions), and Custom Content Templates. You can also create content style guides to standardize content, while Content Calendar and Kanban boards help in organizing your content better.
  • Content creation and optimization: Create high-quality content with Narrato’s powerful AI writing assistant. This feature can be used to optimize your content for grammar, readability, and SEO. Canva integration and free image search make it easier to add visuals.
  • Content collaboration: Collaborate with your teams and other stakeholders through on-platform messaging, in-line text comments, and publicly shareable links.
  • Workflow management: Assign tasks to your team members and stay on top of their workflow statuses. Organize content under different projects to manage a repository.
  • Team management: Provide custom access to different user roles.
  • Content publishing: Publish your content easily with WordPress integration.
  • Content marketplace: If you don’t have an in-house writing team, you can outsource this operation on Narrato’s Content Marketplace. Choose from hundreds of expert freelance writers to get quality content.

Pricing: Narrato offers three plans – Free, Pro, and Business. The paid plans start at $9 per user per month, and there is also an option for custom plans.

2. SurferSEO

The SurferSEO platform is another multipurpose powerhouse for content marketing that was designed with accessibility in mind. Regardless of your experience level, this tool makes increasing organic traffic a breeze with on-page optimizations and step-by-step SEO workflows. 

SurferSEO Features:

  • AI-curated workflows: SurferSEO’s Grow Flow feature completely takes the guesswork out of growth management. Powered by cutting-edge AI, Grow Flow creates easily manageable workflows that cover all of your optimization needs.
  • Content editor: This content workspace comes with built-in keyword research tools and real-time feedback to ensure quality content every time. 
  • Audit tool: Get the most out of your existing content by using SurferSEO’s audit feature. A few clicks will help you find every missed SEO opportunity and score higher rankings in SERPs.
  • Outline generator: Instantly create highly optimized outlines out of any topic or title. Exponentially reduce content creation time with an AI that easily provides correctly structured and 100% unique copy.
  • Flexible connectivity: SurferSEO seamlessly connects to a variety of industry-leading software, including Jasper, SEMRush, WordPress, and Google Docs. There’s even a nifty chrome extension for keyword and content research.
  • Educational material: Advance your knowledge of content marketing and SEO with an extensive knowledge base, blog, and online academy complete with thematic live sessions and an SEO masterclass.  

Pricing: SurferSEO has four subscription tiers—including a free plan that gives users access to Grow Flow for one website. Paid plans start at $49 per month for the basic plan, with the pro plan coming in at $199 per month. 

3. Google Docs

For a free tool, there is much to be said of just how incredibly useful Google Docs is for content creation and editing. Built as a near facsimile of your favorite word processor, the platform truly shines with its near-perfect execution of collaboration features. 

Google Docs Features:

  • Flexible sharing: Arguably, the key feature of Google Docs is the ability to share documents and content to anyone on your team or to your company’s shared storage at any time in just a few clicks. 
  • Assign roles: Easily dictate who has access to your content, who has the ability to edit, and who is able to rewrite or update your document on a per-user basis. 
  • Live collaboration: Multiple writers can access and write in the same document at the same time, allowing your writers and editors the ability to seamlessly make changes and perfect copy in one sitting—or work on multiple sections of long-form copy simultaneously to reduce work time.
  • Robust editing: Edits in Google Docs can be executed in multiple ways, either directly or through a suggestion mode that allows the editor to make changes that can be accepted or denied at a later stage of the production cycle. 
  • Leave comments: Anyone with the right permissions can leave comments on any copy or content in a document, ensuring that you can truly share thoughts, concerns, and ideas and hit the target every time for your content. 

Pricing: Google Docs is available free of charge with any Gmail account.

Tool for Email Marketing

Email marketing is an essential tool for businesses to connect with their target audiences and grow their customer base. By using automated campaigns, businesses can send personalized emails to their customers and prospects to nurture leads, build relationships, and promote products and services. 

With the right email marketing strategy, businesses can drive sales and increase their return on investment. Read on for some of our favorite tools to stay ahead of the game.

1. Benchmark Email

When it comes to ROI, there are very few marketing channels that can compete with email marketing. If you want to level up your content marketing game, consider weaving it into an email marketing campaign. This is where Benchmark Email comes in. This simple yet powerful email marketing tool can help you in executing email marketing campaigns with ease. It can be used to create:

  • Email newsletters
  • Autoresponders
  • RSS/blog emails
  • Date-triggered emails
  • Recurring emails
  • Automated email campaigns

Benchmark Email Features:

  • Smart Content: This intuitive and powerful tool is powered by OpenAI, the research firm behind ChatGPT. It makes it easy to deliver personalized email content to your customers. Smart content lets you use past emails to tailor all-new content in a flash or create new content using only a few keywords or paragraphs. 
  • Drag and drop email builder: Simple and easy-to-use email editor with intuitive block design and email previews.
  • Marketing automation: With Benchmark, you can automate processes like sending out emails and managing contacts. It also comes with a smart visual builder.
  • Email templates: More than 200 email templates with smart categorization. These email templates are available in multiple languages.
  • Integrations: Benchmark Email can be integrated with more than 1500 popular technologies.
  • Landing page builder: The easy-to-use landing page builder comes with many content options so you can attract more subscribers and build your email list.
  • A/B Testing: With this feature, you can test your email subject line, CTAs, copy, send time, and more to analyze what works best for you.

Pricing: Benchmark Email offers three plans – Free, Pro, and Enterprise. The paid plans start from $9.99 per month.

Tools for Video Marketing

Video marketing is quickly becoming an essential tool for businesses of all sizes looking to reach new customers and grow their brands. It is an effective way to engage with customers, build trust, and increase brand awareness—especially with the global attraction to social media. 

Video is the perfect medium to promote products or services and create viral campaigns. Some great tools to help you with your video marketing efforts are:

1. BreadnBeyond

If you want to create engaging content that has a real impact on your followers and target audience, video marketing is the way to go. Explainer videos are excellent for communicating how your offering can benefit the target customer.

BreadnBeyond is an excellent tool for explainer video production. This tool can be used to create explainer videos in a variety of styles, like whiteboard, motion graphic, cartoon, and more.

Among a huge selection of possibilities, BreadnBeyond can be used to create:

  • Explainer videos
  • Onboarding videos
  • Product demos
  • Videographics
  • Customer service videos
  • App demos
  • Event videos
  • Teaser videos
  • Training videos

Pricing: BreadnBeyond provides three packages—Ultimate, Premium, and Advanced. Each advanced tier affords you more of their resources for your custom videos, but specific pricing requires a consultation.

2. Wirecast

For businesses looking to produce and stream live video content, Wirecast is a one-stop resource for everything needed to get it done right. The platform lets you create high-quality live-streaming video fit for the likes of YouTube live and Facebook live streaming in a matter of minutes.

Wirecast also comes with a full suite of production tools to ensure that anything your company streams looks as professional as possible. Some of Wirecast’s more impressive features include:

  • Unlimited input capabilities: Wirecast lets you use audio and video from an unlimited amount of any of the cameras and microphones you have at your disposal. Additionally, the software allows you to capture anything on your computer screen.
  • Stock media library: Gain access to a vast library of over 500,000 stock media assets, including videos, music, lower thirds, backgrounds, and more.
  • Social media integration: Moderated Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube comment overlays, integrated Facebook Polling, and live viewer counters come built-in to maximize viewer engagement. 
  • Professional audio: Supports ASIO, WASAPI, and CoreAudio compatible devices. Allows you to mix up to 8 independent audio tracks, with FX and processing capabilities.
  • Controller integration: You can easily use popular controllers like the Elgato Stream Deck or the X-Keys Controller with full functionality. 

Pricing: There are two pricing plans for Wirecast with lifetime licenses for $599 and $799, respectively—with the higher tier also offering a monthly subscription option starting at $35 per month. 

3. Vidyard

The Vidyard platform is an all-in-one tool that lets you host, share, and promote video content directly on your website. As a marketing tool first, it also comes packed with detailed analytics features to track the impact of your video content and measure performance across channels. 

While robust as a video creation tool, Vidyard is designed for a pleasant user experience and ease of use. Some of the platform’s features include:

  • Video SEO: Videos created and deployed through the platform are automatically optimized for SEO, leaving you more time to focus on generating customers. 
  • Video segmentation: Easily divide your video content into chapters, making it more easily digestible for your target audience. 
  • Analytics: Built-in analytical tools help you measure your content’s performance and supercharge your video marketing campaigns to boost engagement. 
  • A/B testing: With a host of personalization options available, the platform gives you the ability to test out different versions of your videos to see how well they are received by your audience, allowing you to confidently share your best content. 
  • Audience interactivity: Add interactive forms and calls to action in your video content and host them virtually anywhere on the internet to capture more leads.

Pricing: Vidyard offers a free version, a pro plan at $19, and a business plan for $145 per month. 

3. Movavi Video Editor

The main goal of Movavi Video Editor is to help you create professional-looking videos quickly and easily. It offers a user-friendly interface that even the least tech-savvy individuals can navigate.

You can create everything from simple video clips to more complex projects with advanced features like background removal, motion tracking, and various special effects. Plus, it supports a wide range of video formats for compatibility with different devices and platforms.

Some of its features include:

  • Intuitive editing tools: Cut, trim, merge, crop, and rotate videos with ease.
  • Content library: Choose from various filters, transitions, titles, stickers, and more to add that extra touch to your video.
  • AI-based video enhancement: Improve the visual quality of your footage with automatic background removal, noise removal, motion tracking, color correction, and video stabilization.
  • Built-in audio tools:: Add music or voiceovers to your videos and use various effects like equalizer, noise removal, and more.
  • Easy sharing options: Pick a preset for popular platforms and devices or export directly to Google Drive, YouTube, Vimeo, and TikTok.

Pricing: Movavi Video Editor has an unlimited free trial to test the features. You can then get an annual subscription for $54.95 per year or purchase a lifetime license for $79.95.

Tools for Marketing Analytics

Marketing analytics provide valuable insights into the success of your content marketing efforts, helping you understand what sort of content your audience is engaging with and how you can better tailor your content to their needs. 

With the right analytics, you can measure the performance of your content and make data-driven decisions to ensure maximum ROI. Below are some of the most helpful analytical tools you should try out. 

1. Insightful

A successful content marketing campaign would not be possible when your teams are not able to maintain their productivity. This productivity analytics tool provides insights and real-time visibility into the efficiency and performance of your teams.

Insightful offers key features such as:

  • Time mapping: Make sure your project hits each milestone on schedule and stays within its defined budget.
  • Productivity analysis: Gain useful insights on how your team can make the most of their working hours each day.  
  • Screen activity recording: Keep track of what your employees are focusing their attentions on throughout their day.  
  • Employee activity monitoring: Make sure every team member stays on task to deliver your product or service on time. 
  • Time and attendance tracking: Automated attendance and tardiness protocols that allow you to focus on the tasks that matter to your business. 

Pricing: Insightful offers three plans based on the key feature required—time tracking, employee monitoring, and automatic time mapping. The prices differ for each of them.

2. Raven Tools

SEO is widely considered to be the most important part of your content marketing strategy as it allows you to reach out to a wider audience. This all-in-one SEO tool comes with a range of features like backlink explorer, keywords research, and site-auditor, which can help you produce content that converts. Raven Tools can also be used to conduct an in-depth analysis of your competition through features like site performance, rank checker, competitor manager, and more.

Key features of Raven Tools include:

  • Backlink explorer
  • Keyword research tool
  • Site-auditor
  • Site performance dashboard
  • Rank checker
  • Competitor manager

Pricing: Raven Tools offers both a free 70-day trial and paid plans. The paid plans start from $39 per month.

3. Emplifi

Emplifi is an analytics tool that helps businesses gain insights into their social media performance. It provides robust analytics, reporting, and benchmarking capabilities, allowing businesses to track and optimize their social media campaigns, evaluate their competition, and identify best practices to maximize their return on investment.

Emplifi comes with a range of features, like:

  • Social media monitoring
  • Trend tracking
  • Influencer tracking
  • Content management
  • Reporting/analytics
  • Brand tracking and analytics
  • Posts scheduling

Pricing: Emplifi offers three plans, with the lowest tier starting at $200/month for ten profiles.

Tools for Project Management

Project management is an essential part of content marketing, facilitating the delivery of timely and relevant content. Project management tools can help you plan, track and analyze your work, ensuring that deadlines are met, and quality is maintained. 

Having a clear understanding of your project’s goals and timeline is key to driving successful content marketing results. Read ahead for some great project management tools for your company.

1. ProofHub

This is a great project and task management tool for executing effective content marketing campaigns. It essentially allows you to streamline all the important tasks for your content and marketing teams. ProofHub comes with a range of features for organizing content processes, lead nurturing, analysis of key metrics, and more. Furthermore, it also helps in streamlining both internal and external communication.

ProofHub comes with a range of features for organizing content processes, such as: 

  • Analysis of key metrics
  • Chat and group chat channels
  • Project reports
  • Daily agendas
  • Task identification system
  • Milestone tracker

Pricing: ProofHub offers a free trial and two paid plans—Essential ($45/month) and Ultimate Control ($89/month).

2. DivvyHQ

DivvyHQ is a production-focused platform built with content, marketing, and communications teams in mind. This project marketing and content management tool makes the consistent planning, creation, and publishing of content a breeze. Some of DivvyHQ’s key features include:

  • Content strategy builder
  • Request form creation
  • Shared content calendars
  • Real-time dashboard
  • Reviewer “seats”
  • Custom workflows

Pricing: DivvyHQ’s paid plans start at $39/per user a month but they have a free trial as well.

Tools for Data Collection

Data collection is an essential part of content marketing; it helps you gain insights into what content resonates with your audience—enabling you to tailor your marketing strategy to be more effective and engaging. The right data helps you understand your audience better, track performance, and improve your reach. 

By collecting data, you can make informed decisions to ensure your content marketing efforts result in the best possible outcomes. We’ve listed a few data collection tools worth testing out below.

1. SurveyMonkey

When you are planning a content marketing campaign, you need to determine which type of content would be most appealing to your target audience. A research tool like SurveyMonkey can prove to be very useful in this process. Use online surveys to support your content marketing plans with your own research.

Survey Monkey offers a wide variety of survey templates—from customer service reviews and customer experience surveys to the much broader global consumer panel surveys; they’ve got you covered. The platform also offers impressive versatility in the different types of data inputs you can collect from your audience. 

Pricing: SurveyMonkey offers a free trial and paid plans. The paid plans start at $25 per user per month.

2. AskNicely

The entire AskNicely platform was built with the intention of gauging customer experience while providing a pleasant customer experience. Every customer interaction matters, and by collecting data from these interactions, you can drive team improvement and customer satisfaction easily.

AskNicely surveys are heavily geared towards service businesses. Their survey templates are carefully crafted to determine customer satisfaction levels and weak areas in your service and to gather insights on how best to improve. 

Pricing: Pricing for AskNicely is closely guarded, with custom quotes for each business after a demo is booked.

3. Typeform

The Typeform platform puts people first. Taking a more creative approach to data collection, forms, and surveys created through the platform can be anything but boring. Their approach to survey is sure to keep your audience as engaged as possible, leading to more completions—and better data.

Not only does this tool give you dozens of templates to meet all of your survey, form, and questionnaire needs, but it also seamlessly integrates with all of your favorite content marketing tools. After all, collecting data is only half of it—you’ll need to take action with the data you’ve collected to make an impact on your marketing efforts. 

Pricing: The Typeform platform has three plan tiers that can be paid monthly or yearly (at a 16% discount). The basic tier costs $25 per month.

Wrapping Up

With this list, we have shown off some of the best content marketing tools to help you deliver quality content that converts. Integrating even a few of these content marketing tools should help you reach more of your target audience, boost the performance of your company’s marketing campaigns, and save you tons of time during the content creation process.

Author Bio

Akshita is a content creator with Godot Media – a leading content marketing service. She has a penchant for turning complex topics into engaging and informative articles. 

Author Bio:

by guestauthor