Today, content marketing is one of the most effective strategies for businesses online to reach their target audience, drive traffic, and build their brand. In content marketing, you create, share, and distribute valuable and relevant content to attract, engage, and convert people into customers. Understanding this importance, you as a content marketer need special tools to manage this process.
Enter content marketing software—your tools to streamline the creation, scheduling, distribution, and analysis of content. They not only simplify workflows but also enhance collaboration among your teams, ensure consistency and optimize content strategies. This article discusses the benefits of some of the best content marketing software tools available today.
Benefits of Content Marketing Software
Increased Efficiency
Content marketing software boosts efficiency in every step of content production for your website, blog, or social media. From planning and content creation to scheduling and publishing, these tools help you automate repetitive tasks. This ensures consistency in content tone and messaging and makes it easier to distribute across multiple platforms. These tools assist you to produce more impactful content faster.
Improved Collaboration
In content marketing, you often need teamwork between writers, designers, editors, and marketers. Content marketing software simplifies team collaboration when there is a need to brainstorm ideas, assign tasks, track progress, and communicate. These tools help ensure everyone in the team works together efficiently for the goals.
Data-Driven Insights
For your marketing success, data analytics is important to understand your content performance. Content marketing software has analytics tools that inform you about audience engagement, website traffic, click-through rates, and conversion rates. Using this data, you can make better decisions, adjust strategies, and optimize content to better resonate with your target audience.
Time and Cost Savings
These tools have automation features for social media scheduling, email campaigns, and content distribution to save you time and effort. They maximize the reach and effectiveness of your campaigns.
However, if you are a beginner in this field, I recommend you to read some of these Best Content Marketing Books and Courses for in-depth understanding before using the tools.
Types of Content Marketing Software
You may be a small business or a large enterprise, so you can use various software tools for your goals. We can consider the types of these software tools as follows:
1. Enterprise Content Marketing Software
They are designed for large organizations and businesses with complex marketing needs. Enterprise content marketing software can manage comprehensive content calendars, multiple teams, and enhanced workflows. They have high-level integration and advanced analytical capabilities for large-scale operations.
2. Content Marketing Software for Small Businesses
Small businesses look for cost-effective, easy-to-use tools for their content marketing needs. Such tools usually have essential features like content planning, social media scheduling, and basic analytics at a lower cost.
3. Content Marketing Software for Social Media
Social media platforms are the most used places for content marketing today. There are various software tools, especially for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc. They are used to schedule posts, monitor engagement, and track performance in one place.
4. Open-Source Content Marketing Software
Open-source content marketing tools are freely available for those who can customize them as they want. They are useful to tech-savvy people.
5. SaaS Content Marketing Software
Software-as-a-service (SaaS) tools are for cloud-based solutions, not available as desktop software. We use them for more flexibility, scalability, and ease of use. They update regularly and offer technical support and integration with other marketing tools or platforms.
6. Free Content Marketing Software
If you are a business on a tight budget, you can use free tools. They come with limited functionalities, but they are useful for basic content marketing tasks.
Best Content Marketing Software Examples
On the list below, you will find the most popular, best content marketing tools with their key features and benefits. Under each of them, you will see links to affordable alternatives. They are the best alternative tools for those who don’t want to spend much to buy one.
Enterprise Content Marketing Software
1. HubSpot
HubSpot is a popular inbound marketing platform used for content management, social media marketing, SEO, and analytics. Designed for large-scale marketing operations, it offers various tools to manage content creation, lead generation, and customer engagement.
Pricing: Free. Premium starts from $20 to $1,500 per month.
> See Affordable HubSpot alternatives
2. Brafton
Brafton is a content marketing platform to create high-quality content. They provide strategic consulting, content production, and distribution services.
Pricing: Based on requirement.
3. Vidyard
For enterprise video marketers, Vidyard focuses on video content marketing with tools for creating, hosting, and analyzing videos. It has powerful analytics and personalization features to leverage video as the content strategy.
Pricing: Free. Premium starts from $19 to 59.
4. Planable
Planable is used for social media content with features for real-time collaboration, approvals, and scheduling. It allows a smooth collaboration between multiple departments with everyone on the same page.
Pricing: Free. Premium starts from $33 to $49 per month if billed annually.
5. Adobe Experience Manager
Adobe Experience Manager is a content management platform for enterprises to create, manage, and deliver personalized experiences across various channels. It has powerful analytics and automation features for large-scale content marketing.
Pricing: Needs to contact.
Content Marketing Software for Small Businesses
6. Trello
Trello is a project management tool used for content planning. It has boards, lists, and cards to organize content ideas, assign tasks, and track progress in real-time. They are important for small businesses.
Pricing: Free. Premium starts from $5 to $17.50 per month.
7. Buffer
It is a social media management tool making easier for businesses to schedule, track, and optimize social media posts. Buffer is a popular and affordable tool for small businesses that want to grow their online presence.
Pricing: Free up to 3 channels. Premium starts from $5 to $100 per month.
> Affordable Buffer Alternatives
8. Canva
Canva is one of the most popular platforms for creating stunning visuals and graphics without professional skills. You can create social media posts, blog images, infographics, and more with its library of customizable templates.
Pricing: Free. You can upgrade to premium versions for more features.
> Affordable Canva Alternatives
9. Hootsuite
As a widely used social media management platform, Hootsuite helps small businesses schedule posts, track engagement, and analyze performance across various social channels.
Pricing: Free trial available. Plan starts from $22.78.
Content Marketing Software for Social Media
10. Sprout Social
This powerful social media management and analytics tool helps businesses manage multiple accounts, schedule posts, and track performance. Sprout Social is useful for businesses to maximize engagement on social media platforms.
Pricing: Free trial available. Premium starts from $199 to $399 per month.
> Affordable Sprout Social Alternatives
11. Zoho Social
This tool is also used for scheduling social media posts and tracking engagement. Zoho Social integrates with Zoho’s suite of business tools. It offers advantages for businesses that already use Zoho CRM or other services.
Pricing: 15-day free trial. Premium starts from $7 per month if billed annually.
12. MeetEdgar
For social media automation by recycling evergreen content and re-sharing it at optimal times, MeetEdgar is a great tool for businesses. This tool can maintain a consistent online presence without frequently creating new content for your social media channels.
Pricing: Starts from $ 24.91 to $41.58 per month.
13. Later
Though specifically designed for Instagram, Later also supports platforms like Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Its drag-and-drop interface allows you to plan and schedule visual content in advance.
Pricing: 14-day free trial. Plan starts from $16.67 per month.
Open-Source Content Marketing Software
14. WordPress
WordPress is the most popular open-source content management system (CMS) in the world used for building websites and blogs. Content marketers use it for its flexibility, with thousands of plugins and themes available to customize websites to their specific needs.
15. Joomla
Joomla is another powerful CMS like WordPress that offers more advanced functionality. It is popular for its features more controllable for website structure and content.
16. Drupal
Known for its high level of security and scalability, Drupal is a popular choice for large organizations and government websites. It’s a highly customizable CMS that can create complex content ecosystems.
17. Grav
Grav is a modern open-source CMS famous for its speed and flexibility. This CMS doesn’t require a database, so it is faster and easier to deploy.
SaaS Content Marketing Software
18. SEMrush
SEMrush is one of the most comprehensive SEO tools marketers and website owners use to optimize their content for search engines. It features keyword research, content optimization, and competitor analysis tools. If you can afford it, SEMrush is a must-have toolset.
Pricing: Free basic version available. Premium starts from $139.95 per month.
> Affordable SEMrush alternatives
19. Ahrefs
Ahrefs is another powerful SEO tool, similar to SEMrush. It provides valuable data including backlinks, keyword rankings, and content performance. It is popularly used for content audits and developing organic traffic strategies. Ahrefs is also a must-use tool for those who can afford it.
Pricing: Starts from $129 per month
> Affordable Ahrefs alternatives
20. CoSchedule
This platform offers content marketing tools for planning and scheduling. CoSchedule has a marketing calendar, project management features, and social media scheduling to organize your content strategy in one place.
Pricing: Free. The premium plan starts from $19 per month.
21. ContentStudio
This multi-purpose tool helps you discover, create, and distribute content. ContentStudio’s automation features for social media scheduling, content curation, and analytics are popular features for content marketers.
Pricing: Free trial available. Their Starter Plan costs $20 per month for annual subscribers.
Free Content Marketing Software
22. Google Analytics
This Google tool is a must-have free tool for every marketer to track detailed insights into website traffic, user behavior, and content performance. You can view various data to see how your content drives traffic and conversions. However, it is overwhelming for new users. They can look for other alternatives.
> Affordable Google Analytics Alternatives
23. Google My Business
Google My Business helps local businesses manage their online presence with free tools to update their business information for local buyers. Search it in Google and set up your account if you don’t have one.
24. Mailchimp
Mailchimp is one of the most popular email marketing tools that offers email automation, audience segmentation, and performance analytics. You can use this AI-powered tool to get started with email marketing. However, it is not a completely free tool. When your contacts are more than 500, you need to upgrade from the free plan.
> Affordable Mailchimp Alternatives (lifetime deals)
How Companies Benefited After Their Successful Content Marketing Software Implementation
- SAF, a software company, generated $3,675,000 in Marketing Generated Opportunities (MGO).
- Salesforce could increase search traffic significantly through targeted content creation.
- HubSpot increased customer acquisition through valuable blog posts and guides.
- HelloSign, a content marketing agency, achieved a staggering 1,308% increase in organic traffic over 17 months.
- FreshLime improved collaboration and efficiency in content creation processes.
FAQs
What is content marketing?
Content marketing is the practice of creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and engage a target audience. Its primary goal is to drive traffic, leads, and sales by building trust and authority with your audience.
What is content marketing software?
Content marketing software comprises various tools that assist marketers in planning, creating, distributing, and analyzing content across channels. They often include features for content scheduling, collaboration, SEO, social media management, and performance analytics.
Difference between content marketing and content creation?
Content marketing uses the strategic planning, creation, and distribution of content to achieve business goals. Content creation, on the other hand, is the process of developing the actual content for blog posts, videos, and social media posts. In content marketing, we do both the creation and promotion of content.
Content marketing is an essential part of any business’s digital marketing strategy. If you want to succeed in content marketing, you need to use the right content marketing software that can help you streamline processes, enhance collaboration, and make data-driven decisions to create and promote quality content.
So, use the right tools from the above list for your content marketing goals!
Valuable Books & Courses
Ibochouba Singh is a content writer and reviewer with a passion for writing about digital marketing and tech gadgets, including software tools and new tech gadgets. He has over 15 years of experience writing for several consumers and clients, including tech startups, marketing agencies, and software companies. He is writing many articles and product reviews for many websites, including nigcworld.com, buywin.in, medium.com, and quora.com.
