20 BEST Content Marketing Tools (2023 Edition)
Being a content writing agency has its perks. Lots of coffee. Lots of content marketing tools to try out (and boy do we try a lot!).
Some content marketing tools are incredible at solving problems. Others improve processes like content creation. Others are a waste of time and should be avoided.
In this guide to the best content marketing tools, we share 20 tools worth your time and money (although plenty are free).
Let’s get into it:
1. Optimise content for ‘People Also Ask’ with AlsoAsked
What is it?
Do you scour Google’s ‘People Also Ask’ section in search for inspiration for your content? If so, AlsoAsked will change your life.
AlsoAsked is a web-based tool that discovers, aggregates and organises ‘People Also Ask’ data based on keywords you input. It provides a breakdown of questions people also ask with a diagram tree linking the questions together.
So what?
This keyword discovery tool is immense for SEO and PPC copywriting. It does a deep dive to discover long-tail keywords that you wouldn’t think of. It presents data in an easy to understand way and shows you how each question is linked to the others.
2. Manage brand document assets with Templafy
What is it?
Does your organisation use document templates for communication? If so, Templafy makes sure everyone is on the same page.
Templafy is a document template management platform that provides services for business document creation. It allows people across an organisation to create, collaborate and sign off on business documents to company standards.
So what?
This tool lets you centrally distribute office templates to all employees and provides central brand and legal control over employee-created documentation to ensure legal and brand compliance. It’s a great tool to assure document standards.
3. Create professional graphics for free with Canva
What is it?
Do you spend a lot of time producing graphics for blog posts and videos? If so, Canva is a great tool to use.
Canva is an app with a catalogue of tens of thousands of free graphics. You can customise these in many different ways to create infographics, brochures, leaflets, images, logos and much more using nothing more than your smartphone.
So what?
This tool makes graphic design easy and fast. If you don’t have hours to spend making graphics for articles or you don’t know how to, Canva does it in a snap.
We know plenty of professionals who use it, so it has a great reputation. Why not give it a try?
4. Discover how people interact with your content with Hotjar
What is it?
Do you have a knowledge gap about how people interact with your on-page content? Hotjar puts you in the know.
Hotjar is a heatmap analytics platform. Install the code on your website and Hotjar will track user sessions and record users who are extremely engaged, so you can see how visitors are really using your website.
So what?
Hotjar is an analytics, heat map and user feedback service. It tracks user sessions so you can collect data.
By understanding how your users interact with your on-page content, you can refine your content to increase conversion rates.
5. Create, track and eSign documents with PandaDoc
What is it?
Do you produce digital proposals, quotes, contracts, eSignatures and payments? PandaDoc helps you produce them faster.
PandaDoc is a digital document platform with hundreds of templates. You can create, send and track digital documents like NDAs, quotes and proposals. Every stage of the deal cycle is covered to make life easier. It’s easy to use and affordable.
So what?
PandaDoc lets you wave goodbye to manual data entry by integrating with Stripe, Dropbox, Salesforce and many more platforms.
Create beautiful, branded documents for sales, marketing and human resources with minimal effort and track how people use them.
6. Manage your writing team with Write Manage
What is it?
Do you struggle to manage your writing teams and coordinate projects? Write Manage is a fantastic web-based tool for managing your writing teams.
Write Manage is a low-cost writing tool for freelancers, brands and content agencies with one specific purpose – to help you easily manage articles in progress from multiple writers. It can replace Slack, Asana and other generic project management tools.
So what?
You create projects in Write Manage and assign them to your writers. Writers then get notified by email.
This system can replace ordering through freelance websites and save you a lot of money because freelance platforms charge a commission.
7. Create content ideas and collaborate on Trello
What is it?
Do you need an easy to use collaboration tool for lists and tasks? Trello is an excellent choice.
Trello is a collaboration tool with a simple interface. You collaborate using boards, lists, and cards on a single dashboard. You can manage projects, organise tasks, and build team spirit all in one place. It’s our favourite tool for collaboration.
So what?
There are so many collaboration tools out there. Trello is the simplest to use. It’s incredibly easy to collaborate and create lists.
Best of all, it’s free. There are paid plans but the free version does most stuff.
8. Manage your projects with Asana
What is it?
Do you struggle to keep on top of projects and collaborate with your team? Asana is a great Freemium tool to solve your problems.
Asana is a project management tool that focuses on to-do lists, tasks and collaboration. You can see how all your projects are progressing in real-time with Portfolios and manage tasks with ease. Asana is great for managing small and large projects.
So what?
Project management is impossible without clear tasks, lists, progress and assignment. Asana puts everything you need in one place. It makes life easier and it helps teams get work done faster.
9. Edit and proof your writing with Grammarly
What is it?
Are you prone to making grammatical mistakes in your writing? Grammarly is an editor that catches these mistakes for you.
Grammarly is the number one editing tool in the world. It can sync with WordPress and text editors to automate editing and proofing in real-time, or you can copy and paste your content into the tool. The suggestions have a 90% success rate in our experience.
So what?
Grammar mistakes, word choice errors and typos are human errors. Grammarly eliminates these human errors by catching them for you before you hit publish or submit your work.
It can even proof your emails with the Grammarly browser extension. It’s free, so why not give it a go?
10. Uncover your competitor’s website traffic and online strategy with SimilarWeb
What is it?
Do you want to uncover your competitor’s analytics and online strategy? SimilarWeb is the most powerful web-based tool to collect this kind of data.
SimilarWeb lets you benchmark against your competitors and industry, reveals your competition’s analytics and online strategy and helps you discover new opportunities. You can analyse any website or app in seconds.
So what?
SimilarWeb gives you insights and advice on your market. It reveals what your competitors do well and how you can improve your website to compete.
There are four tool solutions for digital marketing, market research, sales intelligence and investor intelligence to help you make better decisions.
I use Google Docs more than anything. It’s great for collaborating on projects
We use Workspace. It’s secure and does everything we need. Moved over from Office 365.
AlsoAsked is immense. What a tool. Thanks for the recommendation!
Agreed. It makes life way easier
Canva is the tool I use most. It’s great for infographics and social media images
My favourite content marketing tool is HubSpot. It’s the best inbound marketing and sales platform and it’s reasonably priced.
HubSpot is great. We’ve never bought it but we have used it with our partners.
My best content marketing tools are as follows:
Trends – Trendspottr
Collaboration – Slack
Topic ideas – Google Search (I like doing it manually)
Documents – Google Docs
Nothing too fancy. Thanks for the article. Love SimilarWeb.
Thanks for the tip on Trendspottr, that’s a great tool
Check out Microsoft Clarity for free heat maps – https://clarity.microsoft.com/