“Content is king.”

You’ve probably heard that more times than you could count. But some phrases are worth repeating—time and time again. Content Marketing is so fundamental to current promotional strategies that over 70% of B2B and B2C organizations rely on it.

In a time when digital growth and online presence are valued above all else, high-value content can take your brand to unparalleled heights.

The only question is: How do you create content efficiently?

The good news is that you can leverage several content marketing tools to streamline this process.

You may find it challenging to determine which ones are best suited to your needs. More importantly, are there any drawbacks to using such platforms?

Don’t worry. This article will walk you through all of it.

9 Best Content Marketing Platforms You Should Know About

It’s easy enough to list out several platforms that can enhance your content marketing strategy. However, the best way to approach this would be to focus on three core pillars, content creation, analytics, and internal management.

Content marketing tools form the foundation of your overall strategy. You rely on these for content planning, creating, and editing. Some of these tools also help with competitor analysis, keyword research, and consolidating your team’s efforts.

So, here are the 3 best content marketing platforms for each of these categories:

Content Creation

1. Google Docs

Pricing:

• Free

Features include:

• Offline editing to ensure consistent access to your work
• Voice recognition to aid with seamless narration instead of manual writing
• Review mode for enhancing the material without making actual alterations
• Dedicated research tool to locate relevant online resources for your written content

Pros:

Google Docs‘ most appealing feature is its price point or the lack thereof. And considering the range of tools it gives you access to, that comes off as a pleasant surprise.

It’s one of the best tools to improve collaboration across multiple writers and creators. List down the agenda for your marketing campaigns, create outlines for blog posts, or consolidate your final copies for review – the choice is all yours.

Cons:

Despite all its offerings, there are more advanced tools for content creation and planning than Google Docs. Nonetheless, the platform is an excellent starting point for those new to this domain.

2. Canva

Pricing:

• Free (Basic)
• $119.99 annually (Pro)
• $179.99 annually (Teams)

Features include:

• Simple drag-and-drop editor for seamless visual customization
• Dedicated cloud storage of 5GB (scales based on the opted package)
• Designated controls to maintain a consistent brand image across all visual designs
• Over 250,000 templates and 1 million graphics and images (depending on the plan)

Pros:

Canva is hands down the content marketing software you turn to if you don’t have much experience with design. The simple UI and editing tools work equally well for almost everyone, regardless of their proficiency in creating visually appealing material.

Cons:

While simple enough to use, the extent to which you can leverage the full scope of Canva’s offerings depends on the package you opt for. And while the annual subscription rates are relatively affordable, there is no reason why veteran designers shouldn’t go for more advanced content marketing tools.

3. Yoast

Pricing:

• Free (Basic)
• $99 annually (Premium)

Features include:

• Flesch-Kincaid scale to enhance readability
• Social sharing tool to repurpose your content for specific channels
• Internal and external link monitoring to improve the backlinking structure
• Assesses keyword density to optimize your content for search engine rankings

Pros:

In terms of SEO optimization, Yoast can do wonders for your content. It will not only help your pages rank better in search engines, such as Google, but also boost overall user engagement by making your content more accessible to the general public.

Cons:

As one of the core content marketing tools, it’s surprising that Yoast’s premium package may not be worth the pricing. The additional features, like multiple or focus keyword grouping, are redundant. Instead, you can set up redirects for your pages with free plugins.

Analytics

1. BuzzSumo

Pricing:

• $1,140 annually (Basic)
• $2,388 annually (Content Creation)
• $2,388 annually (PR & Communications)
• $3,828 annually (Suite)
• $11,988 annually (Enterprise)

Features include:

• Real time SEO insights to discover popular user search habits
• Format identification to align your material with audience preferences
• Extended support for analyzing online and viral trends from the last five years
• Domain benchmarking to determine your competitors’ top-performing content

Pros:

BuzzSumo is an exceptionally accurate content marketing platform, enabling you to get in-depth insights into aspects like brand mentions, backlinking, and social share counts.

In addition, there are automated suggestions for content ideas and trending topics that help curate and publish relevant material.

Cons:

Despite all that it offers, BuzzSumo is still significantly expensive. The enterprise package, for instance, may be completely out of question for smaller marketing teams. Multiple users have also reported bugs with the platform’s Slack integration.

2. Ahrefs

Pricing:

• $1,188 annually (Lite)
• $2,388 annually (Standard)
• $4,788 annually (Advanced)
• $11,988 annually (Enterprise)

Features include:

• Organic keyword tracking to determine fluctuations in SERPs
• In-depth analysis of the backlinking structure and performance over time
• Dedicated access to competitors’ ranking history for specific keywords
• Comprehensive assessment of a keyword’s potential in generating online traffic

Pros:

From website audits to competitor page ranking assessments, Ahrefs can help you scale your digital growth. For instance, dedicated implementation of backlinking analysis helps in determining the most effective off-page SEO strategy.

Moreover, the platform offers key metrics to simplify your keyword selection and identify content gaps, enabling you to generate better organic traffic.

Cons:

Similar to BuzzSumo, Ahrefs is one of the more expensive content marketing software tools in the market. Yet, despite its high price point, it lacks granular filters that can facilitate more in-depth research. The absence of integrated training manuals doesn’t help matters either.

3. Google Analytics

Pricing:

• Free (Standard)
• $150,000 annually (360)

Features include:

• Real time reporting on user engagement and traffic acquisition
• Simplified visualization of KPIs to assess strategy implementation
• Integrations with other Google tools, including Ads, Search Console, and Cloud
• Data-driven predictive analytics and suggestions to optimize content performance

Pros:

If you are at your wit’s end when it comes to making sense of the gathered data, Google Analytics will do it for you. From structured spreadsheets to comprehensive graphs, it is one of the few content marketing tools that offer users every foreseeable channel to organize the collected information.

Apart from that, there are built-in integrations to track conversions, monitor user behavior and page interactions, and designated filters to identify your core audience.

Cons:

Let’s be frank: Only a handful of content marketing software tools are worth $150,000 Annually. Google Analytics is not one of them. So, skip the 360 version and stick to the standard version. Either way, you wouldn’t be missing out on anything substantial.

Internal Management

1. Trello

Pricing:

• Free (Basic)
• $60 annually (Standard)
• $120 annually (Premium)
• $210 annually (Enterprise)

Features include:

• Multiple boards to segment departmental activity
• Visually captivating cards, tags, and lists to track project progress
• Checklists to break large tasks into structured and actionable steps
• Administrative commands to set automated controls and streamline workflow

Pros:

Trello outperforms almost all other platforms when it comes to keeping your team members and projects organized. The best part? It has one of the cleanest UIs compared to other tools. So, unless you are the administrator, you rarely have to deal with internal controls or general board management.

Cons:

Considering Trello is meant for bulk task management, its file size upload limitations come off as contradictory to its purpose. For instance, the basic package only allows files of up to 10MB, while premium and enterprise members get 250MB.

2. Loom

Pricing:

• Free (Starter)
• $96 annually (Basic)
• $540 annually (Enterprise)

Features include:

• User engagement tracking to monitor your team’s activity log
• Advanced administrative controls for enhanced security and privacy
• Multiple customization options with extended support for 4K resolutions
• Video archiving and categorization to seamlessly access specific training manuals

Pros:

Anybody involved in content marketing will vouch for the constant need to train and upskill their team members.

Loom enables you to do precisely that. Make short, instructive videos to help your writers and creators create high quality material. You could even send out meeting agendas without disrupting the workflow.

Cons:

Given that all of the material you deploy through Loom is visual, it’s concerning that the platform has no way to censor sensitive data. So, avoid including email addresses, phone numbers, and other personal information in the videos.  Users also report that the desktop app tends to lag frequently.

3. Evernote

Pricing:

• Free (Basic)
• $839.99 annually (Premium)

Features include:

• Calendar linking to streamline internal schedules
• Cross-platform synchronization to ensure consistent access to instructions
• Dedicated web clipper to save online resources and information for later use
• Seamless project organization across notes, clippings, and tasks across multiple devices

Pros:

While not a conventional content marketing platform, Evernote is critical for those with multiple projects to review or curate. For one, it makes storing data simple and accessible through several channels, including voice notes, image capture, or manual typing.

Meanwhile, the companion scanning feature allows you to quickly retrieve any information from thousands of documents.

Cons:

Evernote’s lack of offline accessibility is somewhat restrictive, especially when compared to other available options. Even so, there is a storage limitation for free users that only extends up to 60MB.

Honorable Mentions

While all the content marketing tools mentioned previously can help streamline your overall promotional strategy, a few other platforms warrant attention. Grammarly, for one, is exceptional for creating error-free copies.

Meanwhile, CoSchedule Headline Analyzer will enable you to write catchy titles while helping with SEO rankings.

Finally, Copyscape is an invaluable platform for marketing teams that produce written content in bulk. It will ensure that the published material is original and not directly sourced from other pages.

Which One Will You Choose?

In light of all the available content marketing tools in the market, it can be tempting to incorporate as many as possible into your workflow. That, however, would be a mistake. Instead, it’s better to identify, isolate, and thoroughly analyze which ones fulfill your requirements.

Regardless, the best possible solution would be to outsource your needs to expert content marketers instead.

And that’s where the WHub content marketplace steps in. With a proven track record in conceptualizing and crafting exceptional and brand-relevant material—from social media posts and guest blogs to copywriting and graphic design—the creators at WHub can help you achieve an unbeatable digital presence.

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