10 Free Tools All Content Marketers Need to Use
TechsPlace | Content marketing seems like a no-brainer job, doesn’t it? You just have to sit on the internet and write content all day, and then you get your paycheck. Sadly, that’s not the case with content marketers.
Being a content marketer that runs a successful blog means that you have to constantly produce valuable content to develop an online presence, attract leads, and engage with an audience.
However, in the fight for eyeballs, that’s definitely not a walk in the park. Do you know that there are about 70 million posts being published each month by WordPress users? That’s a massive number.
Don’t fret just yet. If you’re running your own blog, there are some free, essential tools you can use to make content marketing much easier and more effective.
1. Topics Analyzer: Buzzsumo
In order to remain competitive, it’s important to be in the loop with the latest trends — so that you’re not missing out on any opportunities to drive more traffic or increase revenue.
That’s why you need to use topics analyzer tools to understand what kind of content is trending in your industry. In this case, Buzzsumo can be an ideal option for that.
It suggests the high-performing topics you should write about. It can also help the influencers that you can work with to market the content for you.
2. Notes Organizer: Evernote
As content marketers, you know that you need to stay organized and work in such a well-structured and orderly setting so that you can get more things done.
You need to take notes on your content production process, editorial calendar, your explainer video campaigns, and more. In this case, it’s easy to feel burnout.
Evernote helps you to organize and take your notes, create to-do lists, and schedule content for publishing all in one place. They automatically synced across devices so you can access all the notes much easier.
3. Online Design Tool: Canva
Most of us are visual learners. It means that we retain the information much better when we absorb it through images or videos.
Canva is the solution for your online design or visual content. This tool provides you with design templates for all your marketing needs, from social media images to web banners, even flyers to business cards.
4. Collaborative Word Processing Tool: Google Docs
Content marketing teams need to collaborate and work together to produce compelling content. And a collaborative platform made it easy.
Google Docs allows you and your team to work on one document in real-time, perfecting their work prior to the final “presentation.” It helps you create, format, store, and share it with a writer, researcher, and editor on a single Doc by clicking the same link.
They’re saved to a cloud or online drive that can simply be accessed with your regular Google account.
5. Writing Tool: Grammarly
Writing for content is pretty daunting. You need to be detailed for grammar, spelling, punctuation; you name it.
Grammarly is a writing tool you can use to reduce your writing errors. This tool highlights any grammar mistakes you’ve made and makes suggestions to correct it.
What’s more, it also lets you set customizable goals for your content writing, including your audience, tone of voice, and intent.
6. All-in-one SEO Toolbar: MozBar
Content and SEO go hand-in-hand, just like peanut butter and jelly. With the right SEO practices, your content will rank higher on the search results pages (SERPs), making it easier for your target audience to find you.
In this case, MozBar can help you to sit on the top pages of SERPs. It’s a toolbar that you can use for research on the go.
This fast-tracking SEO tool offers you instant metrics while viewing any page on SERPs. It saves your time to track competitor research and improve your own blog.
7. Stock Images Library: Pixabay
Text-heavy content can scare away your viewers. It tends to make them feel overwhelmed before they get the answer they’re looking for in your content.
Including featured images can be a solution to make your content easy on the eyes. The easiest thing you can do is using a stock images library like Pixabay.
Pixabay spoils you with millions of professional pictures, illustrations, and vectors taken by professionals. You can freely use them as visual elements in your blog content.
8. Keyword Research Tool: Google Keyword Planner
The right, high-volume keywords can help your content to get more exposure. This, in turn, will drive more traffic to your blog. That’s where keyword research tools came in handy.
One of the most popular free keyword tools is Google Keyword Planner. This tool gives you an idea of which keywords are popular and pertinent to your brand.
These keywords can become launching points for your content, attracting more audience, and making them stick around.
9. Analytics and Performance: Google Analytics
Analytics and reporting are crucial in a content marketing strategy. It gives you valuable insights into how well your content is performing.
Google Analytics is one of the most popular tools among content marketers when it comes to content marketing analytics.
With this tool, you’ll understand how many visitors are reading your content, how long they stay, how they interact with your content, etc. So, you can rely on Google Analytics to modify your content strategy accordingly.
10. Social Media Management Tool: Buffer
Your content marketing area is much more than blog posts and marketing videos. Social media posts can add an extra boost to your overall content marketing strategy. It helps you to drive traffic to your vlog, grow your social media following, and engage your followers.
You can use Buffer to manage your social media accounts and schedule your posts for a future time and day. So, you don’t have to manually share the content on each social media platform, which is very time-consuming.
Wrapping It Up
There you have it. Keeping your head above the water as content marketers isn’t an easy task. You have to constantly be on your toes when it comes to new ways of creating fresh, impactful content.
In this case, utilizing the tools mentioned above help your content stand out. If you think managing your blog content is too painful, you can take a shortcut by relying on content marketing services.
Andre Oentoro is the founder of Breadnbeyond, an award-winning explainer video company. He helps businesses increase conversion rates, close more sales, and get positive ROI from explainer videos (in that order).
