There are many online content marketing tools out there that aim to make marketers’ jobs a little easier. But all these choices can be a bit overwhelming. How do you know which tools will be the most beneficial without breaking the budget?

Well, you’re in luck. We’ve pulled together a list of 10 of the tools that we regularly use to save time, effort, and company resources. Some tools have a few options to choose from, but we will still outline the purpose and why Turtl has chosen what it has.

It is worth noting the following list has been created in no particular order and without incentive to name these companies. So let’s dive in! 

What is a content marketing tool?

A content marketing tool is any service or program you use to create, edit, or distribute content on behalf of your business. This can range from tools that check your spelling and grammar like Grammarly, to tools like Adobe’s Creative Suite for creating videos and images. Content marketing tools like Turtl’s Analytics Dashboard will also help track data across your marketing efforts,

Do I need a content marketing tool?

In this day and age, it’s almost impossible to not use some form of content marketing tool. As a writer, you are likely using a content management system or writing tools to aid in your work. If you’re creating visual content, you’re likely utilizing a whole range of programs to help with this.

Even on the less creative side, social media marketing often sees marketers using content distribution tools to keep their content aligned across all platforms. Email marketing campaigns will typically require a tool like Hubspot or Mailchimp to manage subscriber lists and automatic emails.

So the short answer is yes, you need content marketing tools to have effective content marketing campaigns.

Writing tools

1. Grammarly  

Grammarly is a favorite of writers everywhere. Quite simply, it’s a lifesaver when it comes to checking spelling, grammar, and punctuation, but it also picks up on tone, overused words, and key messaging.

While no AI is foolproof, Grammarly definitely helps improve the overall quality of any text. If you’re not already using it, we bet that you’ll soon become a fan. The Chrome extension is also handy, and to top it all off, there’s a free version available!

2. otter.ai

On a different side of copy work sits otter.ai – a tool that helps with transcribing, and saves marketers a ton of time on pulling quotes, adding subtitles, or collating interview blog pieces. Try it out on your next meeting and watch the notes appear without you having to noisily type it up or move focus away from your free-flowing conversation as you write.

AI writing tools

3. Chat GPT + 4. Google Bard

The rise of AI tools has come hard and fast. While a lot of people have taken these on with gusto, many feel negatively towards AI tools. We think the best use of tools such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard is as content outline tools.

When creating long-form written content, AI tools can be incredibly useful in helping to outline a content structure upon which you can build. It’s advisable not to use these tools to do all of your writing though as they may not get your business’ tone of voice and can come across as mechanical in the way they are written.

Digital content publishing tool

5. Turtl 

If you’re looking to create digital documents that stand out amongst the crowd, then Turtl is your answer!

Turtl Docs are created in a drag-and-drop Creation Studio so adding text, images, polls, and more is a breeze. They function brilliantly as marketing brochures, sales proposals, buyer enablement collateral, core messaging training, or basically anything you might make as a marketer.

The unique psychology-led format helps content creators capture audience attention with structured layouts, interactive features, and automated personalization, without needing design or coding expertise.

Plus, with in-depth content analytics, you can go beyond click-through rates and downloads to see precisely who is reading and what they are interested in, allowing users to demonstrate and enhance ROI.

Of course, we couldn’t create a post about content marketing tools without including our very own software. Turtl helps anyone create and update visually appealing content with ease and speed. Our users can even take things a step further by integrating Turtl Docs with existing tech. For example, a CRM integration will enable data-led decision-making and more effective distribution.

Photo tools

6. Unsplash  + 7. Pexels  + 8. Pixabay

When in search of beautiful images, this Charlie’s Angels trio of imagery sites calls to us. Turtl Docs have a native integration with Pixabay, while a few different teams use Unsplash or Pexels. On each, you will find a whole bunch of images and videos, all of which are free with no strings attached! This means they can be downloaded and used anywhere. You’ll also find our very own designer’s work there …

Graphics tools

9. Canva

Thanks to Canva you no longer have to be a designer to produce beautiful visuals. Sometimes stock images just don’t cut it, and this is where Canva saves the day with hundreds of templates, assets, and layouts to choose from. It takes no time at all to create an animated gif for social media or a simple chart for an upcoming blog post.

10. chartblocks 

chartblocks takes things one step further by producing dynamic and engaging charts that can move or react to interaction. Therefore, it is no surprise that Turtl’s product designers added integrations with chartblocks (as well as infogram and everviz) to make statistics really pop.

Video tools

11. Vidyard

So we already mentioned that some of the photo tools listed above have stock videos, but there’s so much

potential with video to reach, engage and inspire your audience. For instance, Vidyard enables anyone (but particularly sales teams) to record, share, embed in emails & track views for videos. The ability to add a personal, human touch to your tech communications is proven to help with engagement and memorability.

12. veed.io

You can do something similar with veed.io but Turtl’s marketing team mostly uses this separate software for its quick editing options and automatic captioning. Yep, that’s right, no more spending hours typing out what has been said and timing the text to appear at just the right moment – technology can truly save teams time and effort on menial yet critical tasks.

Content Management System

13. WordPress

Content management systems are essential for marketing teams. CMSs allow multiple contributors to create, edit, and (depending on permissions) publish content on your website with ease. WordPress is one of the world’s most popular content management systems and boasts a wide range of plugins and extra tools to aid in your content creation.

SEO Tool

14. Yoast SEO

Talking of WordPress plugins, Yoast SEO is a fantastic tool that rates the search engine optimization of your content. Whether it’s not enough internal links or a lack of alt text on images, Yoast SEO helps you get the most out of your content by flagging areas for improvement. This feedback brings content to as high a standard as possible for search engines crawling your pages. You could be creating impressive content, but if it isn’t appearing in search results, then you’re shooting in the dark.

Collaborative tool

15. Google Docs 

For any writing task, be it a blog post, article, or social media post, Google Docs is the place where it all begins. It’s simple to use and great for collaboration thanks to the commenting and live-time editing capabilities. Plus the Grammarly extension makes writing drafts and checking copy even easier!

Asset management tool

16. Airtable 

Airtable integrates with a ton of popular software and services to help businesses build their own applications without too much hassle. This makes it quite possibly the best free and low-code platform for enabling asset organization, customized workflows, and collaborative communications.

If you’ve used a spreadsheet or a search console, you can now make your own! You can even use their templates to quickly fill in a Social Media Calendar, Content Map, or Project Tracker.

Look, there are lots of options for asset management. The choice depends on the skills of your operations teams and the kinds of resources you want to store/track. As such, Turtl’s marketing team settled on Airtable for their activities after an internal discussion which we recommend you also undertake.

Team management tools

17. Trello + 18. Monday

If you ask around for the tool of choice when it comes to quick and easy project planning and collaboration with colleagues, legacy tool Trello and ‘new-kid on the block’ Monday.com will always pop up.

These project management platforms help keep track of content marketing tasks through boards, checklists, and assigned cards. Whichever you choose, conveniently designate clear responsibilities and processes for people and projects using messaging and tagging systems.

Content distribution tools

19. Agorapulse + 20.Hootsuite 

Once you’ve made your content and planned how it fits into your buyer journey, it is time to distribute! One of the best ways to do so is through your social media channels. This is especially helpful since organic promotion can be done cheaply and reactively.

Previously, the Turtl marketing team used Hootsuite, and in 2021 we started using Agorapulse, but both offer free trials to help you make a decision. Having a tool that can create, schedule, and track posts with a few clicks is invaluable to saving your team’s time.

Content analysis tools

21. Google Analytics

You’ve spent all this time making and distributing awesome content, but now what? A firm favorite with most marketers for tracking content performance for free has got to be Google Analytics. The standard data provided by GA is great. But if you’re technically minded, you can go further and track specific goals and set up behavioral events.

22. SEMRush 

Perhaps you want to look at your marketing and brand reputation on a more granular level? Enter SEMRush – which can help with analyzing your marketing efforts alongside researching the competition and what keywords are actually effective.

23. Hotjar

It’s no secret that we at Turtl love analytics. Data is so essential in marketing that we have our own Analytics Dashboard as mentioned earlier. However, for some balance, Hotjar is worth considering for measuring performance on your website. Its focus on user behavior appeals to our love of reader attention psychology. It’s easy to see how people interact with your website, but it’s better to understand why they interact the way they do.

While we’ve added content analysis tools last, that doesn’t make them any less important. If anything, having feedback and insights from these tools is the most valuable. How else can you ensure your content ecosystem and marketing project cycles are as efficient as possible?

Turtl takeaway

The above resources are a sure-fire way to help improve your daily content marketing activities. If there are any other tools that you really enjoy using as a content marketer let us know on Twitter or tag us in a LinkedIn post sharing this blog article.

Your tech stack is just a small part of the content marketing process, see how best to utilise it our Guide to B2B content marketing

It shouldn’t be a struggle to choose what tools to invest in or justify your MarTech stack to key stakeholders. Our recently updated guide helps outline best practices when trying and buying software.

Want a sneak peek of one key lesson within it? Always test before you invest. Whether that’s a free trial, talking to existing users, or looking internally at what is truly needed.