How to choose the right content marketing platform

Content marketing is far from the experimental branch of marketing it once was. It’s proven its worth through consistent, fruitful results and, as a result of its success, the industry is transforming. Many marketing teams are seeing pivots to content-centric strategies, and their content budgets increasing (with the 2023 average sitting at $345,000 or £277,000).

Increasing budgets means more scope to try out new software and systems. But how can you make sure you’re choosing the right content creation platform for your needs? Let’s break it down to help you make the perfect pick.

What’s the difference between a CMP and a CMS?

Let’s clear up the confusion between a Content Marketing Platform (CMP) and a Content Management System (CMS). Think of a CMS, like WordPress or Drupal, as your website’s organizer – it’s great at keeping things tidy and making sure your content looks good on the front end.

A CMP, on the other hand, is like the ultimate content command center. It takes you from brainstorming to publishing to analyzing how well your content is doing. While a CMS is all about getting your content online, a CMP is about making sure that content really hits the mark and drives your marketing goals forward.

How does a content marketing platform work?

A content marketing platform is like your content’s personal trainer, guiding it from concept to superstar performance. It starts by helping you plan out your strategy and assign tasks, making sure everyone on your team knows what they’re doing. As content gets created, the CMP keeps everything in one place, so collaboration is a breeze – no more endless email chains or lost files.

Once your content is polished and ready, the CMP helps you share it across all your channels, ensuring it reaches your audience wherever they are. But the real magic happens after that: the CMP dives into the data, showing you what’s working and what needs tweaking, so you can keep improving and get even better results next time.

Benefits of using a content marketing platform

So, why should you consider a content marketing platform? For starters, a CMP brings everyone together, making collaboration a walk in the park and keeping your content efforts on track. Plus, with built-in analytics, you’ll get a clear picture of how your content is performing – no more guessing games, just solid data that helps you make smarter decisions.

And let’s not forget scalability – a CMP grows with you, handling more content and channels as your business expands. So, whether you’re a small team or a big enterprise, a CMP is your secret weapon for creating, distributing, and optimizing content that really makes an impact.

Choosing a content creation platform based on your goals

First things first, you’ll need to figure out what you want the outcome of your content marketing efforts to be. Aside from the obvious ‘create great content that attracts and engages my target audience’, here are some examples of more specific goals:

• Increase lead capture
• Improve organic search rankings
• Strengthen customer retention/loyalty 
• Elevate brand awareness  

For all of these, you can use a range of web content creation tools and strategies. While short-form content can be easier to produce, data gathered by Sapio Research for our report on content marketing in 2023 shows that marketers who create a mix of short-form and long-form content have substantially better success with their strategies.

Long-form content, like brochures and white papers, provides value to your audience that lasts longer than an Instagram reel and establishes your company as an industry thought leader – which is great for lead generation.

Getting your content creation platform right is a must when you’re making long-form content; it’s a waste of time creating it if it’s not going to be showcased properly.

Click to read Turtl Docs vs. Webpages

How Turtl outperforms other content creation tools on the market

Turtl’s content creation platform will help you put your content in the limelight and get it the attention it deserves. We’ll walk you through the three key features that make Turtl a cut above the rest:

1. Psychology-backed format

Turtl is the only platform on the market that’s driven by science. With the Turtl format, readers are scientifically proven to pay more attention to content – results from a study we commissioned from Lumen Research proved Turtl Docs had 90% more engagement than the same content in PDF form. By using a platform like Turtl that was built with the brain’s functioning in mind, your content is sure to make an impression.

2. Ease of use for every team member

With other content creation software, designing long-form content can wind up being very costly and time-consuming. Turtl’s self-service platform gives you the power to make engaging and visually appealing content quickly, without needing agencies or in-house specialists. Don’t just take our word for it, check out how Cisco used Turtl to streamline their content machine and cut costs by 90%.

3. Analytics to track performance

Getting insight about how a piece of content is performing empowers you to make future content decisions. Using the Turtl Analytics dashboard, you can see what worked well in your Doc, and what didn’t quite hit the mark. By feeding this data back into your content strategy, you can rest assured you’ll be creating content that goes from strength to strength.

How to get bang for your buck with your content creation platform

It’s true that marketing teams are seeing more money come their way for content projects but with that comes pressure to make sure the money is well-spent.

Low software adoption rates pose a real threat to positive outcomes of trialing a new tool. When deciding on content creation software, clarify the intended user base from the outset to boost the chances of increasing those rates. If it’s primarily going to be experienced designers, then more technical, niche platforms may be the most suitable. If it’s the everyday content creator, Turtl could be just the one for you.

As mentioned, Turtl’s easy-to-use software features design tools that put the power to produce stunning digital documents (that always meet brand guidelines) in the hands of all team members. It even enables users to personalize documents, regardless of technical ability.

Click to read The personalization Engine | Overview and use cases | Turtl Public Personalization


As well as low adoption rates, hidden costs can jeopardize a high ROI on your new software. A cost that’s often overlooked is the training, support, and ongoing product management needed for a content creation platform.

At Turtl, we have an outstanding customer success and support team that’s there to help in any way needed. On top of that, all customers benefit from a structured onboarding process with defined success criteria to make sure they’re maximizing the return on their investment.

But enough from us, let’s hand over to our customers to hear what they think about Turtl: