Content marketing software is a powerful tool that can help businesses of all sizes to create and manage effective content marketing campaigns. However, with the vast number of content marketing software solutions available on the market, it can be difficult to choose the right tool for your needs. To make the task of selecting content marketing software easier for you, we have compiled this guide that provides an overview of the top free and paid content marketing software solutions.
Free Content Marketing Software Solutions
There are a number of excellent content marketing software solutions that are available free of charge. These solutions can be a great option for small businesses and startups that are looking to start building a content marketing presence without a significant investment. Here are some of the top free content marketing software solutions available today.
Semrush
Semrush is an all-in-one marketing platform that includes a wide range of features, including content marketing, SEO, and social media management. The free plan for Semrush provides a limited number of features, such as basic SEO analysis and keyword tracking, but it is still an immensely useful tool. The content analyzer tool in the Semrush platform allows users to perform a detailed analysis on the readability, originality and tone of voice of their writing. This feature ensures the content that is created is of the best quality. Further, the content template builder tool in Semrush helps to generate topic suggestions and creates outlines that ensure the content that is written is structured coherently.
You may opt to upgrade your Semrush plan for a monthly fee to gain access to more advanced features, but the freemium plan provides an excellent starting point.
Additional features of the free version of Semrush include:
* Keyword research and keyword analysis
* Competitor research and analysis
* Website audit
* Content marketing calendar
* Social media monitoring
HubSpot
HubSpot is a leading marketing platform that provides a wide range of tools for content marketing, CRM (customer relationship management), email marketing and more. HubSpot offers a freemium plan that provides a number of essential content marketing features. For instance, the platform allows users to manage content creation and their content calendar. Users also gain the ability to integrate their social media to the platform, schedule posts and analyse their performance, thus allowing for better scheduling of content and an overall improvement of content quality by understanding what content performs better than the rest.
The freemium version of the platform also provides basic analytics, such as the number of visits a website receives and the source of the visits. Should you require additional features, HubSpot provides a variety of premium plans with a monthly fee. However, the freemium version is a good option for those businesses just beginning their content creation journey and who require basic scheduling and analysis features.
Other free HubSpot marketing features include:
* Contact management and tracking
* Forms
* Landing pages
Features that are not available on the freemium plan of HubSpot but are included in paid plans include:
* Lead scoring
* A/B testing
* Advanced automation
* Reporting
Paid Content Marketing Software Solutions
While there is a multitude of free and excellent options for those requiring assistance in their content marketing endeavors, some users may find that the features provided in the freemium versions are not enough for them. In which event they may wish to invest in paid software. The paid plans in all of the software solutions mentioned in this guide are far more expansive and provide more powerful tools, thus producing more in depth analysis and more efficient campaign creation.
There are a number of paid content marketing software solutions that are available. These solutions can provide businesses with a wider range of features, such as automated content scheduling, advanced analytics and social media listening. Here are some popular paid content marketing software solutions.
ContentStudio
ContentStudio is a comprehensive content marketing software solution with powerful tools for creating and scheduling content. Priced affordably at only \$49/month for the starter package, it provides an impressive array of tools including content creation and scheduling features, social media listening and management and analytics, as well as workflow automation.
With the ContentStudio workflow automation feature you can schedule content in bulk and create automated workflows that will approve, schedule, and send content based on certain preset rules you create, saving yourself a lot of time. Additionally their content discovery feature will suggest relevant content based on the keywords you choose, which will allow you to find content quickly.
Other features include:
- Collaboration tools for teams
- Competitor analysis
- Reporting
Sprout Social
Sprout Social is another popular paid content marketing software. Sprout Social provides a variety of features for content scheduling and publishing, social media listening and analytics, and customer engagement. It includes a social listening feature which monitors your chosen keywords and hashtags and gives insights into brand sentiment and customer feedback, thus giving your content creation and scheduling more direction and efficiency, which will in return lead to better results. Paid plans for Sprout Social begin at $89 per month.
The Standard Plan, priced at $149/month includes features like content management and scheduling tools, as well as comprehensive reporting.
Google Analytics
This free service is an essential tool for content marketers. It is vital to track your website's traffic so you can see what content is performing well and what is not, and adjust accordingly. Google Analytics is a powerful and free analytics platform that can be integrated with your website to track and measure your content's performance. It provides insights into the number of visitors to your website, the pages they view, the sources of their visits and their demographics, such as age, gender and location, as well as their interests. You will also gain an insight into how much time people spend reading your articles, allowing for adjustments in the writing style, length or format of the articles to best suit your target market.
By tracking your website's traffic and measuring your content's performance you are better able to create and optimize your content to attract and engage more visitors, thereby improving your search ranking.
Choosing the Right Content Marketing Software Solution
When choosing content marketing software, there are several factors that you need to consider. These factors include:
- Budget: How much are you willing to spend on content marketing software?
- Needs: What are your content marketing needs?
- Features: What features are important to you in terms of content management and analytics?
- Ease of use: How user-friendly is the software?
- Customer service: How is the software provider’s support?
By carefully considering your requirements and comparing the features and pricing of different content marketing solutions, it is possible for you to select a software solution that is right for your needs.
If you are just starting your content marketing journey and are not ready to commit to paid software you may wish to consider taking advantage of the many excellent content marketing software solutions that are available free of charge. When you are ready for a paid solution you may wish to use the information in this guide as a starting point for choosing a paid software solution.
Content marketing software is an important tool that can help you to create effective and successful content marketing campaigns.** By using content marketing software, you will gain the ability to:
- Create content: Content marketing software can be used to create all types of content including blog posts, social media media, emails and more.
- Manage your content: Content marketing software can help you manage your content, such as your editorial calendar and content assets, saving time and improving your overall efficiency.
- Analyze your content: Content marketing software provides you with analytics that will help you to track your progress and measure your success, allowing for adjustments in your strategy when necessary to ensure the best possible outcome for your campaigns.
Whether using a free version or investing in a paid software solution content management software will be an invaluable asset in the world of content creation.