{"id":19684,"date":"2020-12-07T13:21:19","date_gmt":"2020-12-07T18:21:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/?p=19684"},"modified":"2023-01-16T17:42:39","modified_gmt":"2023-01-16T22:42:39","slug":"content-tools-for-marketers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/content-tools-for-marketers\/","title":{"rendered":"What Tools Do Content Marketers Actually Use? 4 Charts Reveal the Most-Used Content Tools"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I first started as a writer, the only \u201ccontent marketing tool\u201d I used was Microsoft Word. I\u2019d jot down notes on paper during interviews, and then type everything out as soon as I got to my laptop.<\/p>\n

As almost all publishing moved online, so did everything else \u2013 brainstorming, proofreading, sharing notes, etc. During the year I spent as a freelancer, each company I wrote for had their own set of preferred content tools. (The first ones I remember using were Capitalize My Title<\/a> and Clearscope<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Now, as a content marketing manager, my toolkit is full of programs that go way beyond grammar and spell checks<\/a>. Whether it\u2019s analyzing keywords, tracking page views, or coming up with the catchiest headline, there\u2019s a tool to help get the job done.<\/p>\n

But what are content marketers actually<\/em> using?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Instead of a \u201cbest of\u201d list (Brian Dean already has a great one<\/a>), I wanted to know the exact tools marketers rely on to achieve their goals. Out of all the options, which ones are mainstays on a content marketer\u2019s screen?<\/p>\n

My research process was simple \u2013 I posted a three-question survey to two different content marketing groups.<\/p>\n

In less than a week, there were 105 submissions with mentions of about 50 unique content marketing tools. After sifting through them, what was most interesting wasn\u2019t just the individual tools, but how marketers used the tools in combination<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor some tools, it’s the level of customization offered. For others, it’s how they enable me to do my best work and keep me organized,\u201d explains Hannah Wiginton<\/a>, a content writer and marketer. \u201cA tool worth keeping is one that will have a positive impact on my productivity and move me toward my goals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Below are the three things I learned from exploring today\u2019s content marketing toolbox (as well as a list of the all the mentioned content tools<\/a>):<\/p>\n

1. Content marketers use a lot<\/em> of tools<\/h2>\n

An average of nine, in fact. Most content marketers use between 8-12 software tools<\/strong> on a regular basis, which makes sense when you consider all the different areas in a content marketing strategy.<\/p>\n

To get a better idea of where content marketing tools are used, I divided them into three categories:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Tools for research and analysis (SEO, keywords)<\/li>\n
  2. Tools for writing and editing<\/li>\n
  3. Tools for team management and communication<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    We see how all the tools used by content marketers break down into the three categories.<\/em><\/p>\n

    \"tools-used-by-content-marketers\"<\/p>\n

    Within these categories, the names that came up most often were Ahrefs<\/strong>, SEMRush<\/strong>, Moz<\/strong>, Grammarly<\/strong>, Hemingway<\/strong>, Slack<\/strong>, Trello<\/strong>, and Asana<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    Google products are also a fixture in most content marketing teams. Not just for analytics and search data, but also for writing and communicating within teams.<\/p>\n