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9 top content marketing tools for effective marketing

9 top content marketing tools for effective marketing

6 minute read

9 top content marketing tools for effective marketing

6 minute read

9 top content marketing tools for effective marketing

Afoma Umesi

GatherContent Contributor, Writer
Content teams need high-quality content to stand out. But to create leading, competitive content, every step of the content creation process must be as efficient and productive as possible. This is where content marketing tools come in. There are dozens of options to maximize your content production process—so how do you choose?

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We’ll highlight nine top content marketing tools to include in your tech stack and help you decide which ones are best for your team’s needs.

9 Top content marketing tools in 2022

Content marketing tools speed up a wide range of responsibilities, from keyword research to website analytics to video content production. No matter what your content needs may be, here are nine great tools worth having.

1. GatherContent

A screenshot of the GatherContent home page. Text reads: One place to find and collaborate on content. Organize content in a way that suits your organization, team, and work flow; A central content hub for everyone to work from; See an overview of content, tis status, who's assigned, and when it's due.
GatherContent is an all-in-one content hub.

GatherContent is a content operations platform that makes it possible to create and publish content at scale.

Top features

  • Plan, create, and review content in the all-in-one content hub—without leaving the platform
  • Make concrete future content creation plans with the Editorial Calendar
  • Review and edit written articles easily with the Editor feature
  • Maintain brand consistency and use Content Templates to produce similar types of content
  • Ensure each team member knows when it’s their turn to tag in with Content Workflows
  • Add content guidelines to maintain the brand’s style with every piece of content

Pros

  • Intuitive interface is familiar and easy to use
  • Integrates with content management systems (CMS) like WordPress for seamless publishing
  • Specifically designed for content teams collaborating on written content

Cons

  • Might be pricey for smaller teams

Best for: Marketing teams streamlining their content production process while scaling their content volume

Pricing: $99/month and $1,069/year

Good to Know: Platforms like GatherContent are uniquely capable of executing complex editorial strategies.

2. Ahrefs

Screenshot of Ahrefs website. Page shows a suggestion to track yearly trends and growth over time with the new year-over-year view. Below, an overview and health score of 84 are shown with further data.
Keyword research is easy with programs like Ahrefs.

Ahrefs is a comprehensive search engine optimization (SEO) tool designed to help marketers rank on search engine result pages (SERPs) and drive website traffic.

Top features

  • Stay up to date with your site’s SEO health status with the SEO audit tool
  • View in-depth information, including keyword difficulty and search volume from the keyword research tool
  • See how much traffic any site generates and which keywords it ranks for with Site Explorer
  • Get a peek at how many backlinks websites have with the backlink profile feature

Pros

  • Easier to use and understand than its competitors
  • Dashboard provides comprehensive at-a-glance information
  • Quickly and efficiently analyze websites for broken links

Cons

  • No free trial
  • No mobile app

Best for: SEO experts looking for a full-suite program—especially if you’re working with backlinks

Pricing: Monthly plans start at $99/month

3. Google Analytics

Screenshot of Google Analytics page. In this example, we see All Web Site Data and graphs illustrating the number of users, sessions, bounce rate, and session duration. Each of these stats include a percentage of increase or decrease as compared to past data.
Google Analytics is an in-depth tool that illustrates data on several different areas of website performance.

Google Analytics helps website owners track website performance, from website traffic to user sessions and marketing data.

Top features

  • Keep track of metrics like the number of website sessions, page views, and bounce rate
  • Monitor audience behavior by viewing traffic sources, returning users, and devices used
  • Track marketing campaigns with ease
  • Monitor website conversion rates, landing pages, and ad performance

Pros

  • Free to use
  • Easy to set up
  • Offers a wealth of insights about website user behavior
  • Integrates well with other marketing tools and platforms

Cons

  • Requires a Google account to use
  • Crowded user interface can make it difficult to navigate

Best for: In-depth look at website insights beyond page views and visitor count

Pricing: Free tool

4. Asana

Screenshot of Asana work board. In this example, we see a Kanban board view of tasks sorted into New Requests, In Progress, and Complete. Some tasks include sub-tasks or images, and we can see that each task is assigned to a team member. Tasks are coded with colorful tags and illustrations.
Project management tools like Asana give teams a bird's-eye view of tasks and projects.

Asana is a project management tool that allows teams to collaborate seamlessly on work tasks while keeping track of goals and long-term projects.

Top features

  • Manage projects using the timeline or Kanban-style views
  • View messages related to projects and leave comments for team members
  • Keep track of project-related documents in the Files section
  • Motivate the team with delightful unicorn incentive feature

Pros

  • Great for sharing project progress with clients
  • Available on web and mobile app
  • Offers numerous marketing automation opportunities
  • Drag-and-drop functionality makes it easy to use

Cons

  • Some users find the interface overwhelming and confusing

Best for: Marketing teams looking for a tool to manage projects and keep team members or clients in the loop.

Pricing: Free version available, but paid plans start at $10.99 billed annually

5. WordPress

Screenshot of WordPress plugin page. At the top, the page reads: Plugins you need to get your projects done. Below, there is a search bar as well as categories of suggested plugins.
WordPress is a popular tool for blogs and long-form content.

WordPress is a website hosting platform and content management platform that allows users to build and customize websites.

Top features

  • Utilize WordPress plugins for added functionality
  • Choose from thousands of customizable themes available to suit any site
  • Rank on search engines more easily with powerful SEO features
  • Stay updated on your site’s growth with accurate and extensive website statistics

Pros

  • Available on web and as responsive mobile app
  • Heavily customizable, thanks to CSS and HTML functionality
  • Excellent customer service

Cons

  • Difficult to collaborate on content in real time, so not much of a “management” system
  • Dated user interface

Best for: Marketers looking for a versatile CMS that makes SEO easy to

Pricing: Paid plans start at $4/month billed annually

💡 Learn More: What is the future of web content management?

6. Hubspot CRM

Screenshot of the Hubspot dashboard Deals page. We see deals sorted into categories called Appointment Set, Appointment completed, Buyer Journey Confirmed, and Working Upgrade. Each task block has its own title with a unique close date and team member assigned.
Hubspot's layout makes it easy to keep track of the people involved in any given project.

Hubspot is a customer relationship management (CRM) tool that allows marketers to record, track, and use marketing, sales, and customer service data.

Top features

  • Find a host of features to support lead generation in the marketing hub, including video hosting, analytics dashboard, and SEO tools
  • Speed up the sales funnel with Sales Hub features like predictive lead scoring, customizable reporting, and e-signatures
  • Receive top-notch customer service with access to sales and marketing data
  • Build blogs quickly with the CMS tool

Pros

  • Supports team collaboration
  • Easier to learn than its competitors
  • Allows for easy data management
  • Has integrations with several software tools and platforms including Slack and Shopify

Cons

  • Software can be slow to use
  • Can miss duplicate contacts

Best for: Marketers looking for a tool to keep track of their marketing efforts

Pricing: Starts at $45/month billed annually

7. Canva

Screenshot of the Canva for Teams landing page. Site text reads: Create better content, faster. Canva makes it easy to design high-quality creative content for any format with simple content creation tools for the whole team. Next to this text, we see a sample of a Canva image in creation, using stock photos of fashionable women wearing black on a blue background.
Canva simplifies graphic design with its accessible user interface.

Canva is a graphic online design tool for creating various digital assets including visuals for social media posts, blog post headers, email marketing, infographics, logos, and videos.

Top features

  • Use a vast selection of elements and templates available for just about any kind of design
  • Easily navigate through a visually appealing user interface
  • Resize designs for added versatility
  • Drag-and-drop to effortlessly create and reorganize
  • Import your photos for visual content

Pros

  • Collaborative; allows users to set up teams and work simultaneously on projects
  • Offers access to stock photos—especially on Premium plans
  • Available as a mobile app

Cons

  • Subpar photo editing feature
  • Limited output formats
  • Mobile app is challenging to use

Best for: Marketing teams and content creators not ready to invest in staff graphic designers.

Pricing: Free plan available; paid plans start at $12.99/month

8. Grammarly

Screenshot of Grammarly demo document. The text explains Grammarly's functions, like highlighting errors and showing you how to correctly write the sentence. In the text, Grammarly has included sample errors underlined in different colors to show what type of error has been made. The user can see suggested fixes on the right-hand side of the page.
Grammarly offers suggestions to make your written content shine.

Grammarly is an artificial intelligence (AI) grammar checker software that spots typos, fixes sentence structure, and improves text clarity.

Top features

  • Check that customers publish original content with a nifty plagiarism checker
  • Find word substitutes to avoid repetition with the thesaurus
  • Use as a spellchecker and catch typos
  • Provides a tone checker to see which notes your message strikes with users

Pros

  • Available in various formats—as a Chrome extension, mobile keyboard, on Google Docs, and on Word
  • Business plan allows users to build a customized team style guide
  • Great customer service

Cons

  • Suggestions are sometimes inaccurate
  • The browser extension crashes often requiring users to reload tabs

Best for: Marketers looking for a reliable grammar checker to supplement their editor’s services.

Pricing: Free plan available; paid plans start at $12/month

9. Loom

Loom promotional image showing the purple flower Loom logo in the top left corner above text saying Screen Recorder. On the right, we can see a laptop with an example of a Loom video in progress. A project proposal is open on the laptop, and we can see a talking person in a circle on the top right of the page. Stop, rewind, pause, and trash tools are located on the left side of the screen.
Loom cuts down on unnecessary meeting time with video messages.

Loom is a screen and video recording tool for asynchronous work communication. It allows users (especially in remote teams) to send video messages in place of long video meetings.

Top features

  • Watch high-resolution playback sped up or slowed down
  • Utilize highly accurate transcription for video playback
  • Record from any tab with the popular Chrome extension
  • Store recorded clips—great for documentation
  • Be notified users when recipients watch recorded videos

Pros

  • Super easy to use; as easy as pressing “record”
  • Integrates well with Slack
  • Delightful user interface

Cons

  • Software crashes from time to time both on desktop and browser-based platforms

Best for: Remote teams who want to ditch unnecessary meetings or document processes more visually

Pricing: Free Starter plan; paid plans start at $8/month billed annually

Choose only the best content marketing tools

Tools aren’t the only things that matter for successful content marketing (don’t forget a killer content marketing strategy). But practical tools can lighten your load and make it easier to collaborate with team members. When the content creation process runs smoothly, you create relevant content to connect with your target audience.

Still, budgets vary, so it’s wise to count the cost of your content production. Our content cost calculator will help if you're unsure how.

Whichever tools you choose, you’ll need a hub to brainstorm content ideas, plan your content, assign, draft, and edit before shipping. We recommend GatherContent—and not just because it’s ours. GatherContent is perfect for teams who’d rather spend time working than switching between multiple tools when you can do it all on one platform.

Ready to get started? Sign up now.

We’ll highlight nine top content marketing tools to include in your tech stack and help you decide which ones are best for your team’s needs.

9 Top content marketing tools in 2022

Content marketing tools speed up a wide range of responsibilities, from keyword research to website analytics to video content production. No matter what your content needs may be, here are nine great tools worth having.

1. GatherContent

A screenshot of the GatherContent home page. Text reads: One place to find and collaborate on content. Organize content in a way that suits your organization, team, and work flow; A central content hub for everyone to work from; See an overview of content, tis status, who's assigned, and when it's due.
GatherContent is an all-in-one content hub.

GatherContent is a content operations platform that makes it possible to create and publish content at scale.

Top features

  • Plan, create, and review content in the all-in-one content hub—without leaving the platform
  • Make concrete future content creation plans with the Editorial Calendar
  • Review and edit written articles easily with the Editor feature
  • Maintain brand consistency and use Content Templates to produce similar types of content
  • Ensure each team member knows when it’s their turn to tag in with Content Workflows
  • Add content guidelines to maintain the brand’s style with every piece of content

Pros

  • Intuitive interface is familiar and easy to use
  • Integrates with content management systems (CMS) like WordPress for seamless publishing
  • Specifically designed for content teams collaborating on written content

Cons

  • Might be pricey for smaller teams

Best for: Marketing teams streamlining their content production process while scaling their content volume

Pricing: $99/month and $1,069/year

Good to Know: Platforms like GatherContent are uniquely capable of executing complex editorial strategies.

2. Ahrefs

Screenshot of Ahrefs website. Page shows a suggestion to track yearly trends and growth over time with the new year-over-year view. Below, an overview and health score of 84 are shown with further data.
Keyword research is easy with programs like Ahrefs.

Ahrefs is a comprehensive search engine optimization (SEO) tool designed to help marketers rank on search engine result pages (SERPs) and drive website traffic.

Top features

  • Stay up to date with your site’s SEO health status with the SEO audit tool
  • View in-depth information, including keyword difficulty and search volume from the keyword research tool
  • See how much traffic any site generates and which keywords it ranks for with Site Explorer
  • Get a peek at how many backlinks websites have with the backlink profile feature

Pros

  • Easier to use and understand than its competitors
  • Dashboard provides comprehensive at-a-glance information
  • Quickly and efficiently analyze websites for broken links

Cons

  • No free trial
  • No mobile app

Best for: SEO experts looking for a full-suite program—especially if you’re working with backlinks

Pricing: Monthly plans start at $99/month

3. Google Analytics

Screenshot of Google Analytics page. In this example, we see All Web Site Data and graphs illustrating the number of users, sessions, bounce rate, and session duration. Each of these stats include a percentage of increase or decrease as compared to past data.
Google Analytics is an in-depth tool that illustrates data on several different areas of website performance.

Google Analytics helps website owners track website performance, from website traffic to user sessions and marketing data.

Top features

  • Keep track of metrics like the number of website sessions, page views, and bounce rate
  • Monitor audience behavior by viewing traffic sources, returning users, and devices used
  • Track marketing campaigns with ease
  • Monitor website conversion rates, landing pages, and ad performance

Pros

  • Free to use
  • Easy to set up
  • Offers a wealth of insights about website user behavior
  • Integrates well with other marketing tools and platforms

Cons

  • Requires a Google account to use
  • Crowded user interface can make it difficult to navigate

Best for: In-depth look at website insights beyond page views and visitor count

Pricing: Free tool

4. Asana

Screenshot of Asana work board. In this example, we see a Kanban board view of tasks sorted into New Requests, In Progress, and Complete. Some tasks include sub-tasks or images, and we can see that each task is assigned to a team member. Tasks are coded with colorful tags and illustrations.
Project management tools like Asana give teams a bird's-eye view of tasks and projects.

Asana is a project management tool that allows teams to collaborate seamlessly on work tasks while keeping track of goals and long-term projects.

Top features

  • Manage projects using the timeline or Kanban-style views
  • View messages related to projects and leave comments for team members
  • Keep track of project-related documents in the Files section
  • Motivate the team with delightful unicorn incentive feature

Pros

  • Great for sharing project progress with clients
  • Available on web and mobile app
  • Offers numerous marketing automation opportunities
  • Drag-and-drop functionality makes it easy to use

Cons

  • Some users find the interface overwhelming and confusing

Best for: Marketing teams looking for a tool to manage projects and keep team members or clients in the loop.

Pricing: Free version available, but paid plans start at $10.99 billed annually

5. WordPress

Screenshot of WordPress plugin page. At the top, the page reads: Plugins you need to get your projects done. Below, there is a search bar as well as categories of suggested plugins.
WordPress is a popular tool for blogs and long-form content.

WordPress is a website hosting platform and content management platform that allows users to build and customize websites.

Top features

  • Utilize WordPress plugins for added functionality
  • Choose from thousands of customizable themes available to suit any site
  • Rank on search engines more easily with powerful SEO features
  • Stay updated on your site’s growth with accurate and extensive website statistics

Pros

  • Available on web and as responsive mobile app
  • Heavily customizable, thanks to CSS and HTML functionality
  • Excellent customer service

Cons

  • Difficult to collaborate on content in real time, so not much of a “management” system
  • Dated user interface

Best for: Marketers looking for a versatile CMS that makes SEO easy to

Pricing: Paid plans start at $4/month billed annually

💡 Learn More: What is the future of web content management?

6. Hubspot CRM

Screenshot of the Hubspot dashboard Deals page. We see deals sorted into categories called Appointment Set, Appointment completed, Buyer Journey Confirmed, and Working Upgrade. Each task block has its own title with a unique close date and team member assigned.
Hubspot's layout makes it easy to keep track of the people involved in any given project.

Hubspot is a customer relationship management (CRM) tool that allows marketers to record, track, and use marketing, sales, and customer service data.

Top features

  • Find a host of features to support lead generation in the marketing hub, including video hosting, analytics dashboard, and SEO tools
  • Speed up the sales funnel with Sales Hub features like predictive lead scoring, customizable reporting, and e-signatures
  • Receive top-notch customer service with access to sales and marketing data
  • Build blogs quickly with the CMS tool

Pros

  • Supports team collaboration
  • Easier to learn than its competitors
  • Allows for easy data management
  • Has integrations with several software tools and platforms including Slack and Shopify

Cons

  • Software can be slow to use
  • Can miss duplicate contacts

Best for: Marketers looking for a tool to keep track of their marketing efforts

Pricing: Starts at $45/month billed annually

7. Canva

Screenshot of the Canva for Teams landing page. Site text reads: Create better content, faster. Canva makes it easy to design high-quality creative content for any format with simple content creation tools for the whole team. Next to this text, we see a sample of a Canva image in creation, using stock photos of fashionable women wearing black on a blue background.
Canva simplifies graphic design with its accessible user interface.

Canva is a graphic online design tool for creating various digital assets including visuals for social media posts, blog post headers, email marketing, infographics, logos, and videos.

Top features

  • Use a vast selection of elements and templates available for just about any kind of design
  • Easily navigate through a visually appealing user interface
  • Resize designs for added versatility
  • Drag-and-drop to effortlessly create and reorganize
  • Import your photos for visual content

Pros

  • Collaborative; allows users to set up teams and work simultaneously on projects
  • Offers access to stock photos—especially on Premium plans
  • Available as a mobile app

Cons

  • Subpar photo editing feature
  • Limited output formats
  • Mobile app is challenging to use

Best for: Marketing teams and content creators not ready to invest in staff graphic designers.

Pricing: Free plan available; paid plans start at $12.99/month

8. Grammarly

Screenshot of Grammarly demo document. The text explains Grammarly's functions, like highlighting errors and showing you how to correctly write the sentence. In the text, Grammarly has included sample errors underlined in different colors to show what type of error has been made. The user can see suggested fixes on the right-hand side of the page.
Grammarly offers suggestions to make your written content shine.

Grammarly is an artificial intelligence (AI) grammar checker software that spots typos, fixes sentence structure, and improves text clarity.

Top features

  • Check that customers publish original content with a nifty plagiarism checker
  • Find word substitutes to avoid repetition with the thesaurus
  • Use as a spellchecker and catch typos
  • Provides a tone checker to see which notes your message strikes with users

Pros

  • Available in various formats—as a Chrome extension, mobile keyboard, on Google Docs, and on Word
  • Business plan allows users to build a customized team style guide
  • Great customer service

Cons

  • Suggestions are sometimes inaccurate
  • The browser extension crashes often requiring users to reload tabs

Best for: Marketers looking for a reliable grammar checker to supplement their editor’s services.

Pricing: Free plan available; paid plans start at $12/month

9. Loom

Loom promotional image showing the purple flower Loom logo in the top left corner above text saying Screen Recorder. On the right, we can see a laptop with an example of a Loom video in progress. A project proposal is open on the laptop, and we can see a talking person in a circle on the top right of the page. Stop, rewind, pause, and trash tools are located on the left side of the screen.
Loom cuts down on unnecessary meeting time with video messages.

Loom is a screen and video recording tool for asynchronous work communication. It allows users (especially in remote teams) to send video messages in place of long video meetings.

Top features

  • Watch high-resolution playback sped up or slowed down
  • Utilize highly accurate transcription for video playback
  • Record from any tab with the popular Chrome extension
  • Store recorded clips—great for documentation
  • Be notified users when recipients watch recorded videos

Pros

  • Super easy to use; as easy as pressing “record”
  • Integrates well with Slack
  • Delightful user interface

Cons

  • Software crashes from time to time both on desktop and browser-based platforms

Best for: Remote teams who want to ditch unnecessary meetings or document processes more visually

Pricing: Free Starter plan; paid plans start at $8/month billed annually

Choose only the best content marketing tools

Tools aren’t the only things that matter for successful content marketing (don’t forget a killer content marketing strategy). But practical tools can lighten your load and make it easier to collaborate with team members. When the content creation process runs smoothly, you create relevant content to connect with your target audience.

Still, budgets vary, so it’s wise to count the cost of your content production. Our content cost calculator will help if you're unsure how.

Whichever tools you choose, you’ll need a hub to brainstorm content ideas, plan your content, assign, draft, and edit before shipping. We recommend GatherContent—and not just because it’s ours. GatherContent is perfect for teams who’d rather spend time working than switching between multiple tools when you can do it all on one platform.

Ready to get started? Sign up now.

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