To stand out in content marketing, you must optimize every aspect of your content creation and strategy.
Using the right marketing tools is invaluable to that optimization. They streamline your workflows, help you scale content effectively, and give your brand a competitive edge.
This article will cover why marketing tools are essential, how to build your tech stack, and the best tools to implement. Then, we’ll discuss what the future of marketing tools looks like.
Why Marketing Tools Are Important to Your Content Marketing
Marketing is a highly technology-dependent industry. Businesses, agencies, and marketers cannot execute successful marketing today without technology to some degree.
Furthermore, according to Statista, the marketing technology industry was valued at over $121 billion with a 22 percent year-on-year growth rate.
Marketing tools can transform a good content strategy into a great one. Here’s how:
- Keep you competitive: Standing out in any industry right now is tough. New technologies, platforms, and algorithms are emerging constantly. The right marketing tools help you stay ahead of the curve.
- Increase efficiency: A manual approach to all your content marketing tasks is no longer viable. Marketing tools can automate time-consuming processes like keyword research and performance analysis. That streamlined effect frees you up to concentrate on higher-level tasks.
- Enhance your decision-making: You need as much information as possible when making content marketing decisions. Marketing tools give insights into user behavior, content performance, and predictive trends. They provide you access to a massive amount of analytics that can help you make data-driven, informed decisions on your strategy.
- Boost your scalability: That streamline effect we mentioned also leads to scalability. Marketing tools provide the means to efficiently manage and expand your content marketing efforts as your business grows.
So, we know tools can be critical factors in your content marketing success. But what tools should you use?
Building Your Tech Stack
A tech stack combines marketing tools and technologies that streamline your business operations.
Choosing the right marketing tools is a pivotal decision. To make the most informed choice, think about the following questions:
- Where can tools impact your content marketing most?
- What’s your budget?
- Does the tool have scalability?
- Can the tool integrate into your existing system?
- How user-friendly is it?
- Does it align with your marketing goals?
Once you’ve answered those questions and honed in on a tool (or a few), talk to people already using it to get feedback. Take a demo if you can to test it out. Look for tools that include training and continually update their functionalities based on user feedback.
Five Tools for Your Marketer’s Toolbox
In the last decade, many companies have adopted multiple tools and technologies into their martech stacks to build the technology environment they need to support their initiatives and goals. Here are some great must-have tools:
HubSpot
Hubspot is an all-in-one marketing suite that comes with a lot of tools already in it. It’s considered one of the most powerful marketing automation platforms in the industry and covers multiple areas of content marketing. Its tools help you create engaging content, optimize it, reach the right audience, and measure its results. It’s one we use ourselves and highly recommend.
Google Analytics
You can’t understand how your content is performing without measuring that performance. Google Analytics is a great source of information for audience analysis. It tells you who your visitors are and what they have in common. That data is a great starting point for building buyer personas and tailoring your content to your target audience.
Slack
In the remote work world we live in, teams need an online communication tool to stay connected and in sync on a regular basis. Slack is one of the best online communication tools you can use. More and more businesses are adopting it for ongoing daily communication. Slack also works well as part of a tech stack, with third-party integrations from other apps and tools.
Zapier
Zapier is a great tool if you’re looking for automation. It specializes in automating workflows and connecting the other apps and tools you use. So, if you want, it can be your central hub. Its automation can be extremely helpful in taking care of lower-level tasks, so you’re free to focus on other priorities.
Zoom
Most remote teams can’t live without some sort of video conferencing software. We use Zoom. It’s great for video calls, team check-ins, brainstorming sessions, and all-hands meetings. You can even run focus groups or conduct one-on-one interviews. And if you want to take it a step further, you can present webinars or repurpose your video content for marketing ads. 
How to Audit Your Marketing Tools
We’ve said it a lot already, but we’ll say it again. Marketing is always changing, especially now. New technologies, tools, and platforms are popping up constantly.
Audits on your marketing tools ensure your content marketing process stays optimized and up-to-date. Follow these steps to stay ahead:
- List your tools: Write down every tool you have.
- List their functions: Write out what you’re using each tool for.
- Organize them into a stack: Put tools into categories based on their tasks or what area of your strategy they’re helping with.
- Evaluate them: This is the hard one. Take every tool you have and evaluate its performance. Key performance indicators are a huge help here.
- Trim the excess: Stay fair and unbiased when you’re eliminating bloat. If you like a tool, but it’s not as intuitive or usable as you thought, cut it.
- Assess new products: Look for high-quality replacements for what you’ve cut. See if there’s a new comprehensive tool out there that serves the function of multiple tools you’ve cut.
- Communicate your changes: Make sure everyone knows about your changes. You don’t want people keeping or adding new tools without you knowing. Everyone on your team should be aligned with what tools are being used.
The Future of Marketing Tools
This year, we’ve seen an explosion of new tools become available. And it’s only the beginning. Over the next decade, technology will continue changing how we work as content marketers.
Here are the top marketing tool trends to keep an eye on:
AI-powered tools
You had to know this would be number one. AI has created a ripple effect across every industry. In content marketing, it can enhance almost every aspect of the content creation process. Brands have already taken note, with 91 percent of businesses having a leading investment in AI.
If you want to level up your AI game, read our Marketer’s Guide to AI-Supported Content Creation to leverage the most cutting-edge marketing tools effectively. And remember, AI technology is developing rapidly. Stay vigilant on new developments to keep yourself at the forefront of your industry.
Martech ecosystems
As of right now, there are almost 11,000 marketing tools available. That can feel overwhelming. Many marketers are also discovering that an individual tool isn’t always the right answer. So what’s the solution?
Many businesses are investing time and money into creating “martech ecosystems.” They choose a central platform or hub and augment it by integrating other apps and tools. Essentially, they’re building a system customized to their business’s specific needs and budget.
How Are Your Marketing Tools?
The right marketing tools can be indispensable to the success of your content marketing. Start with an audit of the tools you’re currently using and go from there. But if you’d rather not worry about it, there’s a solution to that also. At ClearVoice, we’ve implemented top-tier marketing tools into our workflows and content creation that drive our client’s success.
Discover our solutions or talk to a strategist today to see how we can keep you ahead of the curve.
