Are you utilizing content creation tools and other resources to enhance your content Marketing Strategy?
A few months ago, we shared with you What You Need to Know About Content Marketing. And shortly there after we followed that up with An 8-step Content Strategy that Works. Now it’s time to take it a step further and share some of the content creation tools and resources to help you hit the ground running with your content creation strategy.
There are times when it can definitely feel like an uphill battle when you are just starting out. But with the mindset of a marketer and a journalist, you can start offering content that helps you craft a story about your business while communicating your unique value to your customers. You can start offering content that is both entertaining and useful for your audience, making sure they will always come back to your site for the latest information and tips to solve their problems.
Here are the top content creation tools to help you improve your content creation strategy.
Cool Tools for Ideas
Quora
Quora is a social media platform that helps connect people who are seeking information with the people who have it. It is a great place to discover what questions are being asked in your niche so you can find out what your audience needs to know. It’s also a way to identify the trends to see what is being consistently asked. It’s a great resource as you seek content creation ideas.
Feedly
Feedly is the best RSS option since Google Reader shut down. It has over 7 million users and you can keep your blogs, publications, YouTube channels and Feeds in one place. If you are looking for fresh ideas and new authoritative voices in your niche you can find them here.
Alltop
With Alltop, you will have access to the best stories from top publications. It is organized by a variety of topics like Health, Tech, News, Sports, and Health.
Reddit is obviously a huge social media and news aggregation. Your customers are probably hanging out there discussing all manner of topics. You can check out the subreddits according to your niche or you can pull some of the front-page stories into your content to demonstrate that your company is relatable and therefore reliable.
Twitter isn’t just for tweeting. It’s a great market research tool to help you gain insights on worldwide topics or regional trending topics. You can also search by hashtags to discover what people are interested in within your niche and industry.
Tools For Researchers
Site:Search
This is a great way to hack the overwhelming content that is available on the internet today. Basically, it allows you to do a google search within a particular website. So if you are looking for a particular blog or resource on a site, you can do a site:search in order to find it.
Google Drive Research Tool
Google Apps has so many great tools and apps designed to make online life easier. One of the tools Google Drive has as a part of its platform is the Research Tool which lets you remain within your Drive window while still letting you research the top web results. If you like to write without having to click into different windows, this is the content creation tool for you.
Atlas
Atlas is the place to go if you are looking for data visualization, charts, or graphs. Search with whatever keyword or topic you are looking to write about and Atlas will provide a graphic for you. This graphic is based on recent research and can also provide great background information for your topic.
Tools For Content Creation
GIMP
Because 40% of people respond more positively to information with visuals, adding the right image to your content is vital. GIMP is the place to go for your visuals. It is a free software that provides a similar service as Photoshop.
Visual.ly
Infographics have been all the rage in content marketing recently. If you want to keep up with your competitor’s, Visual.ly is a website that provides infographics and data visualizations. It has over 30,000 graphics already to inspire you and puts you into contact with infographic experts and designers.
Thinglink
If you are looking to make your images more engaging by attaching links to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or videos, use Thinglink. It not only allows readers to post comments on the images, but it also makes them shareable and embeddable.
Tools For For Writers
Coffitivity
If your writer needs ambient noise to help them write, use Coffitivity. It provides “a moderate level of ambient noise” that is perfect for content creation. According to the University of Chicago, being a little bit distracted can help you focus.
The offers a variety of sounds at different intensity levels. It works as an app on both iOS and Android and of course it is also available on the web.
WordCounter
The writers that need word counters to help them keep an eye on the length of the content should use WordCounter. Though every blog and every audience is different in terms of what length works best, sometimes it can help to keep an eye on the length of your post. It is incredibly easy. All you have to do is cut and paste the document and it will tell you exactly how many words you have written.
Evernote
Evernote is a favourite among writers. There is a free version and a paid subscription, but most writers like to use the free version. It is great to keep track of research, to-do lists and notes for articles.
A key feature is that it syncs automatically between all your devices. When you pull up the app on your iPhone you will have all the notes you were just using on your desktop. It also saves your work automatically, so if something happens, your work is still safe.
Textbroker
If you need help creating your content because you simply don’t have the time or the bandwidth to create it yourself you can use a content creation service. Textbroker is a platform that connects you to writers, providing some of the quickest turnaround for your articles from a wide variety of authors.
The content creation tools and resources listed above can definitely help you hit the ground running with your content creation strategy. However, it’s important to keep in mind, that using such content tools also depends on your capabilities to control the content quality of your work. Be sure to understand your clients, know the challenges they face, and create the best compelling content you can that helps them address such challenges.
Oh – and don’t forget to be consistent. Consistent Compelling Content is Key!
What content creation tools and resources does your business use that are indispensable?
Are there any you think we should add to the list?
