It is often a content manager’s job to turn a collection of rough ideas into high-performing content. But telling your brand’s story through different platforms is easier said than done. In a world that relies on digital content now more than ever, brands must stay consistent in their content creation efforts.
So, how does one spin an idea into high-performing content? The answer is simple: by using content creation tools.
What Are Content Creation Tools?
Content creation tools are precisely what they sound like: tools designed to make content creation efforts more successful. Using these tools can help speed up workflow, deliver insights on performance and create better content to attract customers.
Because digital content is in high demand, businesses need to ramp up their technology offerings. Since these tools can save companies time and effort while also improving results, content teams should strengthen their content creation strategy for continued success.
Here are some of our recommended content creation tools that will turn your ideas into great content.
20 Content Free Creation Tools & Resources
Content Research & Development Tools
The content creation process begins well before you jot down your first words on paper. You’ll first need to figure out what to write about and how to present your information accurately.
Typically, a content marketer will have to complete comprehensive content research to answer these questions, including competitive research, keyword research and determining the demographics of their target audience. Conducting quality research will help marketers as they enter the content ideation phase since they will better understand what topics resonate and what questions clients are looking to have answered.
Additionally, some marketers may need to outsource some of their content development efforts due to a number of reasons. There are tools available to help your team create better content without increasing the budget. The following research and development tools will help you streamline your content analysis phase.
1. Industry Publications
Reading popular industry publications is the first step you can take to get a holistic view of your industry. No matter what industry you are in, from fintech to health care to financial services, there is always a publication you can turn to for more information on the topics your target audience is consuming and the trends they are following.
Reading these publications will also help you get ideas for what to write about and what kind of content to create. You may also notice educational gaps in the content and questions consumers are asking that need answers. Curating news from industry leaders like The New York Times or Harvard Business Review can help build credibility with followers. Let your findings develop your content strategy and build from there.
2. Content Licensing Tools
Sometimes, you may not have the resources to produce the content you would like to. This is where content licensing comes in. With content licensing, you’ll be able to use already-written content from thought leaders in your field. When you use a platform like NYTLicensing, your brand can reuse and republish content from world-renowned writers. This content can either fill gaps in your editorial calendar or can function as the backbone of your content strategy.
3. Answer the Public
Answer the Public is an excellent tool to help you understand what readers are searching for and, based on that data, come up with unique search queries. This free tool can be used when generating different ideas for content, as it will come up with a “web” of terms and topics that are most often searched for in major search engines. If you want to create relevant and timely content for your readers, Answer the Public will point you in the right direction.
4. BuzzSumo
BuzzSumo’s algorithm pulls in popular posts from all over the web, including social media platforms, based on a particular keyword or phrases. This is an excellent topic research tool, as it allows you to find ideas that pique the interests of your target audience.
5. Quora
Quora advertises itself as “a place to share knowledge and better understand the world.” This question-and-answer community will help you gain a clear understanding of what your target audience is asking. You’ll also be able to find topics and queries that consumers in your industry have asked, which can then be incorporated into your editorial calendar. Additionally, by creating a company profile, marketers can engage directly with users who may have questions about industry practices or products. Combining these efforts will result in a content strategy that also supports other digital initiatives.
Visual Content Tools
Content isn’t always about words on a page. Great content can also include visual storytelling elements such as images, videos and graphics. The following visual content creation tools will ensure that your content pops while also making your brand look bold and beautiful on the page.
1. Canva
You don’t need to have a lot of graphic design experience to create images that wow an audience. Canva is the perfect design tool, as it’s aimed at beginners. You can use their premade content templates to create graphics for social media pages, blog images and even infographics. With this tool, images can be created quickly and easily, even without a design background.
2. Piktochart
Piktochart is an excellent platform for creating infographics of all shapes and sizes. Infographics can be used as content to help consumers visualize data. Content managers with little to no design experience can use Piktochart to create infographics they will be proud of.
3. Giphy
A gif is an animated image that is used for everything from text messages between friends to brands’ social media posts. Giphy is a collection of thousands of gifs, so you’ll have a massive catalog of images to choose from when you want to amp up your latest post.
4. Licensing Graphics & Photography
As mentioned earlier, content isn’t just words. Graphics will make any post more engaging and inspiring, and if you don’t have an extensive graphics library, you should consider licensing graphics content. Licensing graphics from NYTLicensing will allow your brand to engage with your audience and illustrate complex concepts with charts, maps and more. Alternatively, brands can consider licensing photography from professional photojournalists. NYTLicensing covers a wide range of topics through the lens of its expert photographers, including current events featuring images from COVID-19, general news photography, or portrait photography depicting influential leaders. Images from The New York Times can help tell a business’ story or even illustrate current events in your industry.
5. Adobe Creative Suite
The Adobe Creative Suite offers a host of tools that allow you to combine pictures, text and video to create a compelling story. The suite gives you ultimate customizability and control over almost all the elements of the creative process, ensuring that your story is told right the first time around.
Content Writing Tools
With all the content available online today, how do you make yours stand out? Clear, concise copy is the name of the game, and these content writing tools will help you get there.
1. Grammarly
The first step to writing clear and concise copy is making sure it’s grammatically sound and error-proof. Grammarly will check for spelling and grammar issues as you work, whether you’re typing in Google Docs or crafting a social media post. It will also help you perfect the tone of your piece and avoid plagiarism.
2. Hemingway App
The Hemingway App works to shorten your sentences, making everything you write a bit more clear and concise. The app also provides suggestions to make your sentences more easily digestible for all types of readers.
3. Hootsuite
If you are posting regularly to social media, consider consolidating your accounts with Hootsuite. This social media marketing tool will enhance your brand strategy by keeping everything in one place. With this tool, you can schedule posts, plan campaigns and track your content’s performance with their analytics reporting.
4. Edubirdie
Are you unsure on whether your content is entirely plagiarism-free? Edubirdie is an easy solution that will guarantee there is no plagiarism in anything you post.
5. Power Thesaurus
Repetition is the bane of any content marketer’s existence. Remember, you’ll want to educate your readers with your content, and this will be hard if you use the exact same words again and again. The Power Thesaurus will prevent this from happening, as it’s a comprehensive and easy-to-follow tool that helps writers with word choice and phrase variety.
Content Measurement & ROI Tools
How will you know if your content is helping you meet your marketing goals? This is where analytics, reporting and content measurement tools come in to help. After all, if you are not tracking your content’s successes and/or failures, how will you learn and adapt to make changes?
1. Google Analytics
If you own a website, it would be silly to not take advantage of everything Google Analytics has to offer. Google Analytics is the best way to see what is happening with your websites' content. You can see traffic sources, which landing pages are bringing in the most visitors and how traffic is performing. Consistently checking Google Analytics will help you gain insight into your website’s overall health and how you can improve your content marketing ROI.
2. Salesforce
Your content will want to capture audiences at all stages of the marketing funnel, from new consumers looking for a solution to a problem to interested consumers looking to convert. Salesforce is a content relation management tool that allows you to customize your content while also helping move prospective customers down the funnel.
3. Parse.ly
Parse.ly tracks real-time and historic audience engagement for web and video content. This tool is content analytics made easy — it will give you analytic insights to help you understand your content performance, prove content value and create personalized content experiences.
4. RavenTools
To show up in the search engine result pages, you’ll want to align your content creation efforts with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) best practices. RavenTools generates detailed analytics reports to gain insights into increasing web traffic through content while also ensuring that your content is correctly optimized for SEO.
5. Moz
You can gain insight into how your content is ranking among competitors with Moz. Moz offers a variety of tools that make content marketing easy and SEO-optimized. When using this tool you’ll be able to compare your content to that of your competitors’ while also learning how to perform better.
Final Thoughts
Content creation doesn’t have to be complicated or unnecessarily complex when you have these tools at your disposal. However, it’s important to remember that every brand is different, and the tools needed may differ depending on your organization’s goals. Some marketers are using digital content channels to grow their brand and business, while others are focused on building customer loyalty.
No matter what your content marketing goals are, licensing content with NYTLicensing will harness the power of world-class journalism while also boosting your brand. We have many content and copyright licensing packages, from articles to images, that will seamlessly fit your brand’s content offerings. Above anything else, our expert storytelling will captivate your audience.
