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I’ve heard a few horror stories where a team is forced to use a product— whether it’s for social media, content management, or marketing analytics— without really understanding if it is beneficial or not. Marketing management software is supposed to create a better workflow for you and your team. Nothing is worse than forcing your team members to use a management software that does nothing but lower productivity and cause confusion.

So how do you avoid getting stuck with tools your team disapproves of? The key is to keep in mind a few important factors when choosing the right tools for your business. What are those? I’m glad you asked…

Your Team’s Pain Points

Every team has different pain points. Maybe your content writer is having a hard time keeping up with social media promotion. Or perhaps your marketing team is falling behind on creating original content. Choose a tool that will make your team happier!

Paid vs Free

A lot of times, marketing teams are on a tight budget. Cost is an important consideration. If you don’t believe your team will benefit from 90% of the features, then continue to shop around. As far as free tools, there are ton of great ones, but beware of free products that cause nothing but frustration.

Group vs. Individual

Some tools are built primarily for content management and social media teams. If you’re a solo content writer or a social media manager, you may benefit from tools that help boost productivity and assist you with daily tasks over tools designed for team collaboration.

Keeping these factors in mind, below is a list of some of our favorites, as well as clients’ (and friends’!) recommendations. All of them provide different benefits for different types of teams and businesses. Take a look!

 

1. Mention

Mention.com

The lowdown? It’s a fancier version of Google Alerts.

top marketing tools

  • • Track your brand in different languages across all channels.
  • • The ability to react to mentions of your brand right away.
  • • Export data.
  • • Share and assign tasks with team members.
  • View pricing details.

2. SproutSocial

Sproutsocial.com

The lowdown? It’s not only fun, it’s beautiful!

sprout social tool

(Alyssa Ullo, Marketing Manager, Meet Chicago Northwest)

  • • Schedule posts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+.
  • • Use keyword monitoring to track your brand.
  • • Assign tasks and collaborate with team members in real time.
  • • Amazing customer service.
  • • Download beautiful data reports in seconds.
  • • Constant new features, including the brand new Trends Report.
  • • 30-day free trial your first month. Click here for pricing.

3. Hootsuite

Hootsuite.com

The lowdown? It makes team collaboration a hoot.

content management software

  • • See what’s up across all social media platforms on one dashboard.
  • • Built for team collaboration.
  • • Organize team members by department or project.
  • • Create customized data reports.
  • • View pricing options.

4. Evernote

Evernote.com

The lowdown? Digital notebooks for researching and creating content.

evernote content management

(Bridgette O’Connor, Content Manager)

  • • Great for research for online content.
  • • Sync everything in seconds.
  • • Save photos, audio, videos, and even eBooks.
  • • Upload the Evernote web clipper in Chrome to save from the web instantly.
  • • Use Evernote for Business for team project use, only $10 a month.

5. Google Analytics

Google.com/analytics/

The lowdown? A free and extremely necessary analytics tool.

content management tools

  • • Track your social media efforts and how it affects website traffic.
  • • Track click rates, views, and bounce rates on blog articles.
  • • Create goals for lead generation.
  • • Understand how your online content effects visitor behavior on your site.

6. Trello

Trello.com

The lowdown? The most powerful dashboard for projects.

trello content management

(Christie Balistrieri, Project Manager, Cubicle Ninjas)

  • • Perfect for team projects.
  • • Create boards, columns, and cards for different projects.
  • • Categorize projects for different department or teams.
  • • Assign tasks to individual team members.

7. Disqus

Disqus.com

The lowdown? Establish an incredible blog community.

disqus blog commenting tool

  • • Helps commenters stay in touch with the conversation.
  • • Beautifully designed, modern interface.
  • • Easy to install on platforms including WordPress, Tumblr, and Blogger.

8. Buffer

Buffer.com

The lowdown? The most fun you’ll have scheduling statuses.

Kristen_Blog_Bold

(Kristen Evensen, Ministry Content Manager, Unlocking The Bible)

  • • Create a fully customized posting schedule for all your social media channels.
  • • Covers all analytics including clicks, likes, +1s, retweets, favorites, and more.
  • • Quote and retweet on Twitter, send it to Buffer to post later.
  • • Exportable data for business users.
  • • Incredible customer service.
  • •View pricing details.

9. Bitly

Bitly.com

The lowdown? The most simple, yet powerful tool for link tracking.

content management tools

  • • Shorten any URL in seconds.
  • • Track click rates and referrals.

10. Feedly

Feedly.com

The lowdown? Sharing content with one click of a button.

Feedly_Blog_Image

  • • Save all your favorite blog and industry related content in one place.
  • • Easy to share, send, and save articles on other platforms including Buffer, Hootsuite, and Evernote.

There are a lot of options out there! These are our personal favorites that we’ve tested and recommend. A majority of online marketing tools allow you to sign up for a free trial for a couple weeks or even a month. Especially for high priced, powerful tools, have your team test them during trial runs before you commit to anything.

 

One Comment

  • Alger Beck says:

    I think combination of both proofhub and evernote works really well for marketing teams. I think these both tools should be in the list.

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