3 tools to keep your content strategy going strong

Branded content has become a part of everyday life. Nowadays, it’s is perhaps the most favored way for businesses to express their unique stories to the world. It seems like it has become blatantly clear the old ways of promotion, such as radio spots and billboards, aren’t having the same effect they had in decades past.

As most experts will attest, a marketing strategy is only as good the tools it employs. You can have the best content in the universe, but, if your system isn’t being properly executed, it won’t get the exposure it deserves. That being said, here are three incredibly user-friendly tools to consider incorporating.

Brown Boot Works

A good content strategy starts on the inside. It requires teamwork and collaboration. Luckily, there is no shortage of highly-effective resources to help make this aspect of business painless.

Brown Boot Works is a tool that prides itself on being overly simplistic to implement for both mobile and desktop usage. All you and your team need to get started is a Gmail account. From here, you can give instructions and coordinate on shared documents.

Managers are able to create tasks and dictate with both text and voice.

Once projects are assigned, you are provided with perceptive reports on your staff’s progress. This function makes it easy to pinpoint any bottlenecks or common snags in your operation.

For uploading files, rate and size metrics adhere to Google Drive’s restrictions. If you create anything with MS Office, Brown Boot Works can easily convert them into Google Doc format so the entire team can view and edit the piece as needed.

Ultimately, the key to a successful content operation is to identify tasks, assign them, keep close tabs on development and have full visibility on financial values. A study conducted by PMI found that projects are 2.5 times more successful when proven management practices are used. Designed for companies of all sizes, this tool gives you an intuitive view off the big picture and all the details.

Brandwatch

When it’s time to start creating content, the last thing you want to do is take shots in the dark. One of the most common mistakes marketers make is crafting brand material for themselves, not the audience. For this purpose, you need to put in the time and do research to learn what is likely to entice the average reader.

Enter Brandwatch. When you’re in the brainstorming stage, this listening tool can be your most valuable weapon. By searching your brand, competitors, or specific keywords related to your niche, you receive visibility across social platforms (and the rest of the web) in relation to trending topics.

“Our social media presence is a critical part of how we promote our practice,” says Jonathan Rosenfeld, personal injury attorney and founder of Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers. “By monitoring the issues our target market is talking about; we are able to offer our professional advice when and where it’s needed the most. Social listening makes it all possible.”

This puts rest to the question that social media is just for brands. With the right tools, even a busy professional service provider like Jonathan can pick up on audience insights – the one thing that is vital for any content strategy. Once you have cornered the popular topics, you can create your brand material to play to prevalent interests.

In addition to social media, Brandwatch crawls over 85 million websites and enables you to build detailed reports with boolean queries. From here, you can set up specific rules and tags to manipulate the data as you please. You can also receive alerts to inform you of any significant trends happening in real-time.

When it comes to monitoring conversations across the web and conducting competitive analysis, Brandwatch is a phenomenal tool for jumpstarting your content strategy.

Piwik

Analytics are perhaps the most important ingredient in the entire marketing mix. Without keeping track of how your material is resonating, you won’t have the proper knowledge to improve.

Piwik is a free platform equipped with all the bells and whistles you need to glean valuable information about content performance. This includes keyword tracking, visitor maps, event tracking, and much more. One of the biggest advantages of using Pikwik is the unlimited storage capability for data.

For beginners, the dashboard can be a bit intimidating as it goes extremely in-depth with widgets and reports. However, once you get into a good rhythm, you are able to customize it as you wish.

Using this tool, you can see the entire scope of your content marketing strategy, ranging from social engagement to website interactions – it’s just a matter of which plugins you need.

Piwik has been around for nearly 10 years and has stood the test of time. A reliable system for content analytics is crucial for gauging performance, measuring ROI, and learning how to optimize appropriately.

Wrapping Up

Investing in content marketing is one of the most important business decisions you can make. Chances are, it will take a bit of time before you start gaining traction in the market. Throughout all your efforts, it’s important to think of content marketing as a commitment, not a standalone campaign. The key is to utilize the right tools and practices early on so when you reach veteran status, the kinks have been worked out long ago.