How can B2B marketers improve their content in refreshing new ways, and also add to their stack of marketing skills?
In 2021 most B2B marketers are busier than ever due to the pandemic, the challenges of remote work, and increased expectations to show results.
This makes finding the time to research and locate useful new marketing-related software tools and services a challenge.
Don’t worry, however, as we’ve got 10+ new or updated tools that can enhance your B2B marketing stack, from digital imaging and video to data insights and more.
We’ll take a look at some of these helpful tools for today’s busy marketers, to help refine and augment your B2B marketing strategy now and into our post-pandemic future.
Sorting through vast lists of seemingly endless marketing tools and platforms can be frustrating, as well as a hit and miss proposition, so we’ve put this collection together so that you can skip the search and get right into tools you can use today to help create memorable B2B marketing stories.
Let’s start right in with our collection of 10+ handy tools to augment your marketing stack.
1 — MindMeister
With MindMeister, a mind mapping tool from MeisterLabs, marketers can visually organize and diagram all manner of information and uncover fascinating connections that might otherwise remain hidden.
Brainstorm new ideas, map out project plans in a variety of ways, mark up information, all in a collaborative and sharing online environment — these are all areas where MindMeister can prove helpful in many B2B marketing efforts.
MindMeister offers a free basic version that lets you create three mind maps, along with subscription plans suited for anywhere from personal to enterprise uses. Find @MindMeister on Twitter.
2 — Google Stack
Area 120 is Google’s in-house project incubator, which recently released Stack — an experimental document digitization and organization app that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze all scanned content.
For B2B organizations that have found the move to paperless less of a paradise and more of a digital abyss, Google’s Stack and it’s AI technology — along with easy and secure integration with Google Drive — will be a welcome addition to the organization category.
Conversion to PDF is done by taking snapshots of documents, and presently the app is available only for Android devices. Read Google’s Stack announcement on the Area 120 blog.
3 — CoSchedule’s Subject Line Tester Tool
Marketers looking for a fresh take on potential new email campaign or newsletter subject lines can try CoSchedule’s Subject Line Tester tool.
This tool offers numerous recommendations, visual previews, and ratings for potential subject line choices, including sentiment and length analysis and keyword insight. It also offers a word balance feature showing a particular subject line’s emotional power and whether it is particularly common or on the rare side, in addition to other helpful analysis.
Similar subject line analysis tools exist, and for those who haven’t yet tried CoSchedule’s implementation, running a test may point out new considerations for improving and optimizing your next email campaign. The tool is just one of CoSchedule’s sizable array of marketing organization features. Find @CoSchedule on Twitter.
4 — Keyword Insights
Keyword Insights is a combination keyword clustering, intent, context, and ranking tool presently in beta test status, providing a new glimpse into data that can help create a more informed content marketing strategy.
Features offered by Keyword Insights include unique topic cluster reports and keyword search intent data, allowing marketers to import their keywords in nearly any format and see numerous data-backed suggestions.
The tool can also show rank-tracked output with such information as search volume, suggestions on additional keywords to target, and which URLs may perform better if they were split into separate pages. Find @KeywordInsights on Twitter.
5 — Monster Mash
Google AI recently released Monster Mash, a tool that allows marketers to turn basic sketches into 3D animations without the involvement of designers or developers, creating an element which can add more visual excitement to top-notch marketing content.
An online example of what the new Google AI tool can accomplish lets users draw online and then inflate and animate their two-dimensional sketches into moving 3D works. Find @GoogleAI on Twitter.
6 — WebVitals Cumulative Layout Shift Debugger (CLS)
WebVitals Cumulative Layout Shift Debugger (CLS) is a free tool built by former Google engineer Fili Wiese, allowing marketers to examine and find where to improve on Google’s CLS user-centric metric for webpage layouts.
“The Cumulative Layout Shift Debugger uses the Layout Instability API in Chromium to detect and measure the layout shifts in the viewport between when a web page starts loading and when it finishes loading and calculates its cumulative layout shift score,” the utility’s instructions note, and the tool presents this information visually using squares.
CLS is a key part of Google’s Core Web Vitals measurements, and brands can use WebVitals Cumulative Layout Shift Debugger to optimize existing mobile and desktop page layouts, or test new ones.
7 — Grammarly
Grammarly, while not necessarily a new tool, has continually refined and added to its online writing assistance product, which comes in plans ranging from free to those tailored to teams of up to 149 users.
Going far beyond spelling grammar, and punctuation suggestions into areas including mobile writing tone detection, warnings to avoid overused language, and optimal formatting suggestions, the Grammarly of 2021 offers many new and helpful features for B2B marketers looking to take their writing to the next level. Find @Grammarly on Twitter.
We’re also looking out for you on that front, and recently published “B2B Content Marketing: 10 Tips to Level Up Your Writing Skills,” by our senior content marketing manager Joshua Nite.
8 — Ryte’s Keyword Cannibalisation Report
Ryte’s Keyword Cannibalisation Report helps marketers track down multiple web pages that may be ranked by Google for the same keyword and which could potentially be digitally cannibalizing your own site, and instead allowing the pages to implement changes that avoid the issue.
The Keyword Cannibalisation Report helps pinpoint situations including poor internal linking practices, similar or duplicate content, title or description markup, inconsistent anchor text use, and more. Find @Ryte_EN on Twitter.
A similar free alternative Cannibalisation Explorer tool, using Google Data Studio and Google Search Console data, has been made available by SEO consultant Hannah Rampton, offering another take on this often-valuable data.
9 — Loom
Loom’s powerful video messaging tools have also been updated, especially during the pandemic, which has seen a massive increase in the use of online video communication.
Recently passing the ten million user threshold, Loom has updated its cloud-based video editing capabilities, utilizing a real-time video transformation layer to make even the longest videos editable online.
Loom has also continued to build integrations with other tools such as Miro and Pitch, creating new levels of dynamic collaboration opportunities for marketers who use the platforms. Find @Loom on Twitter.
10 — Agorapulse Power Reports
Agorapulse has added new premium Power Reports, advanced tools for handling multiple social media accounts, adding to the social media management system’s fine existing collection of helpful inbox, publishing, reporting, monitoring and team collaboration tools.
The new Agorapulse Power Reports options allow marketers to report on up to 10 social media profiles, with scheduled reporting, problem area identification, content ideas and suggestions, customized comparison and demographic data, and more. Find @Agorapulse on Twitter.
Build Your Own B2B Marketing Super Stack Of Helpful Tools
It’s not the marketing tools alone that make for enchanting customer experiences. Skilled and creative use of the vast digital palette we’re all fortunate to have at our fingertips requires dedication, time, and a healthy dose of vision.
B2B marketers can create great content by combining existing tools in new ways, building digital assets that sing a unique song that will help brands weave stories that truly stand out.
We hope you’ve found our look at a handful of new and updated marketing tools helpful as you build new campaigns throughout 2021, and that they’ll also contribute to your own team’s knowledge and inspiration.
Need more useful marketing tools? Here are several articles we’ve written exploring additional tools for B2B marketers:
- 5 More Handy Tools For 2021’s Busy B2B Marketers
- Inside Influence 11: Marshall Kirkpatrick from Sprinklr on Elevating B2B Content with Influencers
- Inside Influence 7: Pierre-Loïc Assayag from Traackr on Influencer Marketing Technology
- Inside Influence 13: Tim Williams from Onalytica on Optimizing B2B Influencer Experiences
- 5 Unheralded SEO Tools for Content Marketers
- 10 Fresh Social Media Marketing Tools To Boost Brand Storytelling
- 31 DIY Marketing Tools To Create Remarkable Experiences
- 10 Smart Question Research Tools for B2B Marketers
- How B2B Marketers Can Make the Most of Interactive Content Tools
- The Content Marketer’s Toolbox: 3 ‘Real-Life’ Tools for Gaining Insight, Inspiration, & Amplification
