In this report, we define and compare content marketing software and social media marketing software to help you decide which one aligns with your business goals.
Both content marketing software and social media marketing software are key elements of the digital marketing category. The two tools do have a lot of features in common, but their objectives and functions differ from each other.
Content marketing software acts as a centralized platform for developing marketing strategies and creating, distributing, and managing content across channels such as social media, email lists, and blog posts. On the other hand, social media marketing software promotes a brand’s products and services directly through social media platforms in order to increase brand awareness and amplify lead generation.
This report will identify the similarities and differences between the two software categories and help you select the right one for your business requirements.
What is content marketing software?
Content marketing software automates the process of planning, creating, managing, distributing, publishing, and tracking content assets and marketing campaigns. It helps users collaborate on different content types (such as videos, e-books, blogs, infographics, and social media posts), share them across channels to reach new audiences, increase brand awareness, and improve lead generation.
Content marketing software helps marketers focus on the quality of the published content and monitor its performance across the sales cycle. The software can combine digital marketing essential tools—such as content management systems (CMS), social media channels, social media management solutions, marketing automation tools, and content repositories—into a single platform to streamline content marketing.
Our lists of content marketing agencies by location can help you find the services you're looking for.
What is social media marketing software?
Social media marketing software helps marketers create and schedule social media posts, allowing them to share content across social media channels, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube. As a social media manager, you can use this tool to monitor your marketing efforts, measure the return on investment (ROI), and run social network campaigns.
Social media marketing tools offer integrated email linked to multiple social accounts, thus creating a single platform for several simultaneous campaigns. A social media marketing system also strengthens your brand identity and improves customer engagement.
Our lists of social media marketing agencies by location can help you find the services you’re looking for.
What do they have in common?
Content marketing and social media marketing work in conjunction to increase customer retention, brand awareness, and customer satisfaction.
In terms of features, both content marketing and social media marketing software offer content management, post and publish scheduling, and reporting tools. Both software types are used by marketing teams to strategize, create, distribute, and manage content creation and performance.
Social media marketing is a crucial part of content marketing. The purpose of content marketing is to gain subscribers to original content in order to increase leads. Social media is an excellent way of publishing and promoting your content. It is also a great way of communicating your brand message to the target audience and directing them to your website content.
Content marketing software features
Social media marketing software features
Which tool is right for you?
If you are looking for a centralized database for the entire marketing team to plan and execute the content marketing strategy, you can opt for content marketing software. It includes multi-channel campaign management, customizable templates, campaign analytics, and audience targeting.
Since content marketing is all about running multiple content marketing campaigns across channels such as social media and websites, most content marketing tools integrate with social media apps to distribute and publish content online.
However, if your business primarily focuses on social media marketing, you can opt for a dedicated social media advertising system. The software also offers automated publishing on social media platforms, post scheduling, content and contact management, and customer targeting.
Once you’ve decided which software to use, head to our content marketing software and social media marketing software category pages where you can find a sortable list of products, software reviews from verified users, and comprehensive buyers guides.
If you wish to narrow down your search to only the most popular and highest-rated solutions, visit Capterra’s Shortlist reports for the top content marketing software and social media marketing software tools—our reports are based on an analysis of thousands of user reviews.
5 top-rated content and social media marketing software
These five products, listed in alphabetical order, are among the top rated in both software categories.
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Note: Reviews and ratings data in the product cards is as of May 10, 2022. New reviews may have been added since the publication of this article, so the reviews data in this piece may not reflect current conditions.
The products in the category comparison images are examples to show a feature in context and are not intended as endorsements or recommendations by Capterra. They have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable at the time of publication.
Be listed under Capterra’s 2022 Shortlist reports for content marketing and social media marketing software software. Learn more about the Capterra Shortlist methodology here.
Meet our software market definition for content and social media marketing software: