As a marketer, you always need to be up-to-date with the latest trends in your niche.
Plus, you’ll also have to grab your audience’s attention every time you publish something on your blog or social media.
Coming up with interesting, new ideas every day can be difficult. Besides, you need to put down your ideas so you won’t forget anything important.
This is where mind mapping tools and brainstorming software comes into play!
Many marketers use these tools to:
- Write engaging ads
- Highlight website content
- Target relevant customers
- Brainstorm new ideas for their services
This article will help you understand what is a mind map tool and how you can use it to improve your marketing strategies. Moreover, we’ll show you some of the best mind mapping software as well as their pros and cons.
How Do You Find A Great Mind Mapping Software?
So, what is a mind map tool, and how does it help you achieve your marketing goals?
Also known as concept mapping software, these tools help you design visual diagrams of your ideas.
Let’s say you have a cool feature that makes your marketing agency stand out amongst competitors. Promoting it on social media will be different from how you’ll promote it on your blog, or if you’re invited to a podcast to talk about it.
Planning your announcements, brainstorming new ideas, and even finding solutions can be time-consuming. Besides, it’s easy to overlook important ideas.
With a mind mapping tool, you can create visual charts to organize your thoughts. Plus, it’s a cool idea to insert diagrams into your blog posts.
This way, your readers will understand your ideas easier and you can get viral with sharable content.
But how do you pick software that fits your marketing plans?
Here are the most important features you have to look for before you make any decisions:
Features #1
It Has Real-Time Collaboration Features
Choose a mind mapping tool that allows you and co-workers to:
- Join any task
- Chat
- Share different materials
- Do real-time updates
- Perform online activities.
The more freedom this software gives you, the easier it’ll be for you.
Features #2
API Integration
Your mind map software must be able connect with other platforms via API intergration like ClickUp, Asana, or Jira. This way, you can automate tasks and embed any kind of content on your website.
Features #3
You Should Be Able To Save Your Project and Export It
Right before you could save your project, your computer crashes down and you lose all your progress.
Sounds terrifying? Well, it is. Avoid that by choosing a mind map software that lets you save your work and export it anytime you want.
Features #4
Unlimited Canvas
Your ideas are unique and complex. Limiting them to only one kind of template or a specific canvas size is unpleasant. Your creativity comes first so make sure that your software doesn’t get in the way.
Features #5
Flexibility
Not being able to edit your task at any time is tiresome. Check if your mind mapping tools let you drag and click any visual elements. Also, make sure that your colleagues can work at the same time as you on the mind map.
Features #6
It Allows You To Co-Create
Letting other people collaborate on your projects saves you a lot of time! Make sure there are no problems when more people edit your project.
Features #7
Visual Presentation
Visuals are important because they’re engaging. Make it easier for your team to understand your ideas by adding lots of visual items to your map.
Features #8
Customer Support
Apps aren’t perfect. For any technical problem, you need an answer as soon as possible. Read carefully other peoples’ reviews before making any decision.
Features #9
Budget Saving
Using mind mapping software comes with great benefits, that’s true. However, you shouldn’t spend a fortune on these tools. Check the most profitable pricing plans and any available discounts to see what fits your budget!
And now that you are already cleared on your priorities – Here are the ultimate list for Top Mind Map Software You Should Use!
The Best 10 Mind Map Software Tools You Should Use As A Marketer
1. Coggle – Simple Mind Maps & Flow Charts For Beginners
Our Favourite Features:
- You can upload unlimited images and create appealing diagrams.
- Your project is saved automatically, so you don’t have to worry about losing your progress.
- It lets you structure your notes so you can improve learning.
| PRO | CONS |
|---|---|
| Coggle is well integrated with Google services | You’re quite limited in terms of font styles, shapes, or colours. |
| It lets your colleagues work with you, at the same time, on your diagrams | They offer only online customer support. |
| You can use cool effects – like flowing texts or images | |
| You can choose to make your mind map private or public. |
2. Mindly – An App That Keeps You Organized Every Day
Focused on productivity, this mind mapping app is another cool software you can try out! No matter how many pics, icons, or weblinks you upload, your mind map will stay visually clean.
Our Favourite Features:
- You can use it on your smartphone too (no matter if you have iOS and Android).
- You can email your mind map in less than a few seconds.
- Mindly integrates well with Dropbox.
| PRO | CONS |
|---|---|
| This is an intuitive app that you can use anytime you need in-depth planning. | It works well only for small businesses. You might find Mindly quite limiting if you have a medium-sized business. |
| It has a free plan so it’s perfect if you want to cut business costs. | It’s specially made for mobiles, so there is no Windows version available you can use. |
| It offers the option to protect your mind maps by making them private. |
3. MindMeister – Keeps Your Private Information Neat AND Safe
MindMeister offers you a great place where you can organize and share your ideas. But what makes them truly special is that they take privacy seriously. So, anytime you share private business information with your co-workers, you can rest assured that your data is safe.
Our Favourite Features:
- It’s compatible with Google Drive.
- You don’t need to pay for every person that uses the map, so it makes collaboration simple and accessible.
- It has a friendly and easy to learn UI.
| PRO | CONS |
|---|---|
| While you’re in search mode, you can edit and access Youtube. | The free plan is limited since you can create only 3 documents. |
| It offers you the possibility to restore any previous version, so you don’t have to worry if you delete important data by accident. | The size of the text can make mind mapping quite difficult on your phone. However, you should have no such problems if you work from your tablet or computer. |
| It allows you to import Xmind files. |
4. Diagrams.net – A Mind Mapping Tools Built For Professional Marketers
If you want to take your marketing skills to the next level, then Diagrams.net is one of your best options. You can create compelling professional diagrams while keeping your information highly secured.
Plus, having access to your projects is essential for your business. That’s why they built a feature that lets you open and edit your mind map anytime you want.
Our Favourite Features:
- It integrates well with a lot of tools: Google Drive, G Suite, Sharepoint, OneDrive, Dropbox, GitHub, Jira, GitLab, and many more.
- It’s a completely free mind mapping software.
- It’s user-friendly.
| PRO | CONS |
|---|---|
| Easy to use. | Since their app integrates a lot of other tools, exporting your projects can be difficult sometimes. |
| Auto-saved and accessible with any devices | You might encounter glitches, lags, and freezes if you use complex diagrams. |
| You don’t need to instal it because it’s a web based app. | |
| It allows you to import Xmind files. |
5. ClickUp – They Guarantee You’ll Save One Day Every Week
With more than +200,000 teams already using this app, ClickUp is one of the best mapping tools on the market. ClickUp is not excellent just for mind mapping, but it’s also a great project management tool. You can assign tasks, track milestones, or manage your calendars. In other words, it‘s like using more apps at the same time.
Our Favourite Features:
- You can create different tasks and checklists.
- You can chat directly on this app with your team.
- It makes delegating easy so you can focus on major tasks.
| PRO | CONS |
|---|---|
| You can set alerts and notifications to stay updated about the most important tasks and deadlines. | Having a lot of options for customization can get overwhelming. |
| It offers you useful business insights about the time you spend on different tasks. | The colour palette is not that varied, so you can’t give your items the proper contrast to highlight important information. |
| It has a professional dashboard view, making it easier to assign tasks and switch views. |
6. Scapple – Excellent Platform for Content Marketers
Founded by an English software company named “Literature & Latte”, this platform is made for those who enjoy reading, writing, sketching, and mapping. And Scapple’s motto illustrates this perfectly: “By writers, for writers”.
So, if you plan to step up your content writing skills, this is the perfect tool for it.
Our Favourite Features:
- It’s simple, light, and easy to use.
- You can adapt the font, the background, and the writing styles exactly how you want.
- It has different pricing plans.
| PRO | CONS |
|---|---|
| Scapple gives you more freedom than a regular mind mapping software, making ideas very easy to connect. | No one has improved this platform for more than a year, whether it’s about fixing a small bug or planning a major feature. |
| You’ll never run out of space so you can move your elements and notes wherever you want. | Scapple can be used in desktop version only. |
| Excellent customer support. |
7. Mindomo – Collaborative Mind Maps, Charts & Outlines
Mindomo is focused on improving the learning and studying processes. So, whenever you want to improve your marketing strategies, Mindomo will definitely come in handy. Plus, this software allows you to sync your offline and online content.
Our Favourite Features:
- They have a lot of free features that help with your productivity.
- You can use colourful tags for different categories.
- Your team can comment, chat, and vote on any tasks they are assigned to.
| PRO | CONS |
|---|---|
| Able to bookmark and share map URLs to improve team communication | The dashboard can become overwhelming if you’re not used to this app. |
| They have a huge variety of templates, so you create professional mind maps. | Many users complained about the price of this software. |
| They offer in-topic text formatting | |
| You can add hyperlinks, attachments, notes, and sound recordings. |
8. Ayoa – Mind Mapping Software That Boosts Your Productivity
Developed by a team of specialists with more than 15 years of experience on the market, Ayoa is the place where you can learn how to mind map your ideas in just a few seconds.
Plus, you can customize, drag, drop, and edit any task so your team can always keep up with you.
Our Favourite Features:
- You can use Ayoa on your tablet, desktop, or smartphone.
- Managing and working on your task becomes easy and enjoyable.
- You can create both mind maps and whiteboards.
| PRO | CONS |
|---|---|
| Ayoa is flexible and offers you lots of templates to choose from. | If you change the start or end date of your tasks, the subtasks will not update automatically. Thus, you’ll have to change the dates for every related subtask anytime you change your main one. |
| You can sort tasks by priority. In your planner section, you can choose to assign different tags to your tasks like “Later”, “Now”, or “Soon”. | Some users found the app quite expensive compared to other options available on the market. |
| Various export options to save your projects. | |
| Complex shortcut sets so you can save time while you’re mind mapping. |
9. LucidChart – Diagrams For Creating More Engaging Content
Developed in 2008 as an alternative to Visio, LucidChard quickly became one of the most popular mind mapping software for businesses. Available on Linux, Mac, and Windows, LucidChart makes brainstorming easier and more effective. Your team can collaborate on your projects by editing, co-authoring, or commenting on your mind maps.
Our Favourite Features:
- It’s perfect for any kind of business you have, whether it’s a small, medium, or big company.
- LucidCharts offer customer support both via phone or online.
- You can add comments and reviews.
| PRO | CONS |
|---|---|
| This tool helps you create helpful and interesting charts for your customers too. | LucidChard lags when you upload images or export your projects. |
| It has a friendly UI, and even those who aren’t accustomed to LucidChart can use it easily. | Sharing diagrams can be troublesome if others don’t have the same level of access permission as you. |
| If you want to share your work on different platforms like Slack or email, you can save your project as a PDF file and you’re good to go! |
10. MindGenius – A Wide Range of Features For Your Every Need
MindGenies can use this app to track milestones, manage your portfolios, organize your ideas. Plus, it has a client portal that makes communication with your customers a lot easier.
Our Favourite Features:
- They have efficient collaboration tools.
- Their features make your work engaging and easy to understand. Your customers and colleagues can add data, select, format, click, and drag any elements on your mind map.
- You can manage and schedule all tasks from a specific project.
| PRO | CONS |
|---|---|
| Since you can use a lot of interesting tools to organize your ideas, it’s easier to plan realistic goals and revisit them every time you think it’s necessary. | MindGenius isn’t as intuitive as other platforms, so your customers might find it challenging to use it. |
| You can run meetings and take notes while you manage your projects. | Some users complained that the app has problems when they operate it from an iPad. However, it works great on all other devices. |
| It’s easier to track milestones, critical paths, problems, or constraints. |
Which Mind Mapping App Is the Best For Me?
Knowing the pros and cons of every tool is important before making a decision. Otherwise, it can be overwhelming to manage everything while you’re planning your marketing campaigns.
That’s why we came up with an in-depth guide about the right tools you need as a savvy marketer.
On one way, it will make you stand out amongst other competitors and drive more traffic to your website.
On the other hand, it can help you stay up-to-date with the latest trends in the digital marketing niche. Plus, you’ll come up with engaging and cool ideas for your customers!
Not sure what mind mapping software is best for your marketing strategies?
Contact us and our specialists will help you with solutions specially tailored for your needs. Here at One Search Pro, we want to see your business flourish, so don’t hesitate and send us a message!
