Every marketer has an arsenal of tools they use to promote their clients. I’ve mentioned a few of mine in various blog posts and thought it would be a great idea to bring them all together in a handy list. While this list doesn’t include every single tool I use, it’s comprised of the ones I use most often or find most valuable in helping me achieve my marketing goals. Here’s my list of favorite tools (in no particular order).

Basecamp –

I use Basecamp to organize my projects, interact with clients, and move content to and from my writing team. Everything stays organized and keeps all of us on the same page. Add-ins and extensions allow me to send articles, studies, and other research from the web directly to a specified folder, where I can use them as I need them. The updated version of Basecamp – Bascamp 3- allows for more integration, has more functionality, and has a new “clientside” that allows your clients to see only what you want them to see, while it tracks and records client feedback and interactions so everything you need is right at your fingertips. Always.

Trello –

I love Trello for organizing the social media team. As my writers finish their content, I move it to Trello with to-do lists and due dates for the team. Trello gives you a birds-eye view of what’s in each card, allowing users to simply glance down the list to see what has been accomplished and what needs to be done.

HootSuite

Hootsuite has been around for quite a while now and I feel like it just keeps getting better. Not only can we use it to broadcast updates to our social network, we also use Hootsuite to listen to what’s being said about us and our clients. If you’re planning on, or already are running your own social media campaigns, Hootsuite can seriously decrease the amount of time you spend sharing, updating, and liking across your entire social network.

Search Engine News

I started working in SEO in 2002 for an industrial coatings group. I didn’t know much about search engine optimization at the time, and used Planet Ocean’s SearchEngineNews to get up to speed. Actually, I devoured the Unfair Advantage Book and did exactly what it told me to, and within a very short amount of time, the industrial coatings group was ranked at the top of Google results pages for each of their keywords. I used SeachEngineNews to learn about how search engines work (and back then, there were many, many search engines) which fed which, and how to maximize exposure on all of them. All these years later, SearchEngineNews continues to educate folks about Google, Bing, and Yahoo and how to best optimize websites for maximum exposure. I recommend that any firm wanting to improve their position in the top three search engines read the book (which is updated monthly) and implement the strategies listed.

Teresa Shaw is an SEO consultant with 10 years of experience helping attorneys and law firms across the country increase public awareness of their services.