It’s not all hammers and wrenches. Every professional has their own version of a tool kit. For a content marketer, that tool kit includes a wide variety of online and offline resources. But in order to appreciate the tools that a content marketer uses, it’s important to understand what we do. If you’re confused on what content marketing is, the Content Marketing Institute describes it like this:

“Content marketing is a marketing technique of creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience – with the objective of driving profitable customer action.”

Whether you’re working with a company like Imagebox to create and share your content or you’re trying to do it on your own, there are unlimited resources that will help you build your company’s written identity. Here are a few of my go-to tools.

Building the Right Message

Thesaurus.com – When writing web or print copy, sometimes it really does come down to that ONE word you need to get just right. While  “great” may do in some cases, certain situations call for “fantastic” or “proficient.” Plus, a thesaurus can help you avoid redundancy and keep you from giving a boring message to your customers or clients. In the world of 140 characters or less, everything you say counts.

The AP Stylebook – I have a background in journalism and was taught to follow the rules of the Associated Press Stylebook. In general, I follow the rules. But part of promoting your own business is coming up with your own rules and style. So whether your style is AP, Chicago or something all your own, it makes writing great content even easier when your team is following the same style.

Making Content Search Engine Friendly

Google AdWords – For our clients who are running ads on Google, the Google AdWords tool is where the magic happens. But it’s also important to take note of which of your keywords are getting you the most clicks in AdWords so that you can incorporate these words into your copy. While writing great content should be a content marketer’s top goal, incorporating keywords into that content is important for showing up in search results.

Google Keywords Tool – Similarly, you can discover new keywords to use in your content by doing some research using the Google Keywords Tool. By entering the words you’re already using, you can see variations that Google suggests. It can help you expand your keyword list and give you new keywords to focus on in your content.

Pushing Content to the World

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Hootsuite, etc. – Once your message is complete, it’s time to push it through all of the appropriate social media channels. Each time we write a new post on the Imagebox blog (including this one), I follow a process of posting to Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus.  When managing content for clients, I access multiple accounts and schedule posts using Hootsuite.

One thing you might not think of? Using your personal social networks to promote your company’s content. Each post I write for Imagebox is also promoted on my personal Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus and LinkedIn pages. After all, you never know who in your personal circle might be in need of your services soon.

Copyblogger.com – Copyblogger is a top resource for copywriters or anyone in the marketing industry looking to improve their messaging. The Copyblogger blog is full of articles geared toward writing effective copy, and reading the latest information put out by the site is part of my daily schedule.

When it comes to content marketing – or design, advertising and other creative fields – which resources are in your tool kit?