Mobile apps always seem to find a way to worm into today’s marketing conversations. And for good reason. They’re not only a new platform for brands to engage consumers wherever they are–many apps also serve as excellent tools to marketers themselves.
A recent report by the mobile app analytics firm, App Annie shows that total IOS and Google Play app downloads topped more than 260 billion last year. That’s a massive trend marketers can take advantage of.
Mobile apps can give you a much-needed leg-up in a competitive world crowded with voices. Whether Android or Apple, smartphone or tablet, apps can also assist you in nearly every aspect of your marketing functions, even if you don’t work directly in mobile or digital marketing.
You have access to unprecedented information, literally at your fingertips– what’s trending, how people are responding to your messages, what are the latest best practices. One thing we’ve learned as a mobile marketing staffing firm is that the right apps are truly the marketer’s best friend.
But which apps add the most value right now? Here’s are some almost any marketer can download now and start taking advantage of right away.
Publishing & Managing Social Accounts
Content is King. But even the best content won’t get you far if it’s not getting visibility at the most opportune moments. Making sure your content appears at the right place, at the right time can be a tedious process. These apps will simplify the distribution aspect of your job.
- Buffer: An app that helps you share content to social media channels by letting you schedule posts to be published at ideal times. You can even let Buffer decide what time is best.
- PixxFly: This outbound marketing app automates the distribution and syndication of all your content to various channels across the web with one simple click. PixxFly also provides analytics for each post.
- Pagemodo: Used primarily to set up Facebook business or organization pages, Pagemodo helps you create engaging visual elements and customized features that encourage fan interaction without professional help. It allows you to schedule posts and finds the most relevant content for your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages.
Keeping up with the constant demands of social networks can be a tall order. Most marketers either spend too much time on social or fail to give it the attention it needs to be a valuable channel. To strike the right balance, you need the right tools to excel at your social media staffing or full-time management role.
- Hootsuite: Hootsuite allows you to manage multiple social media accounts, analyze traffic, track brand mentions, schedule posts, messages and tweets– all from one interface.
- Sprout Social: Sprout Social allows you to schedule, publish and analyze posts across all your social platforms from a single window.
- Tint: Though not strictly a social media management tool, Tint is an exciting app that can create social hubs to engage audiences. You can pull content from Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Instagram and Pinterest onto your dashboard then embed them as custom feeds into websites like WordPress, Wix, or Tumblr, or on mobile apps, social pages, digital displays and video walls.
Download it Now: 8 Interview Questions You MUST Ask Your Next Social Media Manager
Social Listening
When it comes to marketing in today’s social-media environment, it’s important to listen to what people are saying. This helps you measure your reach and keeps you informed on what’s trending. Social listening also helps you know when you need to act promptly. For example, if not acted upon immediately, a negative comment by an unsatisfied customer can spread like wildfire and damage your brand’s reputation. Here are the three top social listening apps to keep your finger on the pulse of the web.
- Buzzsumo: Buzzsumo helps you take a deeper look at what’s popular or trending on social media and who’s sharing.
- Mention: Mention helps you easily keep track in real time of what’s being said about your brand so you can react quickly. It will send you alerts showing your mentions each day so you can quickly respond to anyone trying to engage.
- Cyfe: Social listening can get overwhelming with so many different areas to track. Cyfe makes it easier by allowing you to customize your dashboard to monitor your data all from one place.
A Great Example of How to Use Multiple Social Apps Together
video from THiNK Media TV
Team Engagement
One of the most powerful marketing strategies is creating brand advocates inside your own organization. These apps are designed to help employees share content across their social networks, making it very easy and giving them periodic reminders. We are seeing new players in this space such as social media giant LinkedIn. There are also upstarts like TrapIt. However, based on experience and time in the market, here are three proven tools that we recommend for anyone, especially mobile marketing staffing candidates.
- Dynamic Signal: This is a tool that lets you distribute either your own content or some you’ve curated from the web to employees who can then re-share it on their personal social-media profiles.
- SoAmpli: SoAmpli encourages employees and co-workers to be brand advocates through social sharing.
- EveryoneSocial: With its clean and simple interface, EverySocial is designed to amplify your brand presence by building a team of employee advocates to share your content on their social media accounts.
Article source: Entrpreneur