As marketers in an age where new marketing apps are being introduced by the minute, it’s hard to know what apps truly deserve our attention (or better yet, our $0.99). With that in mind, I wanted to use this week’s blog post to put a spotlight on a few applications that just might be worth your while.
1. Mural.ly
In my humble opinion, this is like an incredibly visual (and awesome) version of Google Docs. Mural.ly allows users to make “murals” which serve as a sort of white board, Pinterest board, and Google doc all in one. The site basically offers an online, organized, but creative, means by which to brainstorm. Murals can be open to the world (I’m thinking this might make for an interesting online focus group), or can be password protected for a more secure brainstorming option. Contributors can add almost anything including sticky notes, images, YouTube videos, website links, documents, or spreadsheets. The free version of Mural.ly allows users two murals, and there are varied membership rates that allow for more murals, contributors, and customer support.
2. Toggl
Ah, time! How it slips away from us all! In all seriousness Toggl is a time-tracking tool that makes it easier to manage productivity. The simple, self-explanatory tool allows you to name projects and then start tracking with the simple click of a “start” or “stop” button. This makes it incredibly easy to account for breaks during billable hours. The app can even be integrated with programs such as Basecamp so you can invoice straight from your tracked timesheet. For me, the most useful aspect of Toggl is the mobile app version that allows for time tracking on the go such as when you’re in a meeting, visiting a client on-site, etc. Toggl charges a rate of $5/per user/per month.
After using Nutshell Mail, I kind of wish every part of my day could be digested like this – quick, to the point, and in a nutshell. The idea behind this app is to keep you updated on social media happenings. Although Hootsuite and Tweetdeck are great sources for this, they are only great if you are continuously monitoring your social media pages. What about those of us who can’t look at Facebook every hour? Well, in a nutshell (see what I did there), we can use this app to get summaries of activity on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, LinkedIn and Foursquare. You can get updates by email from 1 to 24 times a day and reports are completely customizable. Bonus: It’s free!
While the list of apps and bells and whistles could go on, I find it most productive to get my feet wet with only a couple of apps each month. This lets me give each app the attention it deserves to see if it could actually be a beneficial addition to my routine.
Any apps that you can’t believe you ever lived without? Any that you think are overrated?
