Social isn’t just for bored teens and baby photos anymore. The complexity and range of usage for many of these sites has grown dramatically, turning them into a great resource for content marketing ideas. They can also help you keep those thoughts organized and allow you to easily share them when you want feedback. Whatever your content marketing strategy, leverage the Internet’s support by using these 5 social sites and apps:
Otherwise known as the “front page of the Internet,” Reddit is a site where users share information, photos, and more—and then vote them to popularity (or unpopularity) by “upvoting” or “downvoting.” The more upvotes a post receives, the higher it will rank in its category (i.e. subreddit— a community focused on a specific topic). Time is factored in to this equation so that popular content is always rotating through the site but a post never “expires” unless deleted by a MOD (moderator) or OP (original poster).
Reddit is not only great for finding trending content; it’s also great for crowdsourcing. If you want to gauge the value of a certain topic or get feedback on an unconventional question, Reddit is the place to go.
Bonus insight: The narwhal bacons at midnight. If you’re a Redditor, you’ll know what this means. Or, you can learn it here.
Evernote
What was the name of that wine we had? Which site did I find that article on? Whose song did they play at the show?
Evernote is the app that brings all of your important bits of information together, categorized into notes. Save Word docs, photos, and entire webpages in your account and access them later from any device—laptop, mobile, tablet…you name it. Then share your notes with friends and colleagues by granting them access or emailing your notebook directly to them.
So the next time you discover your new favorite Pinot Noir, snap a photo of the label and record some audio so you remember your reasoning. Your future self will thank you.
Bonus insight: Its advanced search feature let’s you sift through all of your treasures by simply searching whatever keyword you managed to remember.
Yammer
Yammer is a private social network for your office. If you are part of a large business with multiple departments, teams, and locations, Yammer can help you network and collaborate through its instantaneous and interconnected social platform. Communicate the dedication to company culture, ask questions about products and projects, and share best practices.
With customers such as Red Robin, Modcloth, and Nationwide, Yammer is no lightweight. They have great customer success stories and proven success.
Bonus insight: Yammer allows your employees to feel part of a larger community while also having a platform to voice their unique and individual opinions.
Easelly
Between Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, and more, there is no debating the rise and importance of visual communication online nowadays. The latest and greatest in online imagery are infographics. Any business large or small can use infographics to spice up their blog and generate content for social.
Easel.ly makes it easier to create such content without a graphic designer’s help. All you need to provide are the stats. And did we mention it’s free?
“Using the site is as easy as dragging and dropping design elements, and users can either choose a template from our extensive library, or they can upload their own background image and start from scratch.” (Easel.ly)
Bonus insight: There are over 300,000 registered users on the site, making the information and available templates feel endless.
Google Trends
If you’re a Gmail user or Googler, you’ve probably had that moment of realization that Google may know more about you than your closest pal. At least, what your interests are.
Peruse the Top Chart categories like Entertainment (actors, DJs, movies, etc.), Sports (baseball players, athletes, basketball teams, etc.), and Business & politics (energy companies, politicians, colleges & universities) or check out the daily Hot Searches.
Google comes through with another great feature for finding content and staying relevant.
Bonus insight: Look cool at the office: download the screen saver of latest hot searches in the United States.
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