I haven’t blogged here for a while, but every few months I use this blog as my own public notebook for specific topics, that I’ve picked over some time. I’ve listed 25 content discovery, content analytics and content distribution platforms that can rapidly boost all content marketing efforts. These tools all work in different ways to aid in efforts of maintaining a professional social media presence. Some might be already known to you, others are fairly new and not really public yet:
1. Wildfire
Recently acquired by Google, this app is a Swiss army knife for most of your social media news. You can monitor, post, generate reports and compare the effectiveness of multiple campaigns using a simple interface for every channel.
2. Percolate
The premise behind percolate is to allow CMOs and brand managers to sample different ideas before tweeting or posting them to their online followers. Most of the social media tools allow you to monitor and post messages, but only a handful help in the content creation process. Percolate eliminates the need for a creative social media agency and lets the brand managers take charge of their social media again.
3. Outbrain is a discovery platform that aids in promoting your website by driving engagement and acquiring traffic organically. The platform delivers personalized links for every user and distributes your content in thousands of websites from around the Web.
4. Stumbleupon
Stumbleupon is an established tool that’s noted as being a powerful platform for new brands. They introduce visitors to your site that enjoy browsing and who wish to continually discover new online properties in precise categories. Your site enters a raffle and, if selected, is introduced to the targeted visitor. Stumbleupon has some of the lowest CPCs in the industry, and you only pay per visitor. In most cases, the cost is lower than say, placing Facebook ads.
5. Zemanta
A pioneer in social content promotions, Zemanta is known for their powerful algorithms that help bloggers generate content for their pages and increase conversions and stickiness. After helping you generate this content, Zemanta also recommends you content to audiences from around the Web.
6. Linkwihtin
Promote your old posts with this widget that boosts your page views an exposes relevant articles form the past. The program appends beautiful thumbnails to each related post and is highly customizable.
7. nRelate
nRelate is a powerful platform that joins publishers and marketers to match qualified readers with content. After uploading your content to nRelate’s platform, it will be featured in relevant pages as “suggested content” and drive targeted visitors to your site.
8. ContentDJ
ContentDJ is like magic. Your role is to type in relevant hashtags and select a handful of options for your content, and the tool keeps your stream updated and maintains the contentment of users with quality content. ContentDJ is a great tool for those who wish for a more automated way to manage their social media accounts.
9. Visual.ly
This is a great tool to create info graphics and have them spread virally. The idea is to use one of their professionally designed templates and, from then on, apply the necessary customizations to craft a compelling info graphic. It helps to have relevant and never before shared data. After your graphic is created, it can be shared in traditional blogs as well as mainstream social media websites.
10. Taboola
This tool helps with boosting video relevance. Taboola digests your video content and, according to your editorial goals, allows you to curate videos in large scale sites. It includes pre-made widgets and turnkey integration with major video platforms.
11. Sproutsocial
This is a freemium alternative to monitor your social media. It is a very easy to use, flexible platform that provides nice filters and reports to keep track of your social media impact. The paid version is a good investment if you have a large followership.
12. Delicious
This is the original social bookmarking site. While it is now a Yahoo property, it is still a good foundation to gain link juice from. The idea here is to create a strong portfolio of links that are keyword filled and point back to your content in a highly targeted way. Some users browse this site as a catalog so, indeed, some direct traffic is to be expected.
13. Reddit
The “frontage of the Internet”, as its founders call it, is one of the most effective promotional tools for Internet marketers. Reddit is able to create ‘memes’ or social media vitality by displaying your content in one of its pages (it has several depending on the subject). Anyone can post content to Reddit. A good strategy is to create high quality content and then give it a boost with votes from your friends and associates.
14. Flipboard
If you want to gain traffic that comes from iPad or iPhone users, Flipboard is a solid alternative. Join their publisher program and start gaining access to a myriad of iPhone and iPad visitors. This traffic converts very well and is also significantly targeted.
15. Trapit
Trapit is a social discovery platform for iOS devices. Trapit promotes your content through a highly intuitive discovery platform and tailored the display of information depending on customer feedback. The better your content is, the more your traffic will grow and grow.
16. Skyword
This tools helps you acquire leads and users for less by reducing your content production and lead generation costs. Is a very intensive platform rich in scorecards and data that help you fine tune your campaigns.
17. Social Bakers
This brand pack a broad suite of products for your social media needs. They offer social media intelligence (competitive intelligence), measurement, industry benchmarking, social media management, post optimization and scheduling and campaign management.
18. Integrasco
If you have complex needs and could use a professional services firm to integrate and customize your social media tools, look no further than Integrasco. They provide monitoring, analytics and implementation services.
19. Brand Satisfaction
This tool offers research and marketing services for all your social media needs. It is a seasoned provider of products and services for companies of every size.
20. Strutta.com
This is a very mature platform used to create social promotions. With Strutta, creating contests and sweepstakes that run on Facebook is a breeze. The platform also has applications to rapidly create social coupons, welcome pages, forms and media galleries to spruce up your Facebook page.
21. Followup.cc
Followup is a powerful task scheduler that guarantees you’ll never forget to engage with your audience. It integrates with your calendar, Salesforce and email system. This tool is recommended for the busy social media manager.
22. UnMetric.com
Ever wished to compare your social media performance to that of the competition? With Unmetric, your wish has come true. This tool analyzes the social media performance of six thousand brands to give you a panoramic view of the performance of your competitors in social media.
23. Prosodic.com
The magic of Prosodic is in real-time analytics. They are the only real-time Facebook-integrated solution that allows you to fine tune your message according to the immediate response of your customers.
24. Reputationobserver
This reputation software allows to follow discussions and re-act in real-time to them. Ideally to follow product news and have an outreach team go after instantly.
25. Pinterest Bookmarklet
Create a portfolio of images and inspirational motives that link back to your content and help consumer discover your content using the Pinterest Bookmarklet, a social tool that connects your portfolio with interested Pinterest users.
Every company is different. Remember to try as many of these tools as possible and to select that ones that best cater to your workflow and needs. There are many to choose from, and a number of them can work together in order to satisfy your marketing needs to the fullest.
