Mobile is the future. In fact, mobile screens will top desktops as the Internet interface of choice by 2015, according to IDC. That’s why we decided to spotlight mobile apps for marcom and PR professionals in this edition. As you know, however, the spectrum ranges from entry-level apps to the more advanced tools used by social media savvy, digital natives. What’s more, a mobile tool’s relevance to you as a professional often has as much, if not more, to do with the preferences of the media you target as with your own needs and preferences.
We decided to narrow it down by seeking out only the apps that help make your jobs easier, your reach more effective, and your lives more fun. We used our own Sysomos MAP listening tool to look at the online discussion around the apps that nearly everyone seems to be talking about—and we hope that you’ll join in the buzz when you’re done reading this, as well!
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HOT Apps: 10 Favorite Mobile Apps
1.
2. HOT APPS:
10 Favorite Mobile Apps for Marcom
& PR Pros
Mobile is the future. In fact, mobile screens will top desktops as the Internet interface
of choice by 2015, according to IDC. That’s why we decided to spotlight mobile apps
for marcom and PR professionals in this edition. As you know, however, the
spectrum ranges from entry-level apps to the more advanced tools used by social
media savvy, digital natives. What’s more, a mobile tool’s relevance to you as a
professional often has as much, if not more, to do with the preferences of the media
you target as with your own needs and preferences.
We decided to narrow it down by seeking out only the apps that help make your jobs
easier, your reach more effective, and your lives more fun. We used our own
Sysomos MAP listening tool to look at the online discussion around the apps that
nearly everyone seems to be talking about—and we hope that you’ll join in the buzz
when you’re done reading this, as well!
3. 1. Dropbox
Sharing Is Caring
Dropbox is a cloud-based app that lets
you easily share and back up files. A
multiple 2012 Crunchie award winner
(for Best Cloud Service and Best Start-
Up), it’s a very useful collaboration tool.
Remote global communication teams,
especially those on the go, can work
together easily without a complicated
document revision control process.
When someone joins a shared folder, it
appears inside their Dropbox and syncs
to their computer automatically. Dropbox
eliminates the need to email big files,
which can be a significant problem. You
can share videos, pictures and
documents across computers, between
people, from your desktop, and from
your mobile device. Nifty right?
HOT APPS:
10 Favorite Mobile Apps for Marcom & PR Pros
4. 2. Flipboard
Easy on the Eyes
Marcom and PR professionals typically
read a lot of media. They peruse
newspapers, magazines, their social
media channels, blogs, and more. They
frequently need to aggregate and
curate data and information quickly.
Enter Flipboard.
Flipboard serves up your content like a
magazine on an iPhone or iPad. RSS
feeds, social media profiles, and links
are presented in an easy-to-consume
format. The best news? You can use it
to brand your content for customers so
they get a magazine-like experience
interacting with you. The company
curates ready-to-go themed streams,
too—and you could get published there
for syndication. Long live magazines!
HOT APPS:
10 Favorite Mobile Apps for Marcom & PR Pros
5. 3. Evernote
Your Mobile Catch-All
We’ve featured Evernote before, and for
good reason. In fact, since we featured
it, they’ve received the 2012 Crunchie
from TechCrunch for Best Mobile
Application. We can’t take credit for that,
but we can say we spotted it early on!
Evernote is ideal for jotting notes,
clipping Web pages, taking cell phone
snapshots, creating to-do lists, and
recording audio notes. Once in Evernote,
notes are analyzed and rendered
searchable. It even works for text within
images. The best part is it synchronizes
across Mac, PC, Web, and mobile
platforms. Until the marcom world is
completely paperless and digital,
Evernote is a great way to keep all your
communication collateral organized.
HOT APPS:
10 Favorite Mobile Apps for Marcom & PR Pros
6. 4. Tweetdeck
Keeping Your Finger on the Social Pulse
Communicators must stay on top of the
pulse of the social media conversation,
which continues whether you are on the
go or not. Enter Tweetdeck.
Already a favorite standby for many,
Tweetdeck is a free social media
monitoring and management dashboard.
You can manage multiple accounts within
the same platform, such as different
Twitter accounts. You can also manage
across platforms to update your
Facebook fan page, your LinkedIn profile,
and your tweet stream, for example. With
the mobile version, you can launch blurbs
on the fly, schedule future status updates,
and filter for specific keywords to watch.
We say it’s a winner!
HOT APPS:
10 Favorite Mobile Apps for Marcom & PR Pros
7. 5. WordPress
Blogging on the Go Made Easy
Your content and publication calendar
doesn’t stop just because you’re not
sitting at your desktop. You need to
moderate and respond to comments,
create new posts and edit them,
upload photos, and keep the content
monster fed. You need to be able to
respond to the PR traffic sooner rather
than later. The mobile WordPress app
is a popular choice for doing just that.
When we used Sysomos MAP to
check the feedback people were giving
this app online, words like “awesome,”
“so helpful,” and “I wouldn’t go without
it” were the norm. We’ve said it a lot in
past editions, but it bears repeating:
Easy and free is good. We’re betting
you think so, too.
HOT APPS:
10 Favorite Mobile Apps for Marcom & PR Pros
8. 6. Google Analytics
Reporting to the Client Just Got Easier
Reporting the numbers is usually not
the highlight of any communicator’s
work week. So, of course, you’ll want
an easy way to manage your reporting
function while away from the office. We
suggest you try the Google Analytics
app.
Google Analytics is available on the
iPhone (Analytic), Android (Mobile GA),
Windows Mobile (Phonealytics), and
the Blackberry (Nomad Analytics). You
already likely use Google Analytics, but
what will come as a pleasant surprise is
how cheap it is to track your PR or
marketing campaign on-the-go. All of
these versions are free, except for the
Blackberry version, which comes in at
only $4.99. Go measure that!
HOT APPS:
10 Favorite Mobile Apps for Marcom & PR Pros
9. 7. Wikitude AR Travel Guide
Take a Picture, Get a Clue
Augmented reality in the palm of your
hand? Yep. Perfect for lunch meetings
with prospects and clients? Yep. Major
cool factor? Yep, again.
Wikitude is an application for Android
that turns Wikipedia into a location-
based service. This means you can point
your camera at anything around you,
and using GPS, the app is able to pick
up information about places of interest in
your area. Combine that with your
OpenTable app (see the next slide) to
grab a reservation at one of the
restaurants you are notified about, and
you will be looking pretty impressive to
your prospect or client. Life looks good
when it’s augmented, isn’t it?
HOT APPS:
10 Favorite Mobile Apps for Marcom & PR Pros
10. 8. OpenTable
VIP Treatment for You and Your Clients
PR still includes a good amount of
schmoozing in person, no matter how big
your digital footprint is. Plenty of
business still gets done over coffee,
lunch, or dinner. But landing a
reservation at a top restaurant, especially
if you’re out of town, can be a challenge.
Load up OpenTable and you’re set.
OpenTable is a free, real-time restaurant
reservation system for diners and
restaurants alike. This app lets you make
reservations 24/7. Not only does it
quickly and easily confirm reservations,
but you can also search by features,
such as price and menu, and pick
between available options. Bon appetite!
HOT APPS:
10 Favorite Mobile Apps for Marcom & PR Pros
11. 9. TripIt
Your Pocket-Sized Concierge
Traveling marcom professionals need to
book flights, make car reservations,
secure hotel rooms, and take care of
their on-the-road needs. How to do all
that easily? With TripIt.
TripIt is available on the iPhone, iPad,
Android, Blackberry, and Windows
Phone 7. According to its site, “When
you forward your confirmation emails to
plans@tripit.com, we turn them into an
itinerary for your trip. Your itinerary has
all of your important travel details in one
convenient place. You can customize it
with maps, directions and personal
touches like pictures and notes. Once
your itinerary is created, you can
access it anytime online, or using your
mobile device.” Wow.
HOT APPS:
10 Favorite Mobile Apps for Marcom & PR Pros
12. 10. Eventbrite at the Door
Events Done Right
Eventbrite is a event planner’s dream.
Its online ticket selling function lets
you organize event ticket sales prior
to the event. Unfortunately, until
recently, buying tickets prior to the
event was the only option. But
Eventbrite has come to the rescue
with its Eventbrite at the Door app.
Eventbrite partnered with a mobile
credit card swiping service to create a
comprehensive ticketing solution for
the iPad at events. At-the-door
arrivals can pay with check, cash, or
credit cards. The stats are then
aggregated for both your pre-sales
and onsite sales, and suddenly, you
have a very happening PR event.
Does it get any better than that?
HOT APPS:
10 Favorite Mobile Apps for Marcom & PR Pros
13. HOT APPS:
10 Favorite Mobile Apps for Marcom
& PR Pros
The Well-Rounded Life
A PR and marcom professional’s work life is replete with a variety of tasks. It’s
not all just writing press releases, crafting messaging or pitching new branding
campaigns. We think that no matter what you’re doing, the tools you use should
be fun, easy, effective, and able to travel with you when you’re on the go.
The logistics of leading a productive, yet well-rounded work life require a strong
support network of colleagues, connections, and tools. Hopefully, you found
some apps in this offering that can help you build that strong support network,
regardless of whether you’re on the road or at your desk. If you have app
favorites of your own that weren’t listed here, share them with us and your
colleagues in the comments section below so we can all work hard, succeed and
enjoy together!
To read all the Pulses and other Slideshare.net presentations, click here.
14. HOT APPS:
10 Favorite Mobile Apps for Marcom
& PR Pros
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Thumbs Up: Our 10 Favorite Branded Google+ Pages
THE PULSE:
Delivering shareable and shareworthy content with a twist
so integrated marketing and communications professionals can work smarter, succeed and enjoy.
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