“Downtime” may seem like a foreign concept to us busy bee marketers, but let’s face it. There are extra pockets of time in all of our schedules that we can capitalize on to make ourselves better at our jobs (or better job candidates). When you find yourself twiddling your thumbs in-between meetings or find that rare opportunity of free time before bed, consider checking out these apps and sites to inspire you and make you a better marketer.

Google Trends

Google Trends is a fantastic spot to get a quick snapshot of what is “buzzing” on the web. This is a valuable bookmark for any marketer whose role involves curating relevant content. For international marketers, you can toggle to see what is trending in other countries.  You can also track the volume of searches around different topics over time, to help you determine what topics would consistently appeal to your audience. Last but not least, Google Trends gives you a visual look at what people are searching in real-time.

Codecademy

The advertising industry is a fast-paced, ever-changing whirlwind. Similar to the concept of a “backpack journalist,” marketers are expected to expand their skill sets more than ever before. Developing an understanding and/or proficiency around different programming languages can give a competitive edge. Codecademy is a free website that uses gamification and simple step-by-step lessons to make learning programming languages fun. They offer introductory courses on a variety of languages from HTML and CSS to Python and PHP. Not sure where to start? HTML and CSS are a good base to get your feet wet. You’re likely to use those in most web or email projects.

Flipboard

Flipboard is the go-to app to get customized news in a visually-appealing format. You create a profile so that you can set preferences on what kind of news you want. Marketers can get their dose of technology and advertising updates, as well as get the dish on what is happening in world news and events, art, design and more. Being well-read in a variety of topics can give you that educated edge in client or networking conversations.

TED

The TED app is like your Pandora of insightful video TED talks. TED stands for “Technology, Entertainment and Design.” Their 18-minute-or-less talks are platforms for different thought leaders to express their ideas around these themes.  You can tell the app how much time you have to watch and what kind of topics you are looking for, and it automatically creates a custom playlist of TED talk videos for you to sit back and be inspired by.

Klout

Klout has always been useful for determining influence of social media users and brands. New updates to their platform have morphed this site into a content curation channel as well. After creating your account, Klout can help you find content and social media users to connect with that who have influence in your industry or field.

Pocket or Google Keep

Don’t have downtime right now? There will always be those times when we spot a good read or site that we don’t have time to pursue at the moment. Use an app like Pocket or Google Keep to store great content/links so you can check it out the next time you have that ever-treasured downtime.

We all need to give our minds official time off to make sure we can rest and recharge. But the next time you find yourself mindlessly mulling through Netflix titles or checking Facebook notifications, explore these apps and sites that could make you a better marketer instead. As they say, “The proactive marketer gets the worm.”


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