There are tons of social media platforms out there. Too many to keep up with, that’s for sure. But if there’s one you’re missing out on that you should probably check out, or at least reevaluate how you’re using, it’s gotta be Flipboard. Part newspaper, part magazine, and part Pinterest, Flipboard is the perfect combination of killing time and being productive. Welcome to your new favorite time-suck.
Launched in July 2010 shortly after Apple’s iPad took the world by storm, Flipboard sought to change the way we experience content online, more specifically on our mobile devices. It combines content from publications, blogs, and social platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram into a beautiful and easy-to-use platform that had users ‘swiping right’ way before it was a thing.
I started using Flipboard in 2011 at the recommendation of my boss. After using it regularly for about six months, I abandoned Flipboard until early 2014 when my boyfriend invested in an iPad, dove into the app, and introduced me to all the wonderful advancements it had made while I was on hiatus. The greatest of these new features was undoubtedly the ability for users to curate their own custom magazines. Think Pinterest boards, but for content.
I was officially hooked. We spent entire nights ignoring the TV while we flipped articles into personal magazines about food, booze, travel, and fashion (men, check out this awesome magazine). We competed over how many people were following our magazines and flipping our articles (he is undoubtedly killing me on this front). And then one day I realized, I was going about this all wrong. Yes, Flipboard is great for exploring new recipes and planning your next vacation, but just like any other social platform, it has tremendous potential for helping to build and support your personal brand.
Those of you who are Flipboard experts might be thinking, um, duh. But I was so distracted by all the delicious food (typical), that I never even thought to use Flipboard as a way to get my hands on the latest in marketing, design, and social media trends. And I certainly hadn’t considered its potential as a platform that my company could use to support its brand, position itself across our vertical markets, and promote original content.
All that has changed now. If you check my profile on Flipboard these days you’ll find that I still have very few followers, but I do now have a robust library of magazines with content related to the parts of this profession I’m most passionate about. I’ve even implemented Flipboard at my firm as the backbone of our social media strategy. Two months in, our analytics are starting to show real results and we have more followers on Flipboard than on any of our other new platforms. And we’re not alone. Though it hasn’t hit the AEC industry yet, many big name brands invest in Flipboard in a real way and use it to run some pretty amazing campaigns.
To get you as excited as I am about the potential of this platform, I’ve created a list of my top six reasons why you, and your firm, should be using Flipboard. Stay tuned for my next post where I’ll be sharing how Flipboard can help support your brand, save you time, extend the reach of your content, and engage employees in your social media plan. In the meantime, create your own Flipboard account and get flippin!
Are you already an active Flipboard user? Let us know why and how you’re using Flipboard in the comments below. Make sure to include a link to your profile and we’ll follow you from our brand new Communiqueso account.
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