5 Useful Applications Marketers Should Have on Their iPads

The invention of the Apple iPad revolutionized how presentations and other tasks were done without being constrained to a desktop computer. Being mobile has really helped change the way we do business, and while there are a plethora of tablet devices out there, like the Samsung Galaxy S, the HP TouchPad (okay, not really), Motorola Xoom, Blackberry Playbook, and the Sony Tablet S, the main one when people think about tablets is the pioneer: Apple’s iPad.

With a vast selection of applications at their disposal, it’s no wonder why businesses are branching out and giving their employees these devices so they don’t have to be confined to one area and don’t have to lug around their laptops. Let’s face it: Carrying around an iPad is much easier than a 10-pound laptop that probably has a short battery life and takes a while to boot up. Plus, it also uses a lot of space, especially when traveling. The iPad (and other tablets) are small, sleek, and have a WOW factor when you want to give presentations or demos or need to do business on the road.

I picked up an iPad a few weeks ago, mainly as a portfolio piece, and found it to be an excellent device for doing business. Whether it’s for sales or liveblogging a conference or panel, posting tweets or chatting on Skype and picking up vital information—however you use it, I’m sure that your productivity will benefit from having these devices instead of a netbook. And let’s face it, the netbook era is over and dead.

So, with all of that being said, I thought I would highlight five useful applications that every marketer should have on their iPad to help them communicate better with their customers and co-workers.

1. Skype

If you are mobile, you will want to communicate with people on your iPad. Since there’s no app currently for Google Talk, the next best thing is Skype. Besides, if you want to have a video chat with people, it should be pretty easy to do with the iPad’s front-facing camera—it’ll make your life that much easier. Instant chat and video make having to work remotely a piece of cake.

2. Dropbox

Since there’s no easy way to share content from an iPad to other electronic devices—you can’t connect to a shared drive, the next best thing is Dropbox. Ideally, if you want to send large files from one person to another that your email can’t handle, then why not post them to Dropbox and let that work for you? If you’re working remotely and want to have instant access to your information, presentations, materials, brochures, and files relevant to your trip or travels, then post it on Dropbox, and when you need it, just use the Dropbox app on your iPad and download it to your tablet device to show it off. It doesn’t have to be documented, either. You can have videos and images live on there without clogging up your iPad memory storage.

3. Bamboo Paper

Just because things are digital doesn’t mean we still don’t need to jot down important notes occasionally. An iPad is essentially a digital notebook, and Bamboo Paper allows users to jot down notes, reports, and findings or simply draw to their heart’s content. Afterward, you can email the pages to yourself or to a colleague for inclusion in a presentation or maybe to archive for later on. It’s one of the more eco-friendly ways to track what’s happening, and you can use multiple paper styles. The only downside is that it functions best with a stylus while you’re using it, although you can still use your finger to draw and take notes.

4. Evernote

While Dropbox is a useful service for transferring large files back and forth, you will need a storage area in the cloud to keep your notes, images, music and whatever digital files you want to store safely. No, it’s not an FTP service; it’s Evernote, and it’s an excellent place to take down a few pieces of information to review later on. If you’re in a presentation and someone has a slide you want to review later on, just take a photo and upload it to Evernote for later. You can even tag your notes for easy review and searches, and it’s accessible both on your iPad, mobile device and even on the web itself, so you won’t need to worry about the hassles of transferring information. It’s all stored in the cloud—one app to find everything. And now that it’s integrated with Skitch, you can take a screenshot of a webpage or mark up a photo or file and store it in Evernote for later viewing. It’s your virtual cabinet of content and works seamlessly on your tablet device.

5. Flipboard

While mobile, it would be great for marketers to keep in touch with what’s happening within their industry. Whether politics, health, technology, news,  lifestyles, etc., we can’t always rely on what’s happening on one website or newspaper. And I don’t think it would be suitable for people on the go who want to stop and pick up the latest Wall Street Journal or New York Times to find out what’s happening. And besides, those newspapers don’t have a wide range of things they cover.

That’s where Flipboard comes in. This application is your online magazine that curates content from many sources and is an excellent way to keep up-to-date on what’s happening worldwide and your industry. The best thing is that it’s free and updates in near real-time, if not automatically. You can share interesting articles and content with your co-workers or friends within Flipboard, and if you have a different set of RSS feeds, you want to keep track of. This application will let you do that too—say all your health-related blogs can be fed into Flipboard, keeping you up-to-date in a more visually appealing way instead of just opening up Google Reader.

There are many more applications that you should get for your iPad to help make you a more efficient marketer while you’re on the go, but the above five are a good starting point for helping you to do business. The best thing is that these are all free to use and download. Depending on your role as a marketer (project manager, product marketing, market research, etc.), there’s bound to be an application that meets your specific needs.

So, what are some other iPad applications you think you’d want to include in this list?