There’s no denying that in marketers’ minds, not all digital channels are created equal. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn — these are the Titans of Social

But we aren’t here to talk about the Titans. We’re here to talk about Google+ and Tumblr.

Why? Because despite being dismissed as second-class social networks, industry leaders and ambitious upstarts alike are leveraging both platforms to launch diverse and engaging digital marketing plays.

Apple, for example, was the latest big-name brand to implement a content strategy on Tumblr. Earlier this year, Apple introduced the branded Tumblr page isee5c.tumblr.com to promote the iPhone 5c with a series of playful, animated promos.

But Apple has by no means pioneered the use of Tumblr as a platform for creative content marketing. A whole smattering of major players — including many from Forbes’ World’s Most Valuable Brands list — have cultivated a long-term presences on Tumblr, such as GE, Coca-Cola, Lexus, and Disney.

Image via Lexus’ Tumblr page, sendthemasignal.tumblr.com

And for good reason. According to Adobe research, Tumblr is a source of high-quality referral traffic. Adobe determined that a visit from Tumblr is worth more than a visit from Twitter or Pinterest, valued second only to a visit from Facebook.

Google+, meanwhile, has borne the brunt of much scrutiny and speculation in recent years from tech pundits and marketers alike (and has even been pronounced dead on more than one occasion).

But for SEO-savvy marketers, Google+ offers the added incentive of being featured in the prime right-hand real estate of Google’s search results, and brands who have invested in a robust G+ presence are reaping major SEO benefits.

Mashable, for example, is ranked as the second most successful news organization for Google+ page engagement. With over 3.6 Million G+ followers, Google+ reportedly ranks among its top 10 referral sites.

The bottom line is this: successful brands of all shapes and sizes are diversifying their marketing portfolios across a multitude of digital channels. Given the continual rise of new social networking platforms, it’s no longer enough to simply be active on the Big Three social channels.

At TrackMaven, our goal is to provide digital marketers with understandable, actionable data that enables them to spot marketing opportunities, optimize content distribution, and track real-time progress across channels. That’s why we’re thrilled to introduce Google+ and Tumblr as the newest data sources available on our analytics platform.

Google+ and Tumblr round out the list of other digital and social channels supported by TrackMaven, providing marketers with a more complete understanding of their competitors’ marketing tactics.

The complete list of marketing channels supported by TrackMaven are below:

A Look Inside Google+ And Tumblr Analytics On TrackMaven

As with all other data sources on TrackMaven, users can find and filter trending Google+ and Tumblr content by date, effectiveness, and market segment; get custom alerts when competitors launch new marketing programs or reach engagement thresholds with new content; and graph follower growth, posting frequency, and engagement data (i.e. +1’s on Google+ and Notes on Tumblr) over time.

J.Crew, for example, has been named by Mashable as one of 15 Brands Rocking Tumblr. Want to analyze the strategy behind their Tumblr success?

Using our Activity Feed, you can view and filter J.Crew’s Tumblr posts by chronology or engagement. Here are a few of J.Crew’s Tumblr posts from the past 90 days that have received the most engagement:

Using our Visualizer feature, you can also get a longitudinal understanding of J.Crew’s distribution strategy on Tumblr, viewing the number of posts per day, average notes per post, and total notes per day across any timeframe.

J.Crew Tumblr: Number of Posts Per Day

J.Crew Tumblr: Average Notes Per Post

J.Crew Tumblr: Total Notes Per Day

The power of these visualizations lies in spotting correlations. We can see, for example, that with 1.7K notes and counting, this post from July 27, 2014, is correlated with a large spike in Tumblr engagement for J.Crew.

Our Share of Interactions graphing feature can also display how your brand stacks up against key competitors on any channel. As an early Google+ adopter and featured Google+ Case Study, H&M has built a significant Google+ following by creating “a steady stream of interactive content tailored specifically to the Google+ audience.”

The Share of Interaction graph below shows how H&M’s Google+ engagement compares to that of Topshop and Forever 21 over time.

Share of Google+ Interactions: H&M vs. Topshop vs. Forever 21

How To Get Google+ and Tumblr Analytics

All TrackMaven customers currently tracking competitors across social channels will now see Google+ and Tumblr analytics populating within the platform. Simply log in and start tracking!

If you’re not a customer, but would like to see how TrackMaven can empower your digital marketing — bark at us for a demo!