ZEST.is

Zest is deeply integrated into our workflow. In fact, we use it multiple times a day. It has become one of those tools that you would get so habituated to, that you end up browsing it subconsciously whenever you get time!

Zest is a marketing content stream that features high-quality marketing content

What is Zest?

Zest is a ‘Marketing Content Stream’. Sitting in your Google Chrome browser as an extension, Zest is a submission platform that features high-quality articles, podcasts, infographics, videos, and e-books about marketing.

A quick overview of Zest

Zest is, in fact, more than just a content sharing platform. On Zest, marketers follow each other, see content as per their interests, save pieces for later read, and of course, share their favorite pieces.

What does Zest do?

Zest is the perfect example of a platform where consumers and contributors are co-dependent.

Consumers can customize their feed and have articles, podcasts, infographics, videos, and e-books on topics they’re interested in, delivered right inside their browser. This content can be shared on social, Slack, or you can even add it to Trello!

Contributors, on the other hand, have a great opportunity to post content they find valuable online. This knowledge sharing sits at the core of Zest’s existence.

But such platforms are at a higher risk of getting filled with promotional content, right?

NO.

Zest’s moderation team goes through every piece of submitted content to make sure Zest remains free of spammy and promotional pieces

Zest’s moderators ensure that spammy and promotional content does not thrive on Zest. Only content that provides value to marketers is accepted and featured on to Zest.

This is a great place for content makers to get the right people consuming their work. Zest also have sponsored campaigns. You can promote your content by putting some money behind it, and ensure the relevant people have a chance to read it.

Note to Content Marketers: remember, suggest content that is valuable and not spammy.

Benefits of using Zest

Zest’s community is built of consumers and contributors. Here are the key benefits for a consumer:

• Huge knowledge-base for all marketers,
• Access content that you are interested in,
• Get the latest trends, developments in the industry and predictions from the best in the business,
• Save actionable content or add it to Trello to start working immediately,
• Non-spammy content in your feed

Zest community breakup: 92% of members are Marketing Pros from different industries and verticals

As a contributor:

• Get more exposure for your work,
• Platform for a relevant audience to consume your content,
• Brand awareness and authority development

Zest’s Content Boost program ensures your content reaches the right audience

Pricing information

To use Zest and to contribute content, you do not need to get a subscription — it is free. All you need to do is download the Google Chrome extension, and install it in your browser.

To promote your content, you can contact the team directly here.

Key features

Here is a list of the core features of Zest that makes is so valuable:

1. High-grade Content

Zest only accepts no non-sense content on their platform. According to their website, barely 1% of all the suggested content is approved on the platform.

2. Easily Accessible

The platform replaces the new-tab view in your Chrome browser. Simply download the extension to start reading.

3. Customized Feed

You can filter content by Audio, Video, and eBooks. You can also sort the content by the number of total shares and clicks, and by time posted.

You can also filter content from various marketing topics which are already available on the platform. This enables you to go deep while discovering content.

4. Easy Sharing

You can easily share an article from Zest on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin to spread the word about high-quality content to your followers. The platform also allows you to email the content and add it as a card in your Trello board.

If you and your team are on Slack, you can simply connect Zest with a Slack channel and send content to the channel with one click.

5. Content Boost

Promote your content to the noble community of marketers with Zest and get back a high-quality engagement.

With just one click, you can promote your content to 20k+ weekly active users.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Easy access to the latest and updated content related to
• Drive high-quality, relevant traffic to your article
• Get your content in front of marketing pros from different industries and verticals
• Become a part of a stellar community of marketers

Cons

• Cannot share content to any social media management tool (Planable, Buffer, Hootsuite and similar platforms)
• There is no analytics dashboard for your posts. You cannot know who clicked, saved or shared your suggested content
• No RSS feeds
• Cannot hide read articles

Zest Hacks

Though Zest does not integrate with tools like Buffer or Hootsuite, you can use this hack to instantly add content to these platforms and schedule them for sharing on social media:

Step 1: Connect your Zest with a slack channel.

Create a channel on Slack, say #awesome-content, and use the sharing option in Zest to populate this channel with good quality content whenever you come across one on Zest.

Note: Keep this channel only for content from Zest. This is necessary for Step 4 below.

Connect Zest with Slack

Step 2: Create a zap

Zapier is an amazing tool that lets you connect two platforms using ‘recipes’. Each recipe is a combination of ‘actions’ and ‘triggers’ from the tools you’ve selected.

Create a recipe with Slack and Zest. Then select the Sack trigger, ‘New Message Posted to Channel’ as the trigger.

Selecting the preset Slack Trigger, ‘New Message Posted to Channel’ on Zapier

Step 3: Select a channel to fetch messages from

This is why it is important to keep #awesome-content only for content you see on Zest.

Selecting the channel you want to pull content from and send to Buffer

Step 4: Connect Buffer to Zapier

Select Buffer action, ‘Add to Buffer’ as the action.

Selecting the preset Buffer action, ‘Add to Buffer’ on Zapier

Step 5: Select your profile

Select your Buffer profile and add a custom the message you want to share, and this will go in the Buffer queue.

Selecting your Buffer profile you want to use to post content on social media

Now each time you share an article in the Slack channel through Zest, a post will be automatically added to your Buffer queue.

Zest Alternates

• Refind — helps you read more of what’s worth your attention
• Quuu — it is Content Scheduling, Curation, and Recycling in one amazing tool.
• Nuzzel — The app offers personalized news discovery and curated newsletters for busy professionals, via the web, mobile apps, messaging bots, and email newsletters.

Conclusion

Overall score and Zest rating: ★★★★

Zest is a ‘must-have’ tool for all marketers out there. The community and the team behind the tool work hard to deliver quality content, making it one of the biggest knowledge-sharing base dedicated by marketers, for the marketers.

What do you think of Zest? Let us know!