Digital marketing is constantly evolving and there’s always something new to learn. How do you keep up with the latest trends and news? It’s a neverending task that you’ll never fully tackle, but you can certainly still be more informed—even without overwhelming yourself. Here are five ways we like to stay up to date and in the know.
First, let’s split out interesting news versus useful information. I enjoy interesting news, but it’s not super helpful.
- Interesting news: The new Android 13 beta is out, Elon Musk talking more about going to Mars, etc.
- Useful news: Major algorithm changes, security concerns, etc.
- How do you decipher what’s not interesting or useful? There’s a lot of noise out there. Filtering and curating seem more important than just absorbing.
Social Media
- In terms of staying on top of news and trends, t’s mostly entertainment, which isn’t to say it’s all bad.
- Depending on your business, it could be helpful.
- At the end of day, you’re seeing what the social network wants you to see. That can lead to a filter bubble.
- Which platforms do you use? How do you find information beyond the doom scroll?
Books
- For most marketers, a tighter grasp on overall best practices is more valuable than learning about the latest tiny tweak that Google made to their algorithm.
- Full books are great, but Blinkist + Goodreads can be a good shortcut.
- Not all marketing books are recent. Is there something to be said for older books that might be slightly outdated on technology?
- Eg. Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook is still startlingly relevant on the topic of social media.
Blogs
- I’m still a big believer of blogs and feed readers, because you get 100% of what you asked for; nothing more, nothing less.
- Be careful, though, as you might create your own filter bubble.
- Using an RSS reader to consume multiple blogs more efficiently.
Newsletters
- These are making a comeback more recently.
- Similar to blogs, but more bite-sized information delivered directly to you.
- Examples: Stacked Marketer, Total Annarchy (Ann Handley), Daily Carnage
Memorization
- Learning isn’t worth much if you don’t remember.
- The best way is to put it into practice.
- Tools like Anki can help a lot too.
