Digital trends come, and digital trends go. But many business owners can find it hard to stay on top of these trends, and risk being overtaken by the competition.
Sometimes it can seem like just as you master one new trend, another one has already arrived and taken over. Luckily, we’ve found some of the best ways to keep up to date with what’s new in digital marketing. Read on to learn more.
Staying Trendy in Digital Marketing
If you want to stay up-to-date with the latest digital marketing trends, you’ll need to do a little work. It doesn’t have to take all day though, and you can easily streamline the process so you’re on top of the trends without devoting days to research.
Here are 3 ways you can be in the know about digital marketing:
1. Choose the Best Tools
Both social media and RSS are great for content discovery. However, social media can be compared to going for a drive and noticing new places along the way. RSS would be like entering your destination into Google Maps and driving directly to those places.
There are a number of RSS feed readers available, including:
- Feedly
- AOL Reader
- NewsBlur
- The Old Reader
- NetVibes
- Pulse
- Zite
Of course, Social Media is still an excellent way to learn more about the latest trends. Searching specific hashtags on Twitter, like #digitalmarketing or #digitalmarketingtrends will quickly show you the latest tweets and posts. You can also follow users who frequently post about the latest trends.
Tumblr is also still popular, and you can even create your own Tumblr banner templates, or browse other people’s to find businesses and blogs in each niche.
2. Make Your Groups
Dividing users and blogs into specific groups is crucial if you’re hoping to keep up with trends. Many of us are suffering from information overload, which is why it’s crucial to break down data into smaller “chunks”.
This is why the idea of the Minimal Effective Dose (MED) is so popular. The theory is that, just like medication, there’s a minimal effective dose of information that we should consume. And anything after that dose isn’t actually helpful.
By dividing your blogs, news sources, and social media users into groups, you can quickly check in each day. You’ll notice when new trends occur because multiple blogs will be covering those same trends.
3. Network
Your peers will often be an excellent source of information about digital marketing trends. You’ll also find that networking will allow you to meet others who are up-to-date with top trends in the industry.
Connect with people on social media, especially LinkedIn and Twitter. Visit trade shows and exhibitions to learn more about the industry and meet other digital marketers.
You can also try some digital marketing courses and training opportunities. Not only will this give you a chance to learn about the latest digital marketing techniques, but you can connect with teachers and other students.