Marketing in the Midwest has its challenges. We're known for finding out about things late, hopping on trends late, still showcasing last year's fashion as if it's the latest. However, as we all know, the world is at our fingertips now, so being out of touch is no longer an option.
Here are five things you can do this week to make sure you're keeping up in the digital marketing world.
- Explore Exploding Topics
- Join a Group for Marketing Creatives
- Subscribe to a Newsletter
- Audit Your Social Feed
- Visit Social Media Today
I know, I know, so many of these things are obvious, and I'm sure you're wondering "Why would any of these help keep me relevant?". But even though they're obvious, I know marketers still aren't taking advantage of these EASY solutions. These things are aimed to get you out of your own box, help you see from another perspective, and
- Explore Exploding Topics
Exploding topics is a great place to see what people are talking about online. With graphs showing how fast they've grown or the increase they've had over time, in seconds you can learn that lash clusters have had a 9700% increase. And if you don't know what those are- you better catch up, quick. "This isn't relevant for my brand" you say- but Walking Pad (brand) could've missed the boat if they didn't know about the WFH girlies and their standing desks early enough. It's about finding opportunities to show up. Not making an opportunity out of every trend.
- Join a Group for Marketing Creatives
Let's be honest, when you're not at work you're probably binging the latest season of White Lotus or spending your 5-9 after your 9-5 scrolling cat-tok. Get out there! Find a group of local marketers that meet up or join some Facebook groups and spend some time interacting with others! Staying up to date doesn't stop at the ends of the internet so be sure to make some real-world connections.
- Subscribe to a Newsletter
If you've been navigating the world of marketing without reading a newsletter or two weekly, props to you. But that also means you're probably missing out on things that are happening but just haven't happened *yet. I would actually make this step number one for those who haven't subscribed anywhere yet. If you've been subscribed but you're not READING the newsletters, let's call that step two. Don't forget, you can also subscribe to ours- it only comes once a month and we even talk about some things we're doing here at Alpha!
- Audit Your Social Feed
Every day we're all online searching for new trends to recreate or topics to assert our authority on, but it's just as important to look back at what you've done and see how things shook out. Maybe that educational carousel was "supposed to dominate". But really your 10 second BTS reel initiated real interaction from your audience. Make note of the things that worked (even if they were trends) and do your best to analyze why they worked. Did you present a common pain point? Did you call your audience out by name? Did you trendjack for your industry when nobody else had jumped on yet? You'll never know if you don't look. 👀
- Visit Social Media Today
Social Media Today is literally news for media. You can view stories by platform, browse through only press releases, or navigate to the top 5 stories of the day. The best part of this is that it's not region specific. You're getting the news updates real-time for all things social media, digital marketing, or relevant technology. No holding back, no gatekeeping- just the latest info!
Obviously, there's only so much we can do to stay ahead of the game when it comes to marketing insights, trends, or changes. But with the world at our fingertips- being in the Midwest is much less of a burden than it used to be. It's our responsibility to be as up to date as possible. Just take one small step today—and start catching up!
