With the latest update from Facebook announcing that they are tightening up the news feed to add more value to users who are statistically spending less time “scrolling” on the platform, marketers groan again. What this means for business pages is it is another step away from organic traffic towards higher budgets to get content in front of our target audiences.
Someone asked me the other day how I stay on top of all the changes that are constantly happening on social media. It was a great question. Social media, and digital marketing in general, is a constantly changing landscape in line with the rapid changes in technology, and the ease of access to information available to the consumer today.
It is essential to my own business growth and reputation that we are assessing and refining what we do on each platform to deliver consistent results for our clients.
We don’t always get it right. I am the first to admit it. But I thought I would suggest a few ways that I try to maintain a good understanding of changes that are relevant to my industry and the strategies I create for our clients.
How I Stay Up-to-date With Changes in Marketing and Business
Personal research and daily reading
I commit to growing my knowledge daily. One of the reasons I decided to create my own digital marketing agency and educate myself as a strategist is because, well, I love it. I would not have created Forj Marketing if I did not want to come to work every day. That said, reading articles, blogs, books and listening to podcasts and watching videos about marketing and business is what I do in my ‘spare’ time.
I network with other marketers
Both online and offline I surround myself with people who I see as being more skilled and knowledgeable than me so that I can learn from them. I am currently based in Thailand, and so a lot of this networking is done on social media, or over Skype. But at least on a monthly basis I am chatting to someone else who is either in the same business, or a complimentary (tech) business to learn what they are doing, and the trends they are seeing with their clients. I also commit to attending at least 3 events every year that fast track my growth and surround me with people from my industry.
I look at the data.
This is key in my business. Data doesn’t lie. One of the first ways that I will know that there is an algorithm change on Facebook is all of a sudden what was working on a business page for my clients is no longer working. The stats go from being in the green to lots of red and I know something is up. If I wasn’t previously aware of the change (and a lot of the time we are never really sure what specifically is going to happen till it does) these numbers give me a very clear picture that we need to change what we are doing to keep getting the same results.
Here’s a list of resources I tap into that you might find helpful:
I love twitter for quick updates of what is going on in real time. Most of the updates that happen in the marketing world are published over and over again on this platform, which makes it hard to miss. I follow the leaders in the industry and check in on their profiles once a week at least to see what they are talking about.
Inc.com, Entrepreneur.com or Forbes
These are my three sites are my favourite resource sites – they have fantastic motivational articles but are also packed full of news articles. Major updates will always go through these sites.
Social Media Examiner
This site is my go-to when I need detailed information or training on anything social media related.
Hoosuite and Buffer blogs
These two platforms are great for scheduling social media posts, but it is in their best interests to keep you motivated and educated on all things social media. Because they are selling their product you need to be aware of small biases, but overall, packed full of great content to keep you in the know.
Facebook Business page
Facebook does post all of its’ updates to its own business blog. You can find that here.
How do you stay current in your industry? I would love to hear from you. Comment below. Let’s help each other grow both personally and professionally.