Have you ever been compelled to sign up for a crazy expensive online course to spruce up your marketing skills, only to realize that the internet’s marketing blogs holds the information already? Have you searched the web high and low for helpful and legitimate articles and content to learn from?
Not everyone has spare time to take another online course, or the funds to find a university and go part time – whether to improve your skills for a job or as a self-taught marketer. Although knowledge is abundant, especially online, it’s not easy to find the resources you might need.
The marketing industry is ever-changing and keeping up is a constant challenge. On top of that, there is so much content available online it’s hard to know where to turn.
Not all marketing blogs and websites are created equal! But don’t fret – we’re here to help! These marketing blogs will help you get your daily dose of insider knowledge, trending data and provide educational lessons so that you can stay ahead of the game.
Here’s a collection of the Advesa’s team’s most favourite and relevant marketing blogs.
The Best Marketing Blogs To Follow
Before you start signing up for every content marketing RSS feed under the sun, think back to what constitutes ‘success’ for you and your clients. Is it quality content, CPC, video views or something else?
Determine this first to figure out what marketing blogs will be worth your time.
20 Relevant Marketing Blogs to Bookmark
1. HubSpot
Focus: Inbound marketing
Fav Posts:
- The Social Media Content Calendar Template Every Marketer Needs
- Inbound Link Building 101: 33 White Hat Ways to Build Backlinks for SEO
- The Anatomy of a Perfect Instagram Profile
HubSpot was developed around the idea of inbound marketing and was designed to help companies utilize this strategy. What better way to learn KPIs worth tracking and monitoring than to see what the competition is doing? HubSpot’s blog provides a wealth of free resources ranging from gated templates, worksheets, and even online courses that convey relevant industry information.
We’re starting off strong right from the beginning. Out of all these marketing blogs, HubSpot is perhaps the largest and most popular.
2. Liftoff
Focus: App marketing
Fav Posts:
- 3 Tips for Designing Killer Mobile Ads
- How to Measure and Drive ROI in App Marketing Campaigns
- How to Successfully Launch New Mobile Games in a Highly Competitive Market
While still in its initial launch phase (no pun intended), Liftoff also gives away index and KPI news for free on their blog. To be relevant, marketers need data and technology to gauge people’s consumer habits and pain points to craft a message that converts.
Liftoff’s marketing blogs resource centre is also replete with other tips on mobile content writing tips, tricks and growth-oriented hacks to shed light on mobile usage, content and trends.
3. Salesforce
Focus: Automated marketing
Fav Posts:
- 8 Direct Mail Best Practices for B2B Marketers
- 3 Valuable Marketing Reports That Look Beyond ROI
- How to Maximize Revenue with Technology and Automation
Description: In keeping with cracking the competitive code, also consider following the Salesforce blog. Or better yet, their business-to-business blog. That may just be what gets your clients’ insights into how they are competing within their industry based on the ever-relevant CPC, CPL and ACV metrics (to name but a few) that all companies should be monitoring.
The Salesforce marketing blogs provides helpful insight into various aspects of marketing including B2B marketing, content marketing, email marketing and analytics. The blog offers a wealth of articles as well as gated e-books.
4. Neil Patel
Focus: Digital marketing
Fav Posts:
- 7 Reasons Why Nobody is Reading Your Content and How to Grab Their Attention
- 10 Types of Email Subject Lines That Always Produce Clicks
- The Ultimate List of Free SEO Tools
If you want tips on SEO, SEM and ways to boost website traffic, then Patel is your man. Neil Patel’s blog is an excellent and easily digestible marketing website that includes articles, videos and audio. It has omni-channel delivery with more than 650,000 podcast listeners, 3 million YouTube viewers, 900,000 Facebook fans and 200,000 Twitter followers.
5. MarketingProfs
Focus: General marketing
Fav Posts:
- The Six Secrets to Successful Influencer Campaigns
- The (Non-Techie) Marketer’s Guide to SEO
- Analyzing the Results of Your Content Marketing Campaign
MarketingProfs LLC delivers the classroom to you with a training program for every area you might need help with. With both online and in-person events, you can take courses in content strategy, analysis, campaigns and even something more broad topics such as management. Depending on your goals, it’s important to know what you want to measure and grow, as this site can prove overwhelming. But there is a lot on offer so no complaints there! The content these marketing blogs offer comes at a cost. However, they’re created by marketing professionals to help you get the best information available so they’re well worth the upfront investment.
6. The Content Marketing Institute
Focus: Content marketing
Fav Posts:
- 6 Things You Should Stop Doing to Content
- How to Use SEO to Boost Branded Keyword Rankings on Google
- How to Create a Strategic Editorial Calendar
Developed to address the many questions online about content marketing, the Content Marketing Institute offers free articles, gated e-books and paid content that discusses content marketing in great detail.
The Content Marketing Institute has a cumulative social media presence that garners over 700,000 followers! They also offer an annual world event that draws in hundreds each September in Cleveland, OH, USA. This is one of the best ways to learn from the experts!
7. SmartBrief
Focus: Marketing and advertising
Fav Posts:
- 5 ways to boost your digital marketing campaign ROI
- Is trying to be ‘different’ actually killing your brand?
- 3 pitfalls marketers should avoid in 2020
As the name would imply, SmartBrief aims to make you “smarter” not only by curating data by department but also through catching and riding trendy data waves so you can begin to spot trends in digital content marketing and copywriting. You’re also getting unique insights into retail, tourism, business and other industries.
This resource should help guide your clients toward diversified revenue streams. In addition to their curated articles, we particularly enjoy their case studies like Wendy’s and the social engagement created after their spicy chicken nuggets were removed from the menu! A lesson in social media marketing right there.
8. AdAge
Focus: Marketing, digital, advertising, marketing data
Fav Posts:
- How to improve digital customer experience: Test, optimize, repeat
- How to maintain authentic brand voice when pitching new customers
- How brands can make the most of TikTok
AdAge is not only a top news-centric amalgamation site for the advertising and contenting marketer but also a delivery platform that will see to it that you get a variety of weekday morning updates. Updates include a weekend #ICYMI roundup so that you never miss out on the next hot ‘thing’!
In addition to free content, AdAge also provides gated “fact packs”, market reports and webcasts. Their content is both educational and opinion-based, providing a nice array of material to gather information from.
9. ClickZ
Focus: Digital marketing
Fav Posts:
- Story ads are creating new opportunities for advertisers – but what makes a good story?
- Strategies to refine Instagram marketing for ecommerce
- 5 tips to reduce CPC in Google AdWords
Description:
ClickZ is another big market player when it comes to reporting on emerging technology. Especially AI, ML and the litany of digi-acronyms you need to get smart on should you want to remain competitive in your field!
Founded in 1997, ClickZ is one of the largest digital marketing communities online. They offer articles, podcasts, webinars, events and reports that look at technology and emerging technology in marketing.
10. Statista
Focus: Market and consumer data
Fav Posts:
As a bit of a fringe consideration, sign up for Statista so that you can query and build your own content trend data.
Statista provides paid studies and reports to give you insight into your industry with market and consumer data. You’ll not only see your client portfolio expand but turn into the office yogi in no time!
11. Ahrefs
Focus: Digital marketing and SEO
Fav Posts:
- What is SEO Content? How to Write Content that Ranks
- 9 EASY Link Building Strategies (That ANYONE Can Use)
- 21 Best Online Marketing Tools (That We Use At Ahrefs)
Ahrefs provides free articles, tutorials, case studies and opinion pieces that discuss all aspects of digital marketing and SEO. Content is posted regularly on their blog and is created by industry professionals, so you know you are getting the best info available!
12. Branding Strategy Insider
Focus: Branding
Fav Posts:
- The Brand Audit: Key For Determining Brand Health
- How Brands Can Harness Customer Creativity
- 5 Strategies For Marketing To Generation Z
Branding Strategy Insider has been around for over a decade and offers branding inspiration and insight in the form of free articles, conferences, workshops and case studies that are created by brand experts.
13. Search Engine Journal
Focus: Digital marketing
Fav Posts:
- Google’s John Mueller on Word Count for SEO
- 22 Proven Ways to Get Followers on Instagram
- The 7 Biggest Social Media Sites in 2020
Search Engine Journal is a community-based site that provides articles, e-books, podcasts and webinars that focus on digital marketing, particularly SEO. The site was created in 2003 and its content is created by digital marketing experts – who better to learn from?
14. Harvard Business Review (marketing section)
Focus: Sales and marketing
Fav Posts:
- Branding in the Age of Social Media
- 4 Questions to Boost Your Social Media Marketing
- Using Social Media to Connect with Your Most Loyal Customers
The marketing section of the Harvard Business Review provides free articles and paid case studies that focus on all aspects of marketing and sales. While you can view several articles for free, after viewing a few you’ll need to create an account to read on. With a wealth of knowledge available at your fingertips on this site, it’s worth creating an account!
15. McKinsey & Company (marketing section)
Focus: Marketing and branding
Fav Posts:
- Discussions in digital: Making machine-driven marketing work
- What shoppers really want from personalized marketing
- Why your marketing planning process is broken, and what to do about it
The marketing and brand strategy section of McKinsey & Company’s website provides insights into all things marketing and branding. Content on the site includes interviews, podcasts, and articles to help you learn more about marketing trends as well as inside information.
16. Copyblogger
Focus: Content marketing
Fav Posts:
- 7 Easy-to-Forget SEO Steps You Need to Consider Every Time You Publish
- How to Create Cornerstone Content That Google Loves
- The 5 Things Every (Great) Marketing Story Needs
Copyblogger provides podcasts, tutorials, articles and webinars focused on digital marketing, including SEO, content marketing and social media. In 2006, Copyblogger began as a small and simple blog and soon grew into a huge resource for marketers, content creators and digital media enthusiasts alike.
17. Hootsuite blog
Focus: Social media marketing
Fav Posts:
- How to Get More Leads on Social Media: 7 Effective Tactics
- How to Conduct a Social Media Competitive Analysis (Free Template)
- The Beginner’s Guide to Facebook Analytics
Hootsuite’s online resources include free articles, templates, podcasts, case studies and guides that help to educate readers on social media topics, including strategy and news. Users can also create an account and log in to Hootsuite to access free training courses, as well as paid courses and certifications. This educational information is created and posted regularly so you’ll never be left without fresh, relevant content.
18. Occam’s Razor by Avinash Kaushik
Focus: Digital marketing
Fav Posts:
- Six Nudges: Creating A Sense Of Urgency For Higher Conversion Rates!
- Six Tips For Improving High Bounce Rate / Low Conversion Web Pages
- Ten Hidden Gems In Google Analytics: Do Smarter Web Data Analysis!
Occam’s Razor was created in May of 2006. Its author, Avinash Kaushik, started writing the blog after speaking to a colleague at a conference who encouraged him to blog. Occam’s Razor focuses on digital marketing and provides videos, podcasts and articles to viewers. Unfortunately, articles on this blog are published few and far between.
19. Okdork by Noah Kagan
Focus: Business advice
Fav Posts:
- How to Use Retargeting Ads to Gain a 200% ROI
- How To Email Any Top Influencer (And Get A Reply)
- What We Learned Analyzing 1 Million Blog Headlines
Okdork by Noah Kagan provides information on all things business. From starting a business to marketing to personal improvement, this site has it all! The site provides videos, tool suggestions, guides, podcasts, a free gated marketing toolkit and the ability to sign up to a newsletter to receive even more articles. Content is posted regularly (usually weekly) so you’ll never be without something new to discover!
20. Moz
Focus: Digital marketing and SEO
Fav Posts:
- Which of My Competitor’s Keywords Should (& Shouldn’t) I Target? – Best of Whiteboard Friday
- How to Use Tools to Determine Which Content to Re-Optimize: A Step-by-Step Guide
- Better Site Speed: 4 Outside-the-Box Ideas
Description: Moz focuses on all things SEO and digital marketing. The site was started in 2004 by Rand Fishkin and Gillian Muessig. It was originally a blog and online community called SEOmoz. Now, Moz combines blog articles, written guides, videos and free SEO tools created by industry experts so you can find tips, tricks, advice and studies to help you on your digital media journey.
Key Takeaways On The Best Marketing Blogs
After reading this guide on which marketing blogs and copywriting websites to follow, you will feel more confident, as you’ll be armed with insider knowledge on trending key performance indicators (KPIs).
As some final considerations, some takeaways for you to consider:
- Always start with what you or your client wants to measure. Or if you’re looking to improve a skill or an area of knowledge, determine what that is to better narrow the best blogs for you
- The best marketing blogs for content marketers, for those wishing to brush up on their copywriting or for those simply wanting to learn more about digital media include HubSpot, The Content Marketing Institute and Copyblogger
- Some of the best blogs for analyzing industry trends are SmartBrief and Statista
- For SEO and website tips, Neil Patel, Ahrefs, Search Engine Journal and Moz
- For digital marketing, SmartBrief, LiftOff, MarketingProfs and Occam’s Razor are top resources
- For social media info, Hootsuite’s blog
- For emerging tech, sales and broad digital insights, Clickz, Salesforce and AdAge
- For branding insight, Branding Strategy Insider and McKinsey & Company (marketing section)
- For general business, sales and marketing advice, Harvard Business Review (marketing section) and Okdork by Noah Kagan
There’s a lot of marketing content out there for people to consider when trying to improve their knowledge base. These marketing blogs just go to show how generous some folks are when it comes to sharing their knowledge.
Here’s to learning and new insightful lessons to help both your individual skills and your clients!
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