35 Blogs to Subscribe to If You’re Doing Social Media Marketing

Date: December 9, 2015
Category:

• Social Media for Dentists

Author: Heather

I’m not going to a dentist who’s still using a hand drill. Seriously. Ouch.

Professional development is vital to achieving success in any profession, in the fast-paced world of social media, professional development is imperative. Rolled out daily are new trends, new platforms, and new features.

New social media professionals and seasoned marketers building social into their strategy alike, often ask how to keep up with the changes in social media. Because it’s me, and I tend to be a bit loquacious, there isn’t a simple answer to how we social media peeps do what we do.

If you’re not regularly experimenting with your social media efforts, you’re not maximizing your social.” –Neal Schaffer

Much of what we do in social media marketing is experimentation. I know clients like to believe there’s a magic formula for creating a piece of content that goes viral or ads that result in hundreds of new patients, but that’s not quite how it works. There are evergreen principals we always keep in mind—be personable; educate, don’t sell; know your audience; share and entertain. But because social media changes at breakneck speeds, the tactics that garnered organic reach and engagement yesterday may not be effective today—think, Facebook’s Reachageddon.

In addition to trial and error, we turn to other thought leaders and social media experts—who are also experimenting—to learn from, in a kind of collaborative pedagogy.

Webinars, and podcasts, and blogs. Oh my!

In a typical week, I spend maybe twenty hours reading, watching, and listening to what’s happening in social media, digital, inbound, content, and search marketing.

In my completely unbiased (someone should invent a sarcasm font…) opinion, the blog offering the most comprehensive and useful marketing advice for dentists is Infinity Insights. Since you’re already reading our blog, I’ve put together a list of my favorite social media influencers and blogs to take a look at as well.

The award for Influencer of the Year goes to…

My all-time favorite influencer is Gary Vaynerchuk. Crude and no-holds-barred, he reminds me of my grandpa—if my grandpa were a fast-talking Jersey native obsessed with the Jets. Like my grandpa, he’s an entrepreneur and marketing genius. He uses The #AskGaryVee Show as a platform for providing value to other marketing professionals and aspiring business owners by taking questions about social media, entrepreneurship, startups, and family businesses. Oh, and he’s a fan of the vino.

One of the bubbliest humans I’ve ever heard speak, Facebook evangelist Mari Smith landed her dream job this year when Zucks hired her to teach during Facebook’s Boost Your Business series. She’s using Facebook live video and Instagram ads better than any other marketing thought leader.

Speaking of Facebook, Amy Porterfield has owned Facebook marketing since the platform’s inception when she launch Harley Davidson’s social media program. Amy’s now using her blog and podcast to teach the importance of and proper techniques for hosting webinars.

Looking at social media holistically is Kim Garst, owner of Boom Social. I’m not a huge fan of her email campaign, which is more salesy (yep, not technically a word, but it’s my post and I do what I want) than I like, but she offers an incredible library of guides, whitepapers, templates, etc. And, she is killin’ it on Periscope.

Neil Patel is using his blog posts to inform on everything from writing better social media content to evaluating your search engine marketing strategies. Follow his personal Facebook or Instagram accounts for super inspirational, feel-good quotes.

If there were a godfather of direct marketing, it would be Seth Godin. You know the name because he wrote “Tribes,” in which he argued that mass marketing was dying and leadership marketing was the new black. Seth’s blog holds the distinction of being one of the most popular in the world.

Speaking of best-selling authors, we can’t leave Dave Kerpen off this list. Dave authored what I’d consider the first successful book about social media, “Likeable Social Media.” Yes, a book. Like with pages and a spine and stuff. Weird, I know. If you work in social media and you haven’t read it, go back and start at the beginning, which is reading this book.

What’s the happs?

Knowing the latest and greatest in marketing takes some dedication. Like you, I prioritize my day and sometimes I don’t read every single one of the blogs and websites listed below. However, they usually get a cursory look for new developments—an argument for writing interesting headlines, BTW.

• Facebook Newsroom
• Twitter Media Blog
• Think with Google
• HuffPo Social Media
• Inc. Social Media
• Forbes Social Media
• Tech.Mic
• TechCrunch
• Wired
• Mashable
• HubSpot
• Social Media Examiner
• Social Bro
• SocialMediaToday
• SocialFresh
• Sprout Social
• AdWeek Social Times
• Digital Trends
• Smart Insights
• Marketing Nutz
• Marketing Land
• Search Engine Land
• Moz Blog
• VentureBeat
• kissmetrics
• Coschedule
• AZTechBeat

Just for fun. Just for a second, just to see how it feels.

Because I try to over deliver, I’m also going to include a few of my favs that don’t necessarily have to do with professional development.

The first is TheSkimm. If you’re not Skimming, then I’m not sure how you’re functioning. TheSkimm is a daily news digest written by some of the most talented writers I’ve come across in a while.

My second go-to entertainment is a Mommy blog, dooce.com. Heather is raw, inspiring, and authentic. And, she curses. A lot. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. By the way, I say I read this is solely for entertainment value, but truthfully Mommy bloggers are mastermind social media marketers. They get social better than many professionals I know. Follow a Mommy blogger and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

I’d love to know who’s influencing you. Leave a comment with your favorite blogs or go-to experts.