When I found out I was included on Brand24’s list of the Top 100 Digital Marketers in 2019, I was absolutely honored! I was even more surprised to find out that I placed at #21 this year. That’s up 26 spots from 2018! It’s always incredible to be featured alongside so many other skilled marketers and to have my work recognized.
To celebrate, I thought it would be fun to reach out to those featured on this year’s list and pick their brains for some amazing marketing tips we can all use to build our brands online. I reached out to everyone who made the Top 100 Digital Marketers 2019 Edition via Twitter and here are the responses I’ve received.
We all want to be better with our marketing, right? Well, now we can make it happen thanks to these tips! If you’ve been feeling unsure of how to take things to the next level or if your marketing needs a major overhaul, keep this advice in mind.
Empower their Employees… to think, to create, to engage, build their personal brands. #ECC, Employee Created Content, and their networks/communities, will enable brands to scale their content marketing.
— Ted Rubin (@TedRubin) April 29, 2019
Ted’s advice is that companies should be empowering their employees. He says they should encourage them to think, create, engage, and to build their own personal brands.
Hey Madalyn – Brands that surprise & delight their customers are going to succeed. Craft interesting, engaging content and have real people there for the conversation. Solve problems, show how your product works, and how it can help potential clients. Much more than just posting.
— Peg Fitzpatrick ✨ (@PegFitzpatrick) April 26, 2019
Peg says brands should be surprising and delighting their customers. Spend time connecting with your community by engaging with them. And make sure you’re solving their problems because this gives them a reason to keep coming back for more.
Educate and inform instead of interrupt and sell.
— David Meerman Scott (@dmscott) April 24, 2019
Being so focused on selling all the time can really turn off your audience. Instead, David recommends prioritizing educating and informing your audience. This delivers the value they’re searching for!
Measure everything. Cut what doesn’t work. Then try something new.
— Michael A. Stelzner (@Mike_Stelzner) April 27, 2019
Michael’s advice is to measure everything. When you do, you’re able to eliminate the things in your strategy that aren’t working and continue doing the things that do produce real results. And don’t forget to try new things from time to time!
MyPOV: brands should move from brand promise to activating movements. #cmo
— R “Ray” Wang (王瑞光) #ChurchillClub #DellTechWorld (@rwang0) April 30, 2019
Ray feels brands can see results if they focus on activating moments.
Now that you know how to make some improvements with your brand’s marketing efforts, wouldn’t it be nice to have some tools to help you make it happen? These suggested tools from the experts featured on Brand24’s list are worth checking out.
My answer is pretty simple. Email. I continue to maintain that the most powerful marketing tool in the world is a well-tended and well nurtured email list.
— Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan) April 30, 2019
For Chris, email is where it’s at! Email marketing allows you to stay in touch with your community and build relationships with them over time. Choose a great email provider and start building your list if you haven’t already!
Hi Madalyn. Well, for our business the key from the very beginning was subscriber growth. The purpose of the website was to get and keep a subscriber – specifically email. Everything we did on rented social media platforms was to build owned assets.
— Joe Pulizzi (@JoePulizzi) April 30, 2019
Once we were able to get 10k subscribers we were able to monetize in many ways…ads, events, webinars, training and more. But the entire CMI model was build on loyal subscriber relationships.
— Joe Pulizzi (@JoePulizzi) April 30, 2019
Joe agrees that email marketing is a must! He relied on social media platforms to help build an email list, focusing on owned assets as opposed to rented online space. Gaining 10k+ subscribers allowed Joe and his team to monetize and also build loyal relationships with those who subscribed to the Content Marketing Institute newsletter.
The most important digital marketing tools are your blog and weekly email newsletter. They allow you to build a relationship with your audience over time. As a result, your reader builds the habit of expecting your communication on a consistent basis.
— HeidiCohen (@heidicohen) May 9, 2019
As a digital marketer, this audience anticipation for your communications creates Share of Audience Attention (aka: SOAA) . So your message is expected, gets through in a device indifferent manner, and gets consumed. Even better you have a chance they will act on it! pic.twitter.com/krnpK5ipZN
— HeidiCohen (@heidicohen) May 9, 2019
Further the combination of your blog and email list support search, social media and influencers. Even better they contribute to your business’s economic value.
— HeidiCohen (@heidicohen) May 9, 2019
Much like what Joe said, Heidi knows that it’s important to build a relationship with your audience. For her, she does this through blogging and a weekly email newsletter. Consistency means your readers begin to expect communication from you and can look forward to it.
Other than @agorapulse I would say @brand24 is a must have
— Aaron Lee (@AskAaronLee) April 30, 2019
Aaron’s go-to tools include AgoraPulse and Brand24. AgoraPulse is great for handling scheduling, while Brand24 allows you to easily monitor mentions of your brand on the web.
Hi @MadalynSklar ! This is a no brainer: @AgoraPulse !
— Neal Schaffer (@NealSchaffer) April 30, 2019
Neal is also a big fan of AgoraPulse! One of the great thing is that it allows you schedule content for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube so everything is all in one place.
Thank you! Ditto. Ooh let’s see, my favs are @AgoraPulse @brand24 @wave_video @trello @optinmonster @ConvertKit
— Lilach Bullock (@lilachbullock) May 1, 2019
Lilach uses AgoraPulse, Brand24, Wave Video, Trello, OptinMonster, and ConvertKit. Wave is a free tool that helps you create videos, Trello will keep you organized with project management, OptinMonster is used for lead generation, and ConvertKit is for building your email list.
Double congrats!! @zencastr to record pods w/ multiple guests from anywhere. @typeform for gaining insights to create programs. @AdobeExpCloud to manage everything.
— Jeff Barrett (@BarrettAll) April 23, 2019
Jeff relies on Zencastr to record podcasts with multiple guests, Typeform for surveying his audience and gaining insights, and the Adobe Experience Cloud to manage everything.
I like @ContentCal_io @feedalpha and @bonjoroapp
— Samantha Kelly (@Tweetinggoddess) April 30, 2019
Samantha uses ContentCal and feedalpha for social media management, plus Bonjoro for sending personalized videos.
Done! pic.twitter.com/NZE1aiwm11
— Pat Flynn (@PatFlynn) May 1, 2019
Pat Flynn also likes Bonjoro. He uses it as a quick and easy way to send thank you videos to new customers. It’s a simple way to show you care!
Here you go: https://t.co/yjqsLYHZ0K
— Christopher S. Penn (@cspenn) April 30, 2019
Christopher really took his response to the next level, creating a video about his favorite tools. He mentions must-haves like Google Analytics, Hubspot, Camtasia, and more.
Yay!!!
Oh yeah! In no particular order.@cloudapp @buffer @BuzzSumo @blinksmartlinks
A few branded shortened urls like https://t.co/SSlZa9WZwt or whatever
Hmm…@LumenFive is cool but not sure if it’s a must have@SwitcherStudio
I use @ActiveCampaign but not sure if a must— Leonard Kim ??? (@MrLeonardKim) May 2, 2019
Leonard’s favorites include Buffer, BuzzSumo, Active Campaign, and others that are worth checking out.
@likeablelocal but I’m biased since it’s my company 🙂
— Dave Kerpen (@DaveKerpen) April 23, 2019
It should come as no surprise that Dave’s own tool, Likeable Local, is a must-have for him. With this tool’s content library, scheduling calendar, and message center, it sounds like a handy way to manage your social media presence.
Brain
Ears
Passion
Attention#musthavetools @digitalmarketing #socialmedia— Warren Whitlock (@WarrenWhitlock) April 23, 2019
While all of these tools are incredible, Warren is absolutely right that our must-haves include our brain, ears, passion, and attention.
Are you looking ahead to the future of marketing? If not, you should be! It’s important to be prepared so you can start incorporating the latest tactics into your strategy now if you want to be ahead of the curve and see major results. Here are some predictions of what we can expect when it comes to the marketing world.
Here you go, my friend! Thanks for asking. pic.twitter.com/7lDccQaOEw
— Dan Gingiss (@dgingiss) April 25, 2019
As Dan said, social media isn’t just a media platform. It’s about being social and actually engaging with your community. Listen to your customers, hear their complaints, and respond. And he thinks brands will finally start recognizing and implementing this.
Hiya! We create less content. But with more impact. “Do less and obsess” is the prescription. Xxoo!!
— Ann Handley (@MarketingProfs) May 1, 2019
Ann’s prediction is that we’ll create less content, but with more impact. After all, quality is what’s most important when building your brand.
I think the future of marketing will be experiential, data informed, & participative. Everyone is empowered to create & influence, so brands should engage customers to co-create. Opt-in communities run by brands that invite UGC also provide data for personalization at scale.
— Lee Odden (@leeodden) April 30, 2019
Lee feels everyone is empowered to create and influence, so brands should encourage their community to co-create. User-generated content can be a powerful way to establish your brand.
I think AI will play an increasingly bigger role! https://t.co/z4FmpuPmEk pic.twitter.com/Npe615GgPE
— Mike Schiemer (@MikeSchiemer) April 24, 2019
Mike is predicting that AI is going to play an increasingly bigger role in the marketing space. The question is, are we prepared for the changes it may bring about?
Again, a huge thanks to Brand24 for including me on this year’s list. And thank you to everyone who took the time to respond to my questions on Twitter. I greatly appreciate it!