Blog

We were eager to kick this post off with a smarty-pants Socrates or Hesse quote about how knowledge and information is power. We wanted to tell you how it will propel you forward in an industry that changes faster than Elton John changes sunglasses. We wanted to start things off by saying that in online marketing, which is highly dependant on ever-changing technology, changes with it on an almost daily basis, and in order to survive you need to be able to change just as fast.

Instead, we will take a slightly different perspective, and throw all the Socrates’, Hesse’s, and Nietzsche’s aside for a quote from a musician. That musician, Tom Waits, said something that is extremely relevant to marketing, technology, the speed at which both change, information, knowledge, and success.

“We are buried beneath the weight of information, which is being confused with knowledge; quantity is being confused with abundance and wealth with happiness,” he said.

Yes, it’s not hard to find marketing and affiliate industry resources on the internet, the web is full of them. But finding *relevant* information, now that’s more of a challenge. With everyone and their dog having to say something about marketing industry trends, carefully choosing your resources list becomes paramount. That is why below you will find the ultimate list of resources for marketing industry trends. On these links, you will find only the most relevant and up-to-date information on what goes on in the marketing industry today. On this list, you will find influential people, podcasts, YouTube channels, blogs, and forums.

Influential Personalities

Gary Vaynerchuk – An American serial entrepreneur, four-time New York Times bestselling author, speaker and internet personality is widely known for his profanity-ridden motivational talks and his idea to buy the New York Jets. He mostly targets the younger audience, the Millennials, but frequently covers topics for veteran marketers, as well. He is very active on Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter.

Grant Cardone – A sales trainer, speaker, and entrepreneur, Grant has become one of the internet’s marketing powerhouses. He is the owner of “Whatever It Takes Network”, a digital network for entrepreneurs, business owners, and success-minded people, where he tries to help marketers succeed.

Seth Godin – Even though Godin is an extremely popular and powerful speaker when it comes to the marketing industry and trends, he is also very known as an expert on how to spread ideas. He writes blogs, books, holds talks and offers courses on marketing and building businesses.

Notable mentions

Picking the top three favorites was extremely hard, as the world is full of amazing, smart and witty marketing influentials. We had to choose, so we chose these three, but don’t hesitate to check out other big shots like Mari Smith, Founder of Wordstream and Mobile Monkey Larry Kim, John Hall, Guy Kawasaki, Noah Kagan or Brian Solis.

Podcasts

Under the influence from CBC Radio – Hosted by Terry O’Reilly (broadcast producer known for O’Reilly on Advertising and The Age of Persuasion), Under the Influence is a podcast focusing on the ad industry. It discusses how shopping decisions are made, how people are influenced by words, colors, and images, and how creativity plays a pivotal role in marketing.

Marketing Over Coffee – As hosts, John Wall and Christopher Penn deliver the latest and greatest in marketing trends in a consistent fashion. Their podcast is praised, often for its Q&A format, which seems to fit well with the audience of professional marketers. They cover a wide variety of topics, from adding robots to your stores to the GDPR, to innovation.

The Fizzle Show – This podcast has a fresh approach to topics like zero budget marketing or guerilla marketing, as well as topics like new marketing channels or ‘pushy marketing’. Those who listen are full of praise for the show. “So far, I’m just paying for this podcast (and it’s worth every penny),” one listener says. Others have written full-length reviews so make sure to check them out as well.

Marketing School Podcast – Behind this podcast are two known figures – Neil Patel and Eric Siu. The former is perhaps better known as the founder of KISSmetrics, Hello Bar or Crazy Egg, but he is also a person that’s been teaching marketing for ages now. New York Times bestselling author, he helps the likes of Amazon and HP grow their revenue. Eric Siu, on the other hand, is the CEO of Single Grain, a digital marketing agency. Their topics cover employing celebrities, increasing email deliverability building personal brands and growing social media traffic.

[Image Credit: Facebook]

Online Marketing Made Easy with Amy Porterfield – Amy’s been around for years, and her podcasts is one of the must-haves in today’s marketing world. According to her listeners, the topics she covers go from entry-level, all the way to being useful even to the gurus of the business. Her podcasts deliver valuable, actionable advice and tips presented in a vivid, highly-engaging fashion.

Mate Podcast – Another awesome podcast to keep an eye out on (or ear?) is Mate – the place where Adam Jaffrey discusses marketing, advertising, technology and entrepreneurship. With a long list of awesome guests and a myriad of interesting topics, this is one of the best podcasts you can find.

Blogs

Marketing Land – You can’t have a marketing industry trends blog list without mentioning Marketing Land. The blog is among the biggest trendsetters when it comes to match, social media, search, mobile, display and programmatic advertising, to name a few.

Moz – Moz is a company building SEO-related tools, but you probably already know that. What you might not know, however, is that Moz has one of the best blogs when it comes to marketing industry trends, stuff like SEO, increasing conversions, social media or content marketing out there. With many industry experts sharing their knowledge and experience on the site, it is one of the go-to places for every marketer looking to drink from the well of knowledge.

SearchEngineLand – The interesting thing about Search Engine Land is that it’s updated daily, meaning you can make sure that there is always something new and interesting to read and learn on the site. Covering topics from SEO and SEM, over mobile, Google to social, Search Engine Land covers all aspects of digital marketing and does it in style. A must-read site for every serious marketer.

Convince and Convert – A blog ran by industry veteran Jay Baer, Convince and Convert are widely considered one of the most influential blogs on the market. It’s been in business for almost ten years now and covers topics like influencer marketing, customer experience, social media, and content marketing.

Business2Community – Another great blog that covers the latest in marketing industry trends. In many respects, it acts as a media publication, as it covers breaking news and offers features and contributions from marketing experts. Here you can find news, comments, webcasts, and whitepapers.

Forums

Image Credit: Screenshot

Warrior Forum – Einstein said that “the only source of knowledge experiences”, and what better way to learn about other people’s experiences than through forums, right? With that in mind, we cannot start a list of forums without mentioning first Warrior Forum, widely considered as the best, most relevant forum with a large, thriving and friendly community. Being large, though, has its downsides, too. It attracts many newbies in the business, meaning you’ll have to shuffle through a couple of beginner-level posts to find relevant discussions. Second, such a large audience warrants a few unsatisfied customers, so don’t be alarmed if you find a few ‘ranty’ reviews out there.

Black Hat Forum – Usually considered as a ‘level up’ from Warrior Forum – it’s where advanced marketers head to when there’s nothing of interest left on WF. Be warned though – a lot of topics in there can be classified as “black hat” so tread carefully. Those that remain will provide you with some of the best information on marketing industry trends you can find.

WickedFire – Those interested in finding the latest trends in SEO, affiliate programs or affiliate marketing tools will find plenty to read on WickedFire. It is known as a place where some of the best experts in the marketing industry converge to share ideas and stories.

Quora – Looking at the site in general, you might wonder why we decided to include it on this list. After all, Quora’s image is not exactly brilliant, and there are many people out there who feel the site is quite bad, actually. The problem with Quora is that it’s not a niche site – it’s open for virtually any type of discussion. And as it usually goes with politics and sports – people can sometimes be very biased, passionate and downright childish, and quick to vent their frustrations elsewhere on the internet. But outside these topics, and more specifically – inside marketing topics, it’s a true gem. Despite its ruined image, Quora is still among the more important sites for marketing trends.

Other notable mentions

This list will most likely provide you with the most thorough, detailed information on all things marketing, latest trends definitely included. In case you still haven’t found what you were looking for, there are other notable mentions you might want to check out. First, you might want to check out mainstream media, such as Business Insider, Adweek, TechCrunch or Forbes. Then, there are a couple of really cool YouTube channels that offer plenty of information on the latest marketing industry trends, like HubSpot’s channel, Ted, Smart Passive Income or Mindvalley Insights.

Staying informed is paramount in the ever-transforming business such as marketing, but it is essential to differentiate between useful information and gibberish, between clutter and actual intelligence. With these resources, you won’t have to think twice.