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Keeping Up With Social Media Trends
Whether you work in online marketing or it’s simply part of your marketing plan for your business, there’s no denying that staying informed is the name of the game. With updates happening constantly and new features being released across different platforms left and right, it’s important to know how these changes affect you and how you can use them to your advantage.
This may sound intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. Let’s walk through a few different ways you can keep yourself in the know.
Podcasts
If you’re into podcasts, they can be a great way to soak up information about what’s happening in social media. You can listen on your drive to work, on your lunch break, or on your commute home. Consider checking out:
- Social Pros- Hosted by Jay Baer and Adam Brown and named the best marketing podcast in the 2015 Content Marketing Awards, this podcast gives you an insight into the minds of many social media leaders.
- Marketing Smarts- While some episodes are more social media focused than others, it’s a great place to learn about all things marketing.
- Masters of Scale- Hosted by Reid Hoffman, one of the co-founders of LinkedIn, this podcast features talks with big names in social media such as Mark Zuckerberg.
As those of you who listen to podcasts may already know, this is just the tip of the iceberg. There are tons of marketing and social media podcasts out there just waiting to be heard!
Read Up
Similar to the news, checking reliable sites for social media updates is a great way to stay in the loop. The more you read, the more you know. You might even consider starting a “Marketing Monday” email chain at work and taking turns sending out interesting and relevant articles each week. Resources we love:
- AdWeek’s Social Pro Daily– Here you’ll find everything from how to use a new feature to what trends you can expect to see online to how other big brands are using social media in their marketing campaigns.
- Sesame Communications Blog– Visiting our blog is a great way to stay in the loop because we not only keep you informed on what’s happening to social media, we find ways to apply that information specifically to dental and orthodontic practices.
- Social Media Today– From tips to updates, Social Media Today offers a diverse mix of social media happenings you should be aware of.
Be Active
This probably won’t come as a surprise to you, but being active online is without a doubt one of the best and easiest ways to stay up to date. The more you do something, the more intuitive it becomes. Oftentimes new features build upon existing ones, so building up that knowledge and familiarity with social media will help enable you to adapt quicker when the inevitable changes arrive.
It’s also very common for tools like Facebook and Instagram to give pop-up like updates when you sign in or open their app letting you know when there’s a new feature. They’ll often accompany said pop-up with steps on how you can start using the new feature, too.
While social media is in fact always changing, having trustworthy sources of information to refer to will help you conquer any changes that come your way. Keep doing your homework and you’ll be just fine. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to reach out to our Sesame Social team!
—Michelle Hammond, Social Media Specialist, Sesame Communications