Welcome back! You’ve just pulled up Part 2 of 2 in a short blog series covering off some of our favourite resources for information and tips around online marketing. If you missed last week’s blog then you can find it here, but basically, it offered a few links to a couple of our go-to sites when we need to know things and stay up to date with regards to Google Ads (formerly AdWords), SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and Facebook marketing.

This week we’re looking at Instagram (a burgeoning platform in its own right), Google Analytics/Tag Manager and Content Marketing. So let’s get straight to it!

Instagram Marketing

Although it’s owned by and commonly seen as an extension of Facebook, Instagram has become so much more than that. It has its own unique culture, its own set of rules, a very different kind of audience and the things that it doesn’t have (such as the ability to schedule a post, share a link in a post and much more) also set it apart enough that it requires a very different approach. So here are some places you can go to read up on what that means.

1. Planoly – This site is for a company that has their own web marketing offering that we’re not here to endorse (which is not to say we think it’s bad, it’s just not what this blog is about), but their blog has a great range of information on how best to run an Instagram advertising campaign and/or account. We’d strongly recommend checking them out regularly for content ideas and technical news and tutorials.
2. Social Insider – These guys have a strong focus on analytics and performance. It’s a great place for you to figure how best to measure your activities to ensure you’re getting maximum benefit and actionable intel.
3. Social Media Examiner – Yes, we do remember that we shared this one last week with regards to Facebook marketing, but we do want to be sure to point out that although Instagram is very much becoming its own platform, it is still “Social Media” and you will very often find ways in which your strategies for different social platforms can overlap. So while we definitely recommend identifying and embracing the ways in which this particular platform is different, do not forget to capitalise on its similarities as things like transferable content, consistent messaging and much more can absolutely work to your benefit.

Google Analytics & Tag Manager

Something we’ve stood by for years and always will is the idea that if you’re not measuring your online marketing activities, then you’re wasting your marketing potential. Any other approach has you throwing a piece of bread on a string into the lake, rather than the best kind of bait for that kind of lake attached to a performance piece of fishing equipment. You need to watch, learn and change accordingly in order to have success in digital marketing. So firstly, if you don’t have Google Analytics installed (at the very least), please go and do that right now. Once you have, we’d recommend you read up in the following places.

1. Google Analytics Products – This is Google’s official blog and it covers off topics across both Analytics and Tag manager. You can’t get much better than straight form the horse’s mouth even if that horse is a little bit lacking in self awareness and likes to toot its own horn sometimes.
2. Measureschool – For those who prefer video content or to just listen in the background while multi-tasking, this YouTube channel is one of our favourite places to learn and find inspiration. Julian really knows his stuff and lays it all out in a straightforward manner.
3. Reddit – Yep, you read that right. Although an occasional cesspool depending on the topic you’re exploring, Reddit really shines as originally intended when it comes to topics like this and when it comes to something as complex and ever-changing as Analytics or Tag Manager then it really is best to spend some time with other who are on the ground and running things for themselves with real stakes. You’ll learn a lot from experts, but also from the mistakes others make. Well worth diving into.

Content Marketing/Copywriting

We recommend that every client blog minimum once a week 100% of the time as part of any online marketing efforts. We’re not going to explain why here as we do it regularly via this blog, but rest assured you should absolutely be doing this. But if you’re going to produce content on a regular basis it can sometimes be a little hard to stay inspired, come up with ideas or just know what effective blogging really is. These sites have been of huge help to us over the years and will serve you well.

1. Buzzsumo – This writer first discovered Buzzsumo around 2014 via their rather handy tools, but fast forward a bit and I was addicted to their blog. They offer genuinely insightful and professional advice in a personable and authoritative manner, which is basically exactly what you want from a blog and speaks to their know-how. Definitely check them out.
2. Hubspot’s Blog – These guys cover content marketing of all kinds, which includes Social and Email, but their bread and butter is copy, as is their origin. We’ve been to multiple seminars by these guys when they come out to Brisbane and each one has changed our way of thinking for the better. Fair warning however, they do have a software product that they very much want to sell to you. They’re not pushy but it will come up at some point during your interactions with them. (Should we include that last sentence or not?)
3. The Content Marketing Institute – These guys are generally accepted as the authority. You’ll find nothing but high quality information on types of content marketing, their applications, customer interaction and pretty much anything else that you can think of. While we like the last two recommendations for their unique take on things, this site is the mothership. Add it to your favourites/bookmarks and check in regularly!

Well that’s it. Part 2 of 2. As always if you’d like us to elaborate on anything about Digital Marketing then please feel free to get in touch and if you think there’s anything you’d like to add or discuss then leave a comment below. Until next week!