This article cuts to the core of what Earnworthy is all about, which is helping you increase your marketing productivity. What does that mean? Well, the marketing landscape is constantly evolving. Additionally, it is a very competitive landscape. In order to stand out from the competition, you’re going to need to have an edge on everyone else around you.
By taking the best practices of productivity “gurus” all around the world and applying them to the marketing environment, you can get precisely the edge you need to succeed.
In this post, I will reveal five of my favorite productivity hacks for marketers. They work for me, and I know they can work for you too. So without delay, let’s get to the list.
1. Stay informed of news and trends
It should go without saying that you need to stay current with the latest news and announcements in the marketing industry, but I’ll say it anyway because it’s just that important.
I usually start every workday by browsing through recent posts from my favorite marketing blogs, using Feedly, which is an awesome RSS reader. Just about every day something big happens in the marketing space, and you cannot afford to miss out on any of that.
As a good starting point for marketing and tech news, I’d recommend you check out blogs from Moz, Buffer, and Techmeme. There are so many other good ones depending on your specific marketing interests, but these are some of my general favorites. For more blog suggestions, check out my bonus checklist at the end of this post.
[Tweet “The most productive #marketers always stay informed of industry news and trends.”]
2. Choose a marketing specialty
Marketers can’t do everything. Well, you can try to do everything, but you’ll probably get burned out pretty quickly. What you need to do is specialize in something and make that your passion.
Depending on your career path, interests, background, education, and client or employer demands, you should focus on one major marketing specialty and get really freaking good at it. So, whether it is social media marketing, lead generation, search engine optimization, agile marketing, Facebook ads, or whatever else, pick something and execute. You’ll thank me later.
As a quick side note, just because you specialize in something does not mean you can stop learning about other areas as well. Marketing is more integrated than ever before, so don’t isolate yourself. Just come to the realization that you can’t effectively be a jack of all trades these days.
[Tweet “Don’t try to do it all. Decide on a #marketing specialty and get really freaking good at it.”]
3. Use a productivity methodology
When I discuss business productivity, one of the first things I mention is workflow, or basically how you get stuff done. If you don’t already have a system for how you work, then you should seriously consider getting that in place. All this takes is a little bit of planning and organizing, so that when it’s time to work, you actually have a specific process for how you handle your projects and tasks.
The system that I like to use is based on an excellent book by David Allen, called Getting Things Done. David’s system–which is commonly abbreviated as GTD–works great for me, but it might not be the right fit for you. But no worries, because there are many other methodologies out there.
The main point here is that in order to be the most productive marketer you can be, you’ll need to get a workflow in place so that you’re not running around like a chicken without a head. Marketing is challenging enough as a profession even when we’re organized, so set yourself up for success by having the right system in place.
[Tweet “Want to become a more productive #marketer? Use a #productivity methodology such as #GTD.”]
4. Never stop testing
You need to immerse yourself in the latest and greatest marketing technology as it comes out. For instance, whenever I hear about a new SEO tool, or social media platform I try to get my hands on it as quickly as possible in order to test it out.
Recently I’ve been playing around on Ello, the new “ad free” social network. Will it take off? Probably not, but I wasn’t going to just dismiss it without giving it a test run for a few weeks. The most productive marketers always know what new marketing apps and tools are coming out. They know what has changed on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. They know the main differences between MailChimp and AWeber when it comes to email marketing. They know these things because they are in the trenches, testing stuff, breaking stuff, and just having fun.
A great place to start looking for stuff to test is the top charts on the app store. It doesn’t matter if you’re an Android or iOS user. Go to your app store, and check out the top downloads. This is the kind of stuff marketer’s need to know about, because this is where people are spending their time.
[Tweet “The most productive #marketers immerse themselves in the latest and greatest marketing technology.”]
5. Surround yourself with mentors
One of the things that I like most about marketing is that nobody is an expert forever, because the field of knowledge is changing at such a rapid pace. For instance, I’ve seen many “gurus” who were doing exceptionally well with Google Adwords a few years back get overshadowed by young Facebook Ads superstars who have absolutely no formal marketing education.
Therefore, you need to find people who are currently at the top of their marketing game and learn as much as you can from them. How can you do that? Well, begin by identifying these thought leaders and then read, watch, or listen to everything they have produced. You can also attend seminars, workshops, networking events and more.
And of course, your marketing mentors don’t have to be famous marketing superstars. If you work with other marketers, seek out the people you can learn the most from, and have lunch together every now and then.
[Tweet “Find other top #marketers and connect with them so that you’ll never stop learning.”]
Want to use this info right away?
I’ve created a checklist of the top 15 books, podcasts, blogs, and marketers I personally follow on a regular basis, and it’s yours for free!
The checklist is meant to help you take action right away on some of the principles I outlined above, such as staying up on industry news and surrounding yourself with the right marketing mentors.
There’s no easier way to start putting these ideas into practice than by downloading my free bonus checklist. Click below to download it for free, right now:
