One of the things I really love about the work I do is the ability to stay continually connected with clients and experts in a number of areas, especially traditional and digital marketing. Technology and competitive forces have caused change to be constant and rapid. Over the past year, especially, the pandemic has prompted a wide range of changes across all industries and areas of professional practice.
So how can you keep up on the changes that impact your work to make sure you’re remaining relevant as an expert in your field and valuable to those you serve?
Tactics I Use to Stay On Top of Trends
In addition to the typical ways of keeping up – e.g., reading trade and professional publications, blogs, attending trade show/webinars, etc., I have been fortunate to be able to call upon some unique experiences to help me stay up-to-date and informed. These include:
- Teaching marketing courses at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire as an adjunct lecturer. I learn from the research I need to do for my lectures as well as from the students themselves who share their experiences and knowledge during class and through their assignments.
- Making presentations for trade and professional groups—both virtual and live. As with teaching, the research I need to do keeps me up-to-date on emerging trends/best practices, etc.
- My clients. Working with a variety of clients (as opposed to working full-time for a single organization) offers an opportunity to learn from them—about their industry, their company, their processes, and the tools they use. Some of my clients are individuals, but I also work with large organizations and often serve as part of an agency team. These experiences introduce me to new techniques/strategies as well as new tools and apps. In addition, some of the projects I do are focused on digital marketing (like writing a white paper for a digital marketing firm to help establish them as thought leaders) which gives me an opportunity to do research and learn about new and emerging trends in the industry.
- Writing by-lined articles for a variety of trade publications and blogs. In many cases, my work here requires me to find and interview expert sources related to what I’m writing about. This has been a really great way to stay up-to-date on trends. For instance, I was recently working on a piece about emerging marketing technologies. I posted a query to HARO and Profnet and got an overwhelming amount of input. While I often can’t use all of the input I receive, I still benefit from seeing not only the unique perspectives of various respondents, but also from being able to spot common threads or themes among the responses.
Attending conferences and trade shows, reading and listening to blogs, webinars, etc., are all great ways to stay up-to-date. But, I enjoy the ability to learn organically through the work I do every day and the real-world experiences and insights I gain from the professionals I’m fortunate to interact with.
How about you? How do you stay up-to-date on trends in your areas of expertise?
About Us
Strategic Communications, LLC, works with B2B clients to help them achieve their goals through effective content marketing and management with both internal and external audiences. We work with clients to plan, create and publish high-quality, unique content. Whether on- or offline, or both, we’ll help you achieve desired results.
(Strategic Communications is certified as a Woman-Owned Business Enterprise through the Wisconsin Department of Administration.)
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Tags: career development, digital transformation, learning and development, professional development, Strategy, tracking trends, training and development