As a product marketer, you know how important it is to craft clear, compelling, and consistent messages and content for your target audience. But how do you keep up with the ever-changing trends, best practices, and tools in this field? In this article, we'll share some tips and resources to help you stay on top of your game and deliver value to your customers and stakeholders.
One of the best ways to learn from the experts and get inspired by their work is to follow industry leaders who share their insights, experiences, and advice on messaging and content strategy. You can subscribe to their blogs, podcasts, newsletters, or social media accounts and see how they approach different challenges, opportunities, and trends. Some examples of influential product marketing leaders are April Dunford, Joanna Wiebe, Dave Gerhardt, and Andy Raskin.
Embracing a wider perspective beyond the industry can also be invaluable. We were inspired by a bank's content case for young audiences. Their accessible educational content engaged not only financial institutions but also consumers. Despite our industry differences, their approach resonated. Recognizing gaps in legislation track and explanations, we introduced monthly reviews with an overview of legislative changes and their effect on customers. This endeavor underscored the potential of cross-industry inspiration and its transformative impact on devising innovative strategies, and at the same time helped us collect a database of 10K+ very relevant and highly engaging customers within a year.
Another way to keep up with messaging and content strategy trends is to join online communities where you can interact with other product marketers, ask questions, share feedback, and discover new ideas and resources. You can find online communities on platforms like LinkedIn, Slack, Facebook, or Reddit, or join dedicated networks like Product Marketing Alliance, Product-Led Growth Hub, or Content Strategy Club. These communities can help you expand your network, learn from diverse perspectives, and stay updated on the latest news and events.
Finding communities specific to your industry and niche is the best way to keep up with the trends and leverage a strong network to benefit in your business.
Webinars and events are great opportunities to deepen your knowledge, sharpen your skills, and network with other professionals in the field of messaging and content strategy. You can attend webinars and events hosted by industry experts, organizations, or platforms that cover topics like positioning, storytelling, copywriting, content marketing, or content design. Some examples of webinars and events you can check out are Product Marketing Summit, Content Marketing World, Copyhackers Live, or Content Strategy Conference.
Books and articles are valuable sources of information, inspiration, and guidance on messaging and content strategy. You can read books and articles that cover the fundamentals, the trends, the best practices, or the case studies of successful products and campaigns. Some examples of books and articles you can read are Obviously Awesome by April Dunford, The Content Strategy Toolkit by Meghan Casey, Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene Schwartz, or The Greatest Sales Deck I've Ever Seen by Andy Raskin.
Finally, the best way to keep up with messaging and content strategy trends is to experiment and test your own messages and content. You can use tools like Google Analytics, Hotjar, or Ahrefs to measure the performance, impact, and feedback of your messages and content. You can also use tools like CoSchedule Headline Analyzer, Hemingway App, or Grammarly to improve the quality, clarity, and readability of your messages and content. By experimenting and testing, you can learn what works and what doesn't for your audience, product, and goals.
In addition to the methods mentioned, consider situational marketing for trend tracking. Besides ongoing trends, focus on brief, relevant spikes in the information landscape. Capitalize on short-lived events, like current happenings or emerging topics that capture attention for just a few days. Swiftly integrate these into your content strategy to remain engaged and aligned with the current information agenda. These rapid news hooks don't demand extensive resources, yet they enable you to interact creatively with customers, injecting vibrancy into your approach ??