Regardless of how much experience you and your employees have, there’s always someone out there who can teach you something new. While some marketers try to project an air of being at the top of their game, the smart ones know that there’s always room to learn new things if they want to stay competitive.
Fortunately, the modern world gives us plenty of ways to learn new skills and pick up new information. One great way to learn is by following the blogs put out by major agencies and content creators. With so many options out there, though, which blogs should you be reading? We’ve handpicked five that we think deserve a place on your reading list as you work to grow your agency in 2019.
Leo Burnett Worldwide
If you’re looking for pedigree, look no further than Leo Burnett. The agency was founded in 1935, and in 2002 it was acquired by Publicis Groupe, the world’s oldest agency holding group and one of the biggest agency networks on the planet. Leo Burnett’s clients are the biggest of the big, and the company’s blog distills the wisdom of working with so many giants in a way that’s instantly relatable no matter your agency’s size.
In fact, if you could only read one agency blog then Leo Burnett would probably be the one to choose. The blog covers so many topics that you’ll find a little bit of everything in its archives. More importantly, it gives you insight into the mindset that drives a successful agency year after year.
Y Media Labs
If you want insight into the technology that drives modern marketing, the Y Media Labs blog is the place to go. The company creates apps for a number of big-name clients, shaping the digital landscape and how major companies interact with their customers. The YML blog provides a look at the tech driving these apps as well as other technology trends in the marketing space. If you want to stay on top of where technology is taking marketing in the future, this is a blog not to miss.
Croud
If you want a glimpse at a new type of agency, check out Croud’s blog. This company does things its own way, focusing on a tech-focused core staff and a network of creatives and other talents that work when needed. This keeps the company lightweight and reduces corporate bloat, and the work that the agency puts out ensures that there’s plenty of work for its talent pool to do.
Because of the nontraditional design of the agency and the diversity of its talent, its blog is a wonder to behold. Each post has its own brilliance, and the wide range of topics in its archives is amazing. You never know what you’ll find in new posts, as they range from practical business advice to thought pieces to breakdowns of just how you should handle things like content and social media on the modern internet.
Beyond
Beyond isn’t your typical agency, but that’s what makes its blog such a wonder to behold. Beyond focuses on data analytics, research and technology as a means of creating marketing strategies for its clients. This gives the company an amazing insight into how consumers think and act, and also helps it to recognize technology trends that other companies might miss. The company’s blog is a dazzling array of current and up-and-coming technologies, slices of agency life and other insights that no marketing team should do without.
If that was all that there was to the Beyond blog that would be enough, but the agency offers up takes on news and culture in addition to these insights. It really provides a great perspective on how the company operates, letting you see what’s important at the agency level in addition to what it is that the company does.
Iron Paper
If you want to learn about the ins and outs of content marketing, there’s no better source than Iron Paper’s blog. The company is a leader in SEO, social and content marketing, and that makes it perfectly suited to write about these same topics from an authoritative point of view. Even more importantly, the agency breaks down a lot of the details into easy-to-understand how-to guides that can help agencies both large and small to master these same skills.
Explore Your Options
Of course these blogs are only a few of the countless wonderful blogs that you can find on agency websites. If you have a particular agency or marketing company that you admire, take some time to look around their website. There’s a good chance you’ll find a blog or some thought pieces that will give you some great insights into how the company operates. You can also check out the company’s social media profiles as there are often a number of hidden gems scattered about in posts as well.