20 essential digital marketing resources
Author:
Categorised In:
Share:
Whether you’re looking for the latest digital marketing news, industry updates, learning materials, or helpful how-to guides, there is a huge amount of information available online, and this guide will help you find the best of it so you spend less time looking and more time with the most valuable content.
Digital marketing industry news and updates
Covering digital marketing as an entire industry for news and updates is no easy feat; it encompasses such a wide scope. The best resources will aggregate the must-know information and present it in an easily digestible format. It’s something that we at Embryo thought nowhere was getting right, so we built our own.
1. Embryo’s digital industry updates
Our digital marketing industry updates page covers everything from upcoming events to platform changes, industry regulations, and campaign opportunities. Our teams handpick each update as the most important things you need to know are happening in the industry.
You can read through all of the updates, or filter them down into the categories you care most about. Coverage includes:
- Analytics & web tracking
- AI
- Social media
- PPC
- Digital PR & traditional PR
- Google platforms
- SEO
- Tools
- & more.
We only add the most important updates that are likely to impact your day-to-day work or your campaign performance. Keep it bookmarked, or you can subscribe to the page through an RSS reader.
https://embryo.com/industry-updates/
2. Swipe Insights
Swipe Insights works as an aggregator of industry news and updates and pulls from many different sources into a single place. You’ll need to sign up to access it, but doing so will also curate a ‘For You’ feed as it learns what updates are most relevant to your needs. The more you use it, the more useful it becomes. It’s one of the websites I personally check in every morning to get up to speed on what’s happening across the industry.
It pulls news from websites and social media platforms, so you can normally find your favourite LinkedIn influencers there also. For example, I regularly check in on Analytics AI, Digital Services Act, Data Engineering, and Tracking & Attribution here.
Alongside the For You feed, you can access categories directly or explore the Discover section to find things you might not normally look for. You can also bookmark updates and manually change your interests if you want the For You feed to improve as quickly as possible.
https://web.swipeinsight.app/app/for-you
3. Search Engine Journal
Search Engine Journal is a news site which covers every aspect of digital marketing and is updated several times a day with fresh content and industry updates. You’ll also find some great opinion pieces, guides, ebooks, webinars, and more. They cover SEO, PPC, Social, Content Marketing, Email Marketing, and Digital Strategy to tie all of the channels together.
They focus their content towards both marketers and business owners so you get a nice, rounded view of updates and why they matter to both sides. I also highly recommend subscribing to their podcast, which we mentioned in more detail below.
https://www.searchenginejournal.com/
SEO
SEO covers a broad range of skills, so I’ve tried to cover different elements of SEO when thinking about the essential resources you need to know about.
4. Google Search Central
Definitely more beneficial for those starting out in SEO, Google Search Central has a wealth of information that explains in-depth how Google Search works and the foundations you need to rank a website. It won’t give you more of the technical elements of SEO, nor the latest cutting-edge techniques to get ahead, but it’s a good start.
https://developers.google.com/search/
5. Ahrefs Blog
The Ahrefs blog has tonnes of useful insights that are derived from the data they collect and process as part of running the tool. A lot of the content is more focused on a tutorial or case study format, as well as general industry news, and that can be incredibly useful for understanding what could help your SEO campaigns continue growing. You also don’t need a subscription to access the blog. You can dive into specific categories or search for specific keywords to uncover the content you need.
6. Reddit
I know some will roll their eyes at this one, but if you’re willing to spend some time digging through the nonsense on the SEO subreddits, you can find some genuine conversations between people who are passionate about the industry and sharing what has driven good results for clients and helping each other out. The r/SEO subreddit is particularly bad for poor posting, but the r/TechSEO one is usually worth spending some time in.
https://www.reddit.com/r/TechSEO/
7. OnCrawl Blog
If you’re looking for SEO resources that focus more on the technical side of SEO, then, as well as Reddit mentioned above, the OnCrawl blog has a wealth of content focused primarily on technical campaign elements. Whether it’s mastering JavaScript SEO or clustering keywords using Python, the easy-to-follow guides will have you diving deeper into campaigns through tech before you know it.
Social media
Whether you’re looking for help diagnosing issues, campaign experimentation tips, or to get started in the world of social media advertising, there are some fantastic resources online to help you get started or further advance your existing knowledge.
8. Jon Loomer
Somewhat of a ‘GOAT’ in the Meta advertising community, Jon Loomer has built his reputation for social media advertising by sharing vast amounts of the knowledge he has gained over the years. His website shares a lot of foundational advice to help people get started, but also has a lot more in-depth content that can help you dive deeper into your campaigns and strategy performance. You will also find pixel creation tools, custom event training, and short-form videos to help keep you up to speed on the latest news.
A paid membership also offers access to an exclusive club, more structured training, and a support network of like-minded people in the industry where you can trade ideas and advice. It’s social media without the fluff that usually comes with content creators in the industry.
9. Social Media Today
Focusing more on news and updates, Social Media Today provides timely updates on platform changes, industry innovations, and emerging trends to help you stay ahead of the industry. The website focuses on Social Media platforms as a whole, so you can expect updates on TikTok, Pinterest, Snapchat, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Meta (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Threads).
You’ll also find guides and expert commentary to help you get the best out of your campaigns as well as new tactics, regulatory advice, data-driven studies and ideas on how to best leverage AI on your accounts.
https://www.socialmediatoday.com/
Podcasts
The global podcast industry continues to grow each year and is projected to hit 619 million listeners by 2026. They’ve become a must-have resource not just for true crime fans, but marketers also, with a selection of must-listen series.
10. Content, Briefly
Focusing on B2B content marketing, Jimmy Daly, founder of Superpath, a community of content marketers of over 20,000 people, ‘Content, Briefly’ has episodes which detail specific content marketing strategies which have proven to work. Jimmy also interviews leaders in the SaaS space to understand how they work and approach content marketing.
11. The Marketing Millennials
Hosted by Daniel Murray, The Marketing Millennials podcast focuses heavily on real-world application of marketing strategies.. Daniel has a following of over 140,000 on LinkedIn and is known for his no-fluff approach to explaining what does and doesn’t work in marketing. You can expect actionable insights from each episode. Around two episodes per week are published, so you have plenty to look forward to, as well as lots to listen to from the past.
12. Perpetual Traffic
With a focus more on specific marketing methods including SEO, PPC, and Social Media, hosts of Perpetual Traffic Ralph Burns and Lauren Petrullo bring a wealth of experience in digital marketing and each week share tips on how to stay ahead of the curve. They describe the podcast as being for CMOs, Marketing Directors, and Business Owners who want to master marketing and scale it whilst staying profitable.
13. Search Engine Journal Show
One for the SEOs, the Search Engine Journal Show brings you the latest in the ever changing world of digital marketing in a conversational format with leaders from the industry. Hosted by Loren Baker, expect the latest news from the SERPs, insights into campaign tactics, candid chats about marketing, and focused episodes on individual areas of SEO in particular, including, local, technical, outreach, pr, and content. With over 300 episodes in the back catalogue there’s a huge amount of content waiting for you.
PPC
14. PPC News Feed
PPC News Feed works as an aggregator of the latest news from the world of pay-per-click advertising. They pick the best news and updates from a range of sources and compile them into a single place so you can get the updates you need as quickly as possible.
As well as industry news, you can expect to find the latest platform updates, as well as changes to how ads are being shown in search results in Google’s latest tests.
15. PPC Hero
PPC Hero covers a wide scope of paid advertising news and updates, including social media, but primarily they focus on pay-per-click, display, and programmatic advertising. As well as the latest trends, expect to find in-depth training courses for advanced PPC professionals as well as beginner guides if you’re looking to learn PPC without any experience at all.
They also host a twice-yearly PPC conference with industry-leading experts hosting talks and panels, and opportunities to network with others in the industry. Hosted in both San Diego in the US, and Brighton in the UK, they describe it as the “must-attend event for PPC and Paid Social professionals”.
16. Google Ads & Commerce Blog
Sometimes the best updates come from Google itself on the official Google Ads & Commerce Blog. The articles you’ll find here will be geared towards more general advice and product launches; they don’t focus much on the testing side of things. But it is still a valuable resource, especially for those beginning out in a PPC career who would like to understand more about how the Google products themselves are changing.
https://blog.google/products/ads-commerce/
Others
Sometimes the best resources are the ones you collate yourself over time, especially with RSS feeds and social media playing a vital role in how content is being shared.
17. RSS Feeds
Using a ‘reader’ or RSS aggregation platform, you can subscribe to a lot of these websites and bring only the parts you need into a single organised format just for you. Platforms like Feeder, Feedly, and even Google News or Apple News, they can all help curate a feed of news and updates tailored to your needs.
18. LinkedIn
Lots of industry professionals across digital marketing are sharing helpful content on LinkedIn. Make sure you’re following them, subscribing to them, and interacting with their posts so they show up more often in your feeds.
19. Reddit
We mentioned Reddit briefly in the SEO section, but for all areas of digital marketing, you’ll find specific subreddits that are packed full of content you can learn from. Engage in the posts, help people out where you can, share fresh ideas, spark debate, and you’ll get that returned when it’s you asking the questions.
20. Conferences
Invest your time in attending industry conferences and listening to talks from industry experts who are there to share their learnings and expertise. You’ll also have a fantastic opportunity to network with other professionals in your area of work and make connections with people who can share ideas and find solutions with.
