13 best marketing blogs to follow

 Editor’s note: Updated September 2020.

Unfortunately, you can’t just get a degree in content marketing and stop learning about it for the rest of your career. But you likely figured that out as soon as you got your first job.

The field changes much too quickly, from what grabs audiences’ attention, to the words your customers use, and how you need to reach them. This is only compounded when you’re forced to deal with new technologies like augmented reality or voice assistants popping up, or social networks continuously changing their algorithms.

It takes a conscious and consistent effort to stay up-to-date on digital marketing strategy. Not only do you need to be aware of the latest trends, but you need to understand them well enough to evaluate them for your brand.

For example, when a new social network, search engine, content format or app starts trending, it wouldn’t be strategic to just jump on the bandwagon. You’ll need to understand the trend itself, whether your target customers care about it, and if so, how you can leverage it in your marketing strategy.

Following the top marketing blogs not only keeps you informed, but also inspired as you can watch what they do best in their own marketing and content. So let’s take a look at our own favorite marketing blogs and some of the most successful and distinctive strategies behind them.

Marketing tips galore!

1. Moz

Moz has been a leader and resource for learning about SEO tips for over a decade, starting with co-founder Rand Fishkin publishing the SEOmoz blog himself as he figured SEO and blogging out. As the company has grown, so have the resources it churns out.

Their blog is the hub of it all, from their infamous Beginner’s Guide to SEO to the hundreds of Whiteboard Friday video tutorials that made Fishkin’s signature mustache so recognizable to marketers all over the world. Moz has never been afraid to experiment with different content types, showing in addition to telling visitors how great content can power marketing blogs – and software companies.

Moz is one of the best marketing blogs to follow.

Image source: https://moz.com/blog/rules-of-link-building

Speaking of those Whiteboard Friday videos, which are now hosted on a rotation, they might just be the best-ever example of an online marketing blog doing video marketing. Its focus is all on in-depth, high-quality content and search engine analysis, just like with written forms.

While the production quality, effects and facial hair have gotten more advanced over the years, they’ve never relied on fancy technology, two things which intimidate so many marketers and hold them back from getting started with video.

2. Smarp

Smarp’s blog about employee advocacy is an excellent resource for digging deep into the marketing mindset and fostering an engaged and aligned culture across your organization.

When it comes to social media reach with a human touch, your organization’s biggest opportunities may be unlocked when your employees are involved, so improving employee advocacy and company culture is something all marketing departments should have a hand in.

You’ll find a lot of Smarp blog posts about bigger-picture thinking, mindset and company culture – and how those topics tie into marketing and growth. For example, this guide to fostering upward communication in an organization may have an “X number of ways” headline, but it’s far from a shallow tutorial. Their in-house writers are sharp, while compelling guest authors have included the likes of influencer marketing thought leader Shane Barker, Social Media Marketing World presenter Ben Beck, former Search Engine Journal lead editor Kelsey Jones and lead nurture expert Lilach Bullock.

Follow the Smarp blog not just to change your own way of thinking about marketing and company culture, but to be inspired to create higher level content of your own.

3. Content Marketing Institute

Content Marketing Institute is a publishing powerhouse, taking advantage of a large contributor network to cover every nook and cranny of the content marketing profession and the related fields it overlaps with.

Because they cover the content marketing profession so fully, they branch out and add variety to their content in ways other than changing topics. Often, CMI lands surprising keynote speakers (Mark Hamill, Tina Fey, Joseph Gordon-Levitt) for its in-person events, so some of the most eye-opening blog posts on the blog in recent years have been recaps of their presentations.

Content Marketing Institute is among the best marketing blogs to follow.

Overall, this blog is the gold standard for the industry, sharing a great mix of evergreen, strategy-focused information like insight on developing buyer personas and copywriting techniques. But that’s also balanced with more timely information like tool recommendations and advice for contending with GDPR.

4. Orbit Media

Orbit Media Studios is a web design and development studio that, partnered with their results-driven marketing blog, can assist with any area of your company’s digital footprint across your website and more. From designing a strategic website that works as a conversion rate machine, to marketing it and measuring your results, Orbit has a fantastic team and guest blogger roster doling out advice.

Led by Andy Crestodina and Amanda Gant, the Orbit blog’s focus on design, UX and web analytics within the world of content marketing is a much-needed voice reminding marketers of the parts of our work that go beyond words and content.