So what can we do with this new-found free time and with limited interaction with our departments? There are many things you can do, including taking the time to catch up on the reading you didn’t have time for previously. We’ve prepared a list of courses, readings, and videos that will help keep you productive. 😉

By the way, if you’re trying to find social media certifications and classes to improve your career, we recommend that you check out our previous blog post, where we recommend 9 courses that can advance your marketing career. This includes courses about Google Analytics, Twitter and Facebook ad campaigns, and content marketing.

The Definitive Guide to Event Marketing

With so many events being canceled to flatten the curve, the answer has been to shift the events to cyberspace. So if you were planning on attending a growth marketing or product development conference, you might have to get an online pass.

By reading this guide, you’ll learn practical skills such as how to run webinars and virtual events. But remember, it’s also important to understand why events should be included as part of your marketing strategy.

Although the guide has 118 pages, it’s a quick read.

Attend a digital festival

Speaking of online events, did you see that The Drum has launched their Digital Transformation Festival? The Drum launched this festival as a response to the outbreak so that we can examine what type of digital changes we should expect in the near future. 

What can you expect from this online festival? You might get to watch a talk about:

• Whether businesses are equipped to handle so many people working from home
• Technology such as AI and data impacting our creativity
• The possible long-term effects of the pandemic on the marketing and advertising industries
• Advances in voice technology and possible uses

Take a look at the agenda and speakers, you might find something that catches your attention.

Watch more TED talks

Have you seen Seth Godin’s “The tribes we lead” TED talk? He suggests that the Internet brought back tribes where people share ideas and values. He argues that being part of a tribe gives you the opportunity to make a difference and lead. We recommend checking this TED talk out if you want to create a loyal following over time and how the Internet can help you do that.

But if you’re more interested in reputation management, why not take a look at Tim Leberecht’s “3 Ways to (Usefully) Lose Control of Your Brand”? If you’re someone who has been trying to micromanage your online presence, you might want to experiment with letting go. Tim’s argument is that organic conversations about your brand could eventually lead to growth, and he discusses relevant examples of where this strategy worked.

You don’t have to keep reading to be productive. 😉

Blogging for Business course on Ahrefs

For companies out there who regularly publish on their blog, this one’s for you. Blogs aren’t just meant to be a source of traffic (that’s a vanity metric). The goal of your blog should be to inspire your readers to become recurring customers. Still, you need to understand the ins and outs of running a blog before you start publishing content.

Originally, this course would cost you $799, but you can get it for free for a limited time. The aim of this course is to help you learn how to drive sales through your blog. You’ll learn about:

• The effects of content marketing
• Growing your blog
• Coming up with a content strategy
• Analyzing keyword ranking difficulty and traffic potential

The course includes 10 tutorials and runs for 4 hours and 56 minutes.

Skillshare

On the 18th of March, Skillshare announced that their content will be more readily available. This means that students, freelancers, and those that have been severely impacted by COVID-19 could get free two-month memberships. 

But which courses and workshops should you check out? Since the platform is so diverse, we thought we’d give you a few suggestions.

YouTube Success: Build an Authentic Channel That’s Worth the Follow

If you’re focused on content creation on YouTube, this is a course worth looking into. Sorelle Amore runs a course on how you can create an authentic following that is invested in your content. The skills that you’ll acquire in this class include building a content strategy and online marketing, as well as how to make the most of this specific social media platform.

The classes include:

• Finding a niche to specialize in
• Establishing credibility
• Prioritizing authenticity over aesthetics

Social Media Marketing: Top Tips for Growing Your Followers & Going Viral

Cat Coquillette runs a class focused on social media strategies that will help you cultivate your brand. Her course isn’t just for previously established brands and businesses, it’s also useful for people and companies who aren’t household names yet.

The platforms that she covers are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. You’ll learn:

• How to write a quality bio
• Writing social media copy
• How to use the right hashtags
• Which image editing apps are worth using
• Understanding social media analytics

This course is shorter than most courses you’ll find on platforms like HubSpot Academy or Udemy (it’s just over an hour-long), so you’ll definitely manage to fit it in somewhere in your schedule. 😉

The Beginner’s Guide to SEO

Even if you’re creating engaging content, you need to make sure that search engines can find your site and profile more easily. This is why we highly recommend checking out Moz’s eBook about SEO. It doesn’t matter whether you’re marketing your brand on social media or a copywriter; you should get to know the basics.

You’ll learn how keywords, your URL, meta descriptions, and titles are important aspects to consider when you’re preparing your copy. What’s more, there are so many misconceptions about SEO strategies, so it’s good to separate fact from fiction. 

We also recommend checking out our recent article for those of you that want to improve your business’ local SEO using social media platforms. 

Did we miss anything?

Although we have quite a few materials and activities that should keep you busy, you can still send other suggestions our way.

Can you think of anything else we should add? Send us a message and we’ll add it to our list!