With marketing evolving so quickly thanks to new strategies and always-new tech, it’s important to make sure that you’re staying on your toes.
It’s also essential to make sure that you’re not getting information from the wrong sources. Because, as many of us have learned the hard way, there’s an enormous amount of marketing “information” online and a solid chunk of it should be avoided at all costs.
We want to make things a little easier, so in this post, we’re sharing 16 of our absolute favorite marketing resources for businesses of all sizes in 2022 – including courses, blogs, books, and podcasts.
This list will include all branches of SaaS marketing, including lead generation, sales nurturing, social marketing, copywriting, content marketing, and more. Whatever skills you can use to get clients, I can almost guarantee that there’s at least one resource here that can help you learn those skills.
Online Courses
In this first section, we’re going to take a look at online digital marketing courses that can really help you step up your game. Note that these are not necessarily free courses, but they are some of the best.
1. HubSpot Academy – Digital Marketing
HubSpot has some of the best marketing courses right now, hands down, and their “Digital Marketing” course is a catch-all that’s incredibly informative.
It’s a free certification course that focuses on inbound marketing and attracting customers with quality content and experiences. All marketers should have a solid understanding of inbound and digital marketing strategies.
The course is straightforward, and you can easily knock it out within a weekend or two.
2. Social Media Marketing Mastery – Udemy
Udemy’s courses can be hit or miss in my experience, but the Social Media Mastery course here is a solid one.
Eight hours long, it goes over how to run ads on 10 different platforms, including the major ones like Facebook, Google, and Twitter. It’s a bestseller on Udemy, with over 100k enrollments.
It also shows you how to use Facebook and Google for organic marketing and how to set up posting optimization. While this is more of an overview of complex topics than the in-depth courses offered by other platforms, it’s a great introduction to getting exposed to many platforms at once.
3. Hootsuite’s Social Marketing Certification Course
I took this course several years ago, and it was incredibly to the point and extremely detailed. It gives you a beginner-level introduction to social media marketing to build a strong foundation with skills and strategies to attract more followers, build engagement, and drive actual business results.
This course was designed with marketing strategies in mind, and it’s an industry-recognized and permanent online certification. It costs $199 to take the exam and receive the certification, but for businesses or marketers who want to develop entry-level skills, it’s a good one.
4. Website Optimization from HubSpot
I know— another HubSpot course. You’ll have to forgive us, because we have one more after this.
This one is essential for marketers who want to learn about the technical aspects of site optimization and performance to enhance SEO.
You can learn how to address and identify common site issues to improve performance, along with how to properly optimize your site for SEO. The course itself is free, and it’s developed by marketers.
5. Content Strategy Course
Last but not least in the courses, this one is my personal favorite. This is easily the hands-down best content marketing course I’ve ever seen online, and it goes beyond “how to write a good blog post” and into the actual strategy.
So many brands have solid writers working for their team, but neglect to get results from their content writing. This is almost always because there’s a lack of a proper strategy. This course can help with that, and I recommend it to every small business owner or new freelancer who wants to level up their strategic skills.
The course itself is free, and it’s unbelievably thorough but still fast to complete.
Blogs
High-quality blogs are one of the best sources of digital marketing information because they’re consistently putting out great new tips that are always up-to-date and relevant. These are some of the best marketing blogs out there (aside from our own here at Breadcrumbs of course!)
6. Copyblogger
Copyblogger has everything you could ever need to know about copywriting. (They do have an outstanding certification course, but it’s only available at certain times of the year and is on the more expensive side for online content).
This blog has a strong focus on content marketing and copywriting, and they go over topics like SEO, email marketing, keyword research, and landing pages. The information here is top-notch, and it’s a great place where beginners and experts alike can pick up some new tricks and develop their skills.
7. Unbounce
Unbounce is an outstanding tool, and their blog is also a great source of information.
They dive deep into conversion techniques, including copywriting, split testing, and site design. In addition to their blog, they also regularly feature expert interviews, video webinars, and virtual events, so this is a great one to subscribe to.
8. SalesHacker
SalesHacker is constantly putting out new, high-value content from a large network of contributors. All of these contributors are experienced in sales and marketing, and they offer valuable insights into how to get the kind of long-term results that you want.
Every article on SalesHacker is in-depth and actionable, so you can understand how to apply the theory of whatever you’re reading. And since there’s such a large contributor network, there are always some new takes here that you may not have read elsewhere.
Books
Who doesn’t love a good book?
If you want to dive deep into a specific topic or niche subject, books are the way to go. You’re looking at 100-200+ pages of pure informational goodness right there. Let’s take a look at some of the best marketing books out there.
(And if you want to learn more about customer success specifically, make sure you check out these incredible customer success books!).
9. Designing Brand Identity 5th Edition – Alina Wheeler
Branding is a huge factor in whether or not your business will be successful, and while that seems like a straightforward fact, creating a strong brand isn’t as easy as it always sounds.
This book is a comprehensive guide that goes over how to develop and market a brand through strategy, design, and copy. You’ll learn how to define your brand in five different steps, and you’ll see plenty of case studies from internationally-recognized brands along the way.
10. Digital Marketing Strategy: An Integrated approach to online marketing by Simon Kingsnorth
This is an international bestseller that’s often used by educational organizations around the world, and it breaks down the core areas that all marketers need to understand: Business strategy, content strategy, branding, and channel-specific considerations.
The second edition, which is now out, includes updated case studies and content about AI and automation. It’s available in seven languages, so there’s no reason not to read it!
11. This is Marketing: You Can’t Be Seen Until You Learn to See – Seth Godin
This book looks at the philosophical angles of marketing, and it’s downright interesting.
A huge focus is determining who your product is for and what needs it can help resolve, and then developing a strategy from that point.
This is more general and conceptual advice than technical steps, but it’s a good one if you want to get to the core of what drives your audience to act and purchase.
12. The Undoing Project – Michael Lewis
Lewis’s “The Undoing Project” is one of the more interesting marketing books that I’ve read.
The entire focus is on psychology: Why people make the decisions that they do, and how you can use that in your marketing. It’s entertaining to read, and while it looks at actual psychology principles, it’s also broken down into plain language to keep it accessible for even those who don’t have English as a first language.
Podcasts
Last up, we’ve got our podcasts!
While we’ve talked about RevOps podcasts in the past, let’s take a closer look at the digital marketing podcasts you won’t want to miss.
13. Revenue Cafe
Revenue Cafe is created by our team here at Breadcrumbs, and we talk about sales, marketing, and every CX-related topic that can help you on your path to revenue acceleration.
Our Co-Founder Gary Amaral hosts and talks to guests each episode about topics like workplace diversity, personalization, and how to boost engagement. Each guest shares their own experience and unique perspective, with plenty of real tips and actionable strategies you can use for your own brand.
14. Everyone Hates Marketers
If you want a new take on marketing, this is the podcast for you. It’s a marketing podcast that’s geared towards brands who are tired of sleezy, in-your-face marketing.
The focus here is on generating more site visitors, leads, and customers by using actionable and applicable strategies to help your business actually stand out. There are great guests who give hyper-detailed information on exactly how to do so.
15. Copyblogger FM: Content Marketing, Copywriting, Freelance Writing, and Social Media Marketing
The Copyblogger’s blog is great, and so is their podcast. Focused heavily on copywriting, this podcast has a rotating cast of guests to look at copywriting, email marketing, and more.
There’s content going as far back as 2010, and there are so many topics and different viewpoints. It’s all practical advice that typically “ages” well over time, as opposed to cheap trends or tricks that fade out fast.
16. Online Marketing Made Easy with Amy Porterfield
Last on our list we have Amy Porterfield’s marketing podcast.
Ranked as the third most-listened-to marketing podcast on Apple, it offers expert advice, tips, and strategies on everything related to online marketing. This podcast is focused on basic marketing principles, but episodes range from 30 minutes to an hour and a half long so the topics are discussed in-depth.
Final Thoughts
If you’re looking to step up your marketing game or fine-tune any skills as we move into the new year, any of these digital marketing resources can help you get there. Think about what skills you most want to improve, and choose the appropriate specialized resources.
And if you’re ready to accelerate your revenue quickly, remember that our contact scoring models can help you identify your target audience and convert them faster. You can book your demo here.