Everything you need to build a great marketing plan
How to find good marketing blogs
There is an abundance of blogs out there, particularly in the area of marketing. So how do you know which ones to follow? How do you know which ones to trust?
If you’re looking for blogs solely to keep on top of the latest trends and developments in the industry, look for ones that hone in on the specific areas that you’re working in. The best marketing blogs are written by real experts in their field. These are people who have usually found a niche - whether it be SEO, paid advertising or content marketing - and honed their knowledge and skills in this area. They will likely be obsessive about their chosen corner of the industry and talk about it enthusiastically and in detail. Perhaps in more detail than you need, but then you can pick and choose the information that’s relevant to you.
If you’re looking for tips and ideas on how to develop your own blog or content marketing strategy, then it makes sense to follow blogs that are really making an impact in the community. See what other people think of them; are they trusted by other marketers? Does the author speak at industry events? Check how many followers they have on social media, how much engagement their posts have and with whom. By following those who have higher engagement rates, you can learn from them about which content is most engaging, what format works best, etc., and apply these learnings to your own blog.
Once you have a few trusted bloggers in your bookmarks, it’s easy to compare new ones against these and create your own knowledge library.
Download your free marketing plan bundle
Best UK marketing blogs to follow
As mentioned, there are so many marketing blogs out there that it can be hard to filter out which to follow. There are of course the heavyweights in marketing that are always worth reading - I’m talking about HubSpot, Hootsuite, SEMrush, Moz, Content Marketing Institute etc. - but I’ll share some of the best UK marketing blogs, by marketing discipline, that you might not have come across.
General marketing
Smart Insights
Founded back in 2010 by Dave Chaffey (@DaveChaffey), one of the leading experts in digital marketing, Smart Insights is an online learning platform, with over 150,000 active members in over 170 countries, dedicated to helping marketers plan, manage and optimise their marketing strategies. Its blog has over 5000 posts offering key insights into the latest trends and challenges digital and content marketers face.
Why follow?
-
Credibility: within 22 years of existence, contributors have trained over 500,000 professionals on more than 250 marketing courses, guides and tools.
-
Read articles on some of the most commonly asked questions in digital marketing, such as ‘3 keys to embracing the omnichannel customer revolution’- written by expert contributors from across the UK marketing sector.
-
Access guides and templates to help you successfully plan your marketing strategy.
B2B Marketing
This online learning platform for B2B marketers has a wealth of information to help you plan your marketing strategy. There are two levels of membership - free and premium - which give you access to different resources. The blog is accessible without membership and is updated almost daily, giving you insights into the latest trends and how to address them. It has also launched Propolis, a members-only online intelligence platform and global community, for world-class professional development.
Why follow?
-
Credibility: it has worked with global business such as BP, Deloitte, HSBC, Sky, Oracle and many more.
-
Get key insights from leaders and experts across the marketing sector
-
Access free live and on-demand webinars
-
The community have an annual event (hybrid in 2022) where you can learn from and network with other marketing professionals
-
Propolis gives your marketing team exclusive, direct access to trusted, independent industry consultants, intelligence and expertise. Imagine being able to run a marketing idea past the Global Head of Content Marketing at Microsoft and getting a personal reply the very next day? What are you waiting for?
NSDesign
NSDesign is a digital marketing agency based in Scotland who specialise in all things digital marketing, from SEO to social media to analytics. It also holds digital marketing training courses, and its blog reflects this, offering easy-to-understand tips and actionable insights through its posts.
Why follow?
-
Explore a whole range of different topics relating to digital marketing, from branding to email marketing, providing a good overview of different topics
-
Get quick to implement tips, on topics such as Customer reviews management or enhancing your email marketing strategy
Get everything you need to build a great marketing plan
Social media marketing
We Are Social
As a global creative agency, headquartered in London but with offices around the world, We Are Social focuses on connecting brands and people by creating ideas that people like to share. Having worked with major international brands, such as adidas and LEGO, it really knows what it’s doing when it comes to social media marketing. Its blog is always on trend, addressing the latest issues that affect brands globally.
Why follow?
-
Keep up to date with all the latest social media platform news with their Monday Mashups
-
Get great thought leadership pieces about the future of the marketing and advertising industry on topics such as the from web3 to brand3 and how web3 can rewrite the rules of marketing
-
Enjoy a really sleek browsing experience with a beautifully designed website
Iag.me
With a focus on video content, Ian Anderson Gray (@iagdotme) offers useful insights into the different tools that are available to help you optimise your social media strategy. He collaborates with other well-known marketing experts across different areas of social media marketing, enabling you to get a variety of different perspectives in one place.
Why follow?
-
Read tips and tricks articles on different areas of social media marketing which are great for people who are just starting out
-
Get in-depth reviews on different tools and software that’s available for marketers, with clear explanations about the benefits and disadvantages of using them
Get your free marketing plan bundle
Influencer marketing
Influencer
Influencer is a specialist influencer marketing and branded content agency, and has worked with major international brands including Pantene, Starbucks and the FIFA World Cup. Co-founded by YouTuber Caspar Lee, with Forbes 30 under 30 Ben Jeffries as CEO, the platform uses this in-house expertise to share useful and relevant content via their insights page.
Why follow?
-
Browse through an archive of topics relating to all areas of influencer marketing, from how to use influencer marketing to reach older generations, to measuring its impact on your business
-
Get great thought leadership pieces into the future of this marketing sector
Influencer Marketing Hub
Influencer Marketing Hub is an online platform sharing news and resources for influencer marketers. The blog covers a wide range of topics relating to influencer marketing, and is really easy to navigate to the relevant topic using their filters. The content’s great for both those who are new to this area of marketing and those who are old hands.
Why follow?
-
Upskill yourself in new areas of influencer marketing with their handy ‘How-to Guides’, which include anything from video testimonials for better conversions to choosing the right influencer marketing agency
-
Access resources, such as e-books and data visualisations to help you plan better influencer marketing campaigns
-
For influencers, Influencer Marketing Hub have a great range of tools to help run great campaigns, such as the TikTok Hashtag generator
SEO
Matthew Woodward
Matthew Woodward (@MattWoodwardUK) is considered a guru when it comes to SEO and blogging and is known for his dedication to these subjects. His incredibly extensive archive of articles on every topic imaginable in these areas, from SEO basics to crowdfunding link building, really shows his interest and expertise.
Why follow?
-
If you’re new to SEO, this blog is a great way in as Matthew explains the basics in a clear and accessible way
-
Many of his articles are accompanied by a video (like Site speed, SEO Audit or Anchor text strategy), and he has an extensive library on his YouTube channel, if this is your preferred way of consuming content.
Download 8 free, interactive marketing plan templates
Content marketing
Lilach Bullock
As an award winning social media influencer and creator of several blogs and businesses, including one that she sold over ten years ago, Lilach Bullock (@lilachbullock) has a fair bit of experience when it comes to content marketing. Her blog is handily divided into different topic areas ranging from beginner topics around how to start a blog, to more advanced areas such as how to make money through them. She’s also a professional coach (check out Magnificent Mindsets) and hosts a podcast where she shares business tips on how to become a successful entrepreneur.
Why follow?
-
Get great tips and tricks on how to quickly scale up your blog and make it work for your business, such as this article on making your content accessible to everyone
-
Read her reviews on different products designed to help online marketers do their jobs better
Copyblogger
Created in 2006 and coined the bible of content marketing, CopyBlogger has been teaching marketers how to create killer online content. Not bland corporate stuff created to fill up a company webpage. Valuable information that attracts attention, drives traffic, and builds your business. Whether you’re looking for tips on audio, text or video, you will find enough material to binge-read for months. With over 3,000 articles, its blog provides really useful insights into marketing generally, but also blogging and content marketing specifically, making it a great resource for those who are either just starting out, or who are looking to optimise their content marketing strategies. CopyBlogger gives you the keys to getting your company noticed, attracting prospects, and turning them into loyal customers and clients.
Why follow?
-
Get useful tips on how to tap into the latest trends in content marketing, such as this guide to blogging in 2022
-
Get free access to proven marketing training like its Copywritting 101 course on How to Craft Compelling Copy
Get your free marketing plan templates
MarTech
LXA aka Learning Experience Alliance
LXA (formerly known as MarTech Alliance) has one aim: to make marketing technology simple. Its main offerings are learning courses and a series of events, including #AntiConLX Global that takes place in London once a year. Alongside this, it also has a great blog that covers the latest news and trends in MarTech.
Why follow?
-
Stay on top of the latest MarTech news with their weekly round up which covers everything from new releases to acquisitions
-
Get recommendations on the best marketing books to read when you join their Marketing Book Club
RazorSocial
RazorSocial is one of the leading blogs for marketing technology in the UK. Started 10 years ago, it has now evolved to cover marketing topics more broadly, but it still provides great information on the latest tools that B2B marketers can use to improve their marketing performance.
Why follow?
-
Benefit from the wealth of experience of Ian Cleary (@IanCleary) - founder of RazorSocial - when researching new tools to use, who helps to narrow down the options with excellent reviews and curated lists.
-
As well as tech reviews, you’ll also find tips and tricks to improve other areas of your marketing activities, such as making your blog more interactive or using video to drive traffic to your site
I promised 12 of the best UK marketing blogs, but I’ll give you an extra recommendation as a bonus...
Talkwalker
As a consumer intelligence platform, Talkwalker’s blog posts are informed by data that we gather by listening to the conversations that are happening on and offline. We really do practice what we preach! As a result, the content of our blogs focuses on answering questions that people are regularly asking, and also sharing information and links to tools that we see people actively benefiting from online. Given our business is in MarTech, we also make sure we stay at the forefront of the latest trends shaping this sector. Whilst the site is global, there are blog posts specific to the UK market.
Why follow?
-
Get the lowdown on some of the best technology out there to help you implement your marketing strategy, such as top hashtag tracking tools and the best sentiment analysis tools
-
Access in-depth reports based on marketing needs - e.g., our PR crisis e-Book - and industry trends - e.g., our Social media trends report
-
Equip yourself with free templates and checklists such as our H1 marketing report template.
These are just some of the best UK marketing blogs out there at the moment, but there are so many great resources freely available. Once you’ve narrowed down what information you’re looking for, it’s worth building your own list of go-to bloggers. Seeing what articles people you follow are sharing on social media is another great way to uncover new blogs.
