Being a digital marketer can be lonely…
If your digital marketing team consists of one, or you are a freelance digital marketer regularly working from home, you may recognise the feeling of not having anyone to talk to who truly understands your work. Rachel Pearson spoke about this during her talk at brightonSEO and Alexandra Tachalova recently published a blog post about the struggles she had to overcome as a remote international consultant not feeling like a true part of the industry.
I find I can work very happily as a team of one, I love the feeling of ownership it brings but a good chat with a colleague can bring out the best and most creative ideas in anyone. That’s why I’ve always made a conscious effort to throw myself into the digital community via social media.
There are LOADS of ways digital marketers can feel part of the virtual digital community through social media, whether it’s joining in with weekly Twitter chats, posting in Facebook groups, sharing or asking for advice on LinkedIn.
I’ve found Twitter to be the most helpful in making me feel like I’m not alone in my role at clockworkTalent, I’ve found brilliant industry experts and people in the same position as me looking for a remote, online colleague for empathy, shared learning or just to bounce ideas around with.
Bonus top tip if you’re looking for like-minded pals on social media – Search your job title on LinkedIn and connect with people with similar industries/jobs/skills/interests etc as you. I did this when I first began my career in digital marketing as an Apprentice and connected with people in the same position. I’ve stayed in touch and have seen their work develop alongside my own.
As a starting point for immersing yourself into the digital community or to expand you from your comfort zone and existing network, here are my 25 people from all walks of life within digital marketing who I think you should be following on Twitter…
*Follow these 25 people easily via our Twitter list!*
International SEO Speaker and 2018’s European Search Personality of the Year, Aleyda Solis should be at the top of your following priority list! If you can get past being completely jealous of her regular #wingshot updates from global remote working locations and fancy search awards evenings, you could learn a lot from Aleyda’s SEO tweets.
Even if you don’t already follow Rand, you’ll probably be aware of him or his book. He has described Lost and Founder as ‘a painfully honest field guide to the start-up world’ and has been sharing his expertise and experience on this topic via Twitter. Formerly CEO At Moz, Rand has recently begun a new venture as co-founder at SparkToro and will, I’m sure, be tweeting about his developments.
Alexandra is a brilliant digital marketer to follow on Twitter, not only does she take part in discussions from every sector of digital marketing, but she also shares informative, live webinar-style videos and holds regular #DigitalOlympusChats from her business account Digital Olympus.
If you can keep up with Lukasz, he is another brilliant SEO expert to follow. He seems to be in a different country/speaking at a different conference every week but that doesn’t stop him tweeting out the latest in SEO news, offering tips and joining discussions. Lukasz was a recent addition to our blog series ‘10 Digital Tools I Couldn’t Live Without’
Grace probably thinks I’m her number 1 stalker. As the Digital Marketing Lead at Change Grow Live and a Brighton based blogger, she knows her stuff. It seems like every time I go to retweet or like something on my feed it has come from Grace. I’ve found many shared interests with her via Twitter and (sorry, Grace) have no intention of stopping the constant likes & retweets!
I first spotted Jamie’s profile during a Twitter chat (you can’t miss her awesome bright blue hair). Since then, I’ve been following her as she tweets from Colorado in the US about the latest in Tech SEO provoking some interesting discussions with other global industry experts.
You may know Greg from his genuinely incredible conference talks and if you liked them, you should follow him on Twitter. During conference season, Greg has become known for live-tweeting from events he is attending, in his now-famous energetic style.
Luke is an eCommerce Growth Consultant and the Founder of Afro Drops, an online store for natural hair care. He’s a regular conference speaker and always shares his eCommerce wisdom on Twitter.
Talia is the Founder and Chief Optimizer at Getuplift. She is an experienced conversion optimisation specialist and shares all the latest in breaking digital news, tips from her blog and her keynote sessions at conferences around the world.
Hollie is a Content & Influencer Marketing Manager by day and beauty, fashion & lifestyle blogger by night! She is a content whiz and her blog makes for a brilliant read, I especially enjoy her beauty product reviews!
Founder of Women in Tech SEO and an In-house SEO herself, Areej is a powerhouse of digital marketing knowledge. If you want to feel encouraged in your career, follow Areej and join her Women in Tech SEO community, trust me there isn’t a better group of people for support, sound boarding or advice in the digital marketing industry.
One-third of Brighton Digital Women, Conference Speaker and Head of Creative at SiteVisibility, Rachel is a force to be reckoned with. Tweeting all things digital marketing, Jeff Goldblum, Star Wars, event speaking and marathon running.
SEO Consultant Barry Adams is another great Digital Marketer to add to your list, he is an award-winning speaker with a finely tuned specialism in Technical SEO. He happily shares his fountain of knowledge via Twitter every day! Another fine example of the generous nature of the experts in the industry.
Mark deserves a follow simply for his ‘unsolicited SEO tips’ which he publishes regularly. There have been countless times one of his tweets has sparked an idea or solved an issue I didn’t know I had!
Gavin has been dubbed the Facebook King of the UK for his excellent skills and knowledge sharing in Facebook Advertising and video content creation. I was fortunate to see him speak at brightonSEO. If you’re looking to learn about Facebook ad strategy, how to win at social video or just love beautiful photos of Scotland, Gavin is the one to follow!
Now working as a Social Media Consultant, Matt was previously the Director of social media at TNW. He shares his expertise on Twitter via articles, sharing the latest in social media news and is usually one of the first to share the latest in social tech developments.
Not only does Will tweet about the latest PR campaigns and all things Rise at Seven, but he also posts a weekly list of current events coming up that you can utilise for PR, social media and content marketing!
Her success in the tech industry led her to become Instagram’s 5th employee in 2011 before breaking out on her own as a full-time photographer. Since then, Jessica Zollman has made a huge splash in digital and has become an internationally followed social media influencer.
As the CEO & Founder of social-first agency, Social Chain, Steve is a successful public speaker and influential digital marketer. Steve gives a vocal opinion on how agency life should be, sharing his day to day digital marketing activity, advice for other agency managers and regular podcasts. Steven Bartlett should be close to the top of your list!
Email Marketing guru, Val Geisler is based in Columbus Ohio. She tweets about everything from email conversion, email writing tips and copywriting to the latest in digital news.
If you’re ever looking for a good conversation starter, look no further than Dan Rice’s Twitter profile! Dan’s tweets are a perfect mix of digital marketing discussion, brain teasers and SEO tips.
How could I not mention Craig Campbell? He’s a digital marketer from Glasgow, who uses Twitter to share his thoughts about the latest in SEO, what it’s really like to be an SEO Consultant and the industry events he’s speaking at. Craig takes the time to help young digital marketers via Twitter and has helped me out by answering many of my questions in the past.
Canada based Joanna Wiebe is the Co-founder of Airstory and the creator of Copy Hackers, she tweets everything content marketing including industry events, ‘How To’ webinars and the latest news.
Dan is a Freelance Consultant specialising in eCommerce, analytics, UX and customer experience but is also an avid photographer! Whilst I don’t know Dan personally, I’ve come to recognise his name and Twitter profile as he’s always in my feed. His knowledge covers so many topics and he regularly joins in with Twitter-based digital marketing discussions.
Last but by no means least, Andrew is the Founder of Optimisey, an SEO consultancy and meet up based in Cambridge UK. By following Andrew, you will see video clips and the latest news about his event, how to join his community of speakers and more. Andrew also tweets super helpful tips and advice for the latest in SEO in plain English! I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen tweets from Andrew that I’ve been able to implement into my own work.
You might be working alone, but you shouldn’t feel alone! I hope this post has given you some ideas, inspiration and useful tips to help you feel like you are part of this all-inclusive, international team of digital marketers.
**Easily keep up with and follow these 25 Digital Marketers with our Twitter list**
You can find me on Twitter: @Emmaaa_95 and if you want to share your own favourite Digital Marketers to follow on Twitter, feel free to get in touch!
