Why digital communicators need dedicated professional development time
People who work in digital marketing and communications professionals have a seemingly endless supply of resources at their fingertips. It seems everywhere we turn, there is a how-to post on Instagram Stories, whole websites dedicated to social media platform updates, not to mention an endless supply of YouTube content talking about tools, tips and the gear you need to produce the best content.
TLDR: If we don’t set aside time for PD, we won’t do it because we have more pressing things our plates.
But let’s be honest for a minute - most of the time, we’re consuming that content on a reactionary basis. We’re searching for a how-to to serve an immediate purpose, not because we’re looking to expand our minds and grow as professionals. That’s because digital communications and marketing professionals are going flat out most of the time.
Most of us don’t have the luxury to spend a few hours a week to sharpen our pencils because most of the time we’re sprinting to find charging cables because we got that 5% warning on our batteries. 😅 That’s why it’s critically important for digital marketing and communications professionals to set regular time in our calendars to expand our thinking and become better digital professionals.
Here are 3 ways to add dedicated professional development time to your schedule:
Subscribe to newsletters & follow informational accounts. As the saying goes, work smarter, not harder. There are loads of resources out there that are creating, collecting and delivering content to help us do our work better and keep us informed. Set yourself up for success by having information delivered to you so that you don’t have to seek it out yourself.
Some of our favourites include:• Geekout Newsletter for Social Media Managers By Matt Navarra
• Planoly on Instagram
Once you’ve figured out the content you want delivered to you, set aside 1 hour in your calendar every week to scan the content you received that week and dig into the topics you’re most interested in. We like to do this on Friday afternoons when we’re running low on “wanting to work.” 😉Attend one webinar a month with a digital pal (& and set your OOF during those times!) There are so many organizations offering amazing webinars and oftentimes they’re free to attend. But here’s the catch - after you sign up, you actually have to attend. 😂 Folks are often excited when they see a webinar for a topic they want to learn more about, but when the day rolls around, other things take priority and you end up being another statistic - “ person who signed-up but didn’t attend live.” 🥸
Our best advice to make sure you actually attend is to block off the time in your calendar as non-negotiable PD time and invite one of your digital comms pals to attend the webinar with you. Not only will that keep you accountable to attending, but it’ll also give you someone to debrief and idea bounce with after the webinar.Register for a conference! Conferences are a great way to connect with other digital professionals and to get your creative juices flowing, but it’s important to attend conferences that are focused on what you want to learn about and have speakers that are relatable and “get it.”
We’ve all attended too many conferences where we spend days in big expo halls and hear from executives who have no clue what actually happens in the day-to-day. When it comes to digital communications, we know you don’t have time for that.
If you’re looking to attend a "holy sh*t, these people actually get me and are going through the same challenges that I face" conference, we’d highly recommend the Takeaway Conference! You’ll spend two days immersed in sessions with digital subject matter experts sharing their real-world experiences & actionable takeaways so that you can learn how (& be inspired!) to do your best work.
Those are our tips on how to stay up-to-date in our ridiculously fast-paced industry. What methods do you use to stay current as a digital professional? Let us know in the comment section!