Many marketing trailblazers may be the only person in their entire organization that speak the marketing automation and operations language. Their conversations delightfully marry strategy, creativity, and technicality. Outside of the in-person events that they may – or may not – have the opportunity to attend this year, marketers need a way to stay connected – to be reminded that there are others on this journey who have been in their shoes before.
These are the reasons why I want to share five online marketing communities that empower marketing trailblazers to connect with fellow like-minded professionals – no matter where they are across the globe.
1. ParDashians
A Slack community that made the list of 7 Salesforce Slack Communities to Join, originally started by Sara McNamara and recently head up by Erin Duncan, this bustling community of Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (Pardot) enthusiasts has over 1,500 members and continues to be a space where members can ask questions, share insights, discuss new product features and ideas to upvote, learn of new job opportunities, access cool content, and network with other platform newbies and consultants.
2. Marketing Life Hacks
The community formerly known as Pardot Life Hacks and birthed from the podcast hosted by Jennifer Lynn Schneider and later by Christina Anderson, Marketing Life Hacks has taken on a new name and brand, sponsored by SaaScend.
A growing community of over 500 members that stays in touch via Slack and meets virtually once a month to network, exchange ideas, and receive expert insights from a learning session.
The Marketing Life Hacks monthly get togethers are unique in that the first portion of every session is dedicated to small group breakout discussions where attendees are able to have more intimate conversations with two or three other lifehackers to form a new connection, exchange ideas, and share top-of-mind challenges.
To stay in touch in between meetings, members can ask questions, get answers, share their experiences, pass on valuable resources and like the ParDashians, learn about new job opportunities all through the Slack group.
3. MO Pros
This community of over 3,000 marketing operations professionals, founded by Mike Rizzo, gives marketing trailblazers the opportunity to expand their network with other like-minded professionals across the marketing operations industry.
Offering a free experience through their Slack group and then a premium membership where members can gain access to exclusive content, a mentorship and ambassador program, technology discounts, and in-person events, this community helps marketers to get connected, advance their career, receive best practices, and exchange both technical and strategic ideas.
To make it easy for fellow trailblazers to still find each other within the community, the MoPros website has a MoPros Directory to search by marketing automation platform experience. This directory is also used for job seekers to find candidates, which is another benefit to joining this community.
4. Marketing Champions
The Marketing Champions group, officially the Salesforce Marketing Champions program, was initiated to empower experts leveraging Salesforce marketing technology products to “share their knowledge and strengthen the community.” (Salesforce) Supported by Guilda Hilaire, Ana Ingles, and Daniel Gutierrez.
Members, or #MomentMarketers, are often the trailblazers that you see presenting at user groups, community conferences, sharing blog articles or videos, providing their insights on the latest product features, answering community questions, and often sharing all their valuable content on social media.
To join the Marketing Champions program, one must apply, but once in the program, members are invited to the Marketing Champions Slack group, where they can connect with other like-minded industry leaders, learn about new upcoming speaking and contribution opportunities, get access to resources, stay in the know about upcoming events, discover job opportunities, and similar to the previous Slack groups mentioned exchange questions and answers.
For tips on how to become a Marketing Champion, check out this article, and then visit the Salesforce Marketing Champions page for more information. When you click apply you will find that applications are no longer being accepted, but you can complete their survey, to be notified when the next round of applications will be open.
5. Ohana Slack
Last but not least, as this community was also on the list of 7 Salesforce Slack Communities to Join: Ohana Slack was founded by Meighan Brodkey. This community is not just for marketers, but for Salesforce professionals of all disciplines to submit their questions and receive answers in real-time by their peers in the trailblazer community.
The group has now grown to over 8,400 members and continues to be a resource for trailblazers to connect with the larger ohana on system administration, career development, certifications, products, community events, and to form personal connections with channels such as #bookclub, #gaming, #health-and-wellness, and #world-map.
Communities are Powerful
If you have not already joined an online marketing community, I highly recommend it, because you never know where it could lead…
…a new best practice discovered to add to your marketing arsenal
…a new idea to try the next time you run an A/B test
…a new friend to meet up with at the next in-person event
…a new career opportunity to take the next step in your journey
…a new trailblazer to make an impact on when you share your experience.
You are not alone in your marketing trailblazer journey. Join one, two, or all of the online marketing communities above to get connected, feel supported, be inspired, and to pass on your valuable experiences.