DRAFT / UNLISTED || Become Your Company’s Information Hero with 7 Certified Industry Research Hacks & Tips 🔎
Keeping up with an entire industry is a daunting task; the constant onslaught of social media posts, news updates, & industry peer topics-of-the-day is like an unending firehose of information. But fear not: becoming your company’s industry hero is within your reach.
If you’re thinking to yourself “why do I need to know what’s hot and what’s not?” Regardless of your specific role, staying ahead of the pack & collaborating across departments/colleagues will benefit your entire organization. By keeping tabs on the latest trends, challenges, and developments in your industry, you’ll be able to:
- Find prospects (Sales & BDRs)
- Create trigger based campaigns (Marketing)
- Add or accelerate items onto the roadmap (Product)
- Understand, adjust & prioritize key business objectives (Executives)
And that’s just a few examples — the benefits spread across every department.
So don’t be left in the dark — become your company’s industry expert with just a few simple tips & strategies.
- Stay Ahead of the Game with Google Alerts for Titles
Setting up Google alerts for specific job titles will inform you when people with those titles are mentioned in the news; sales & BDRs can use the specific companies or prospects mentioned in personalized outreach. Likewise, marketing & product can learn about the industry experts top concerns and strategize accordingly.
- How to Set Up Google Alerts
- Example Industry: Cybersecurity
- Top Industry Titles to Set Up Alerts: “Chief Information Security Officer”, “CISO”, “Chief Security Officer”, “Applicaton Security Dir.”, “Dir. of Application Security”, “Dir. of AppSec”
2. Stay Ahead of the Competition with Google Alerts for Industry & Competitor News
Keeping an eye on your competition and staying informed about the latest developments in your industry will benefit the sales, marketing, product & executive departments, by ensuring your company is aligning with what similar companies are focusing on in their messaging. Anticipate market changes and adjust business objectives in real time by automating updates collectively.
- How to Set Up Google Alerts
- Example Industry: Healthcare
- General Examples with Google Alerts: “Biotechnology News”, “Healthcare News”, “Health Insurance News”, “Obamacare News”, “Medical Care News”, “Healthcare IT News”
3. Streamline Your Industry Research with Podcast, Blog & Forum Aggregation
When it comes to industry trends and developments, searching multiple sources is a pain. Save yourself the trouble by aggregating industry podcasts, blogs, and forums into a single location & feed. Feedly, for example, will incorporate all blogs, podcasts, forums & newsletters based on the industry and keywords provided. Not only will this save time and resources, but it’ll also help you stay updated on the latest thought leadership and best practices in your industry,
- Aggregate Industry Podcasts, Blogs & Newsletter (Case Study)
- Example Industry: Agriculture
- Example Keywords in Aggregator:: “Agriculture Industry Trends”, “Agriculture Technology”, “Farming Innovations”, “Sustainability in Agriculture”, “Agriculture Market Insights”
4. Unlock the Power of Reddit Subreddits
With industry specific subreddits, you’ll have the opportunity to absorb trends, developments, & challenges directly from end users. If you’d like, create a username for your company and participate in the discussion instead of just reading it.
- How to Find Subreddits
- Example Industry: Energy
- Recommended Subreddits: “r/energy”, “r/renewableenergy”, “r/oilandgas”, “r/solar”, “r/windpower”, “r/energyefficiency”
5. Join the Conversation on Discord Servers
Join the conversation and stay ahead of the game by participating in relevant industry Discord servers. LIke Reddit, you can both stay up to date with the challenges industry peers are discussing, and participate yourself. Discord servers also can provide the opportunity to connect with other industry professionals.
- How To Find Discord Servers
- Example Industry: Marketing Technology
- Relevant Discord Servers: DMC — Digital Marketing Community, The Marketing Collective by Growth, Marketer’s Club
6. Get Connected with Industry Professionals on Slack Workspaces -
Unlike Discord & Reddit, Slack Workspaces are typically not anonymous. So similarly, joining industry-specific public Slack Workspaces will help keep your finger on the industry pulse, participate in discussions with end users, & keep up to date with competitors. But uniquely, Slack workspaces will help you network, build relationships, and even discover sales prospects.
- How to Find Slack Workspaces
- Example Industry: Sales
- Recommended Slack Workspaces: RevGenius, Pavilion, HYPCCCYCL, Thursday Night Sales
7. Monitor Industry Specific Hashtags on LinkedIn & Twitter
Take advantage of the wealth of information provided through hashtags on LinkedIn & Twitter. Similar to Google Alerts, you’ll be constantly up to speed with all things new & breaking in your industry, but with hashtags, you can also find industry thought leaders to follow directly. Naturally, you’ll also be able to network with individuals who are posting content relevant to your company and industry.
