Want to stay as competitive as possible in your marketing efforts? Of course you do! And one key to keeping your edge is to constantly glean new information from leading experts.
How do you know which experts are worth following? I’m glad you asked, because you’re about to be introduced to some of the world’s most trustworthy online marketers.
The following influencers are trusted and well known by many brands across the world. So whether you’re a seasoned marketer wanting to keep up with the latest trends, or you’re just starting out and looking for advice, you can learn from these gurus.
In no particular order, here are some online influencers to remember:
1. Neil Patel
Neil Patel is the well-known online marketer behind such popular resources as Kissmetrics, Quick Sprout, Crazy Egg, and Hello Bar. His current focus is on Kissmetrics, a tool that tracks and analyzes customer behavior on clients’ websites.
Many of the most renown companies in the world have sought his expertise, including HP, Amazon, GM, Viacom, and NBC.
Notable recognitions for Neil include being called a top influencer on the web by The Wall Street Journal, and one of the top 10 online marketers by Forbes. Even more notably, President Obama recognized him as a Top 100 Entrepreneur Under 30. He was also awarded Congressional Recognition from the House of Representatives.
How to follow Neil:
Neil’s Podcast: Marketing School. “Marketing School brings you 10 minutes of actionable marketing advice every single day. Get the right tips to take your business to the next level.”
2. Ann Handley
Regarded as the world’s first Chief Content Officer, Ann is the head of content for MarketingProfs – a training and education company with the largest community of marketers in its category. She’s also known as a pioneer in digital marketing. She co-founded ClickZ, one of the original sources of interactive marketing news.
Ann has been recognized by Forbes as the most influential woman in Social Media. She’s also been called one of the top 20 women bloggers by ForbesWoman. She frequently contributes to the LinkedIn Influencer program and Entrepreneur magazine.
Ann is the author of Everybody Writes, which is “your go-to guide to creating ridiculously good content that attracts and retains customers.” She also co-authored the best-selling book, Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business.
How to follow Ann:
- Ann’s blog
- Ann’s contributions to Entrepreneur
3. Christoph Cemper
Christoph is an SEO guru and a top online marketer. Often speaking an SEO and Digital Marketing conventions, Christoph has earned himself a name as a.founder LinkResearchTools, LinkDetox and Impactana to help SEO professionals and online marketers get better results.
You can find Christoph valuable advice frequently on MarketingLand, SearchEngineJournal and SearchEngineWatch where he shares his insight on the latest happenings in SEO and Online Marketing.
How to follow Chris:
- Christophs’s blog
4. Sujan Patel
Sujan is a high-energy growth marketer and a digital-marketing influencer with a “passion to help people and solve problems.” He has over 13 years of internet marketing experience.
Sujan is the co-founder of Web Profits, a growth marketing agency that helps companies leverage the latest marketing strategies to fuel their businesses. Web Profits has offices in the US, Australia, Singapore and Romania. They also employ over 20 design and development experts, and over 30 copywriters.
Sujan has led the digital marketing strategy for companies such as Mint, Sales Force, Intuit, and many other world renown brands. He’s also a prolific blogger, writing six blog posts a week. He blogs for publications like Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Entrepreneur, and Inc.
He’s also a partner in software companies such as ContentMarketer.io, Narrow, Quuu, and Mailshake.
How to follow Sujan:
- io blog
- Web Profits blog
5. Rebecca Lieb
A content strategist, content marketer, and digital marketing innovator, Rebecca Lieb has been at the forefront of digital advertising and media since it all began. She’s been a corporate trainer to companies such as Facebook, Pinterest, DuPont, Adobe, Nestlé, Fidelity, Home Depot, Cisco, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Save The Children, and more.
Rebecca is also respected for publishing a substantial amount of original research. Some of the research includes a significant body of work on the topics of content marketing, content strategy and converged media.
In 2011, she authored Content Marketing: Think Like a Publisher – How to Use Content to Market Online and in Social Media. It was one of the first books on the subject of content marketing. She’s also the author of The Truth About Search Engine Optimization, which became an instant Amazon bestseller.
How to follow Rebecca:
- Rebecca’s blog
6. Matthew Toren
A specialist in strategic marketing and advertising, Matthew has many other areas of expertise as well: Business development, business growth techniques, entrepreneurial emergence, entrepreneurial strategy management, innovation and new venture creation.
He’s the owner of iSmallBusiness.com, and describes it like this: “iSmallBusiness.com is small business with a mission: to make the important stuff for your small business front and center.” The site posts valuable information that inspires and assists entrepreneurs in starting, managing, and growing a small business.
An innovative author, Matthew is also well known for an award-winning book for kids that he and his brother, Adam, wrote together. Titled Kidpreneurs, the book won the Gold award for kids’ books from NAPPA (National Association of Parenting Publications.)
He also co-authored Small Business Big Vision with his brother. The book won the Small Business Book Awards in 2012.
Among other projects, Matthew also co-founded Blogtrepreneur.com, the #1 rated small business blog on the web.
How to follow Matthew:
- Matthew on Entrepreneur
- Matthew on com
7. Aaron Orendorff
An independent content strategist and copywriter, Aaron helps both emerging and established businesses produce clear, compelling content. He specializes in advertising copy, including banner copy, Facebook ad content, LinkedIn copy and Google AdWords. He also focuses on website copy and editing, mottos and taglines, branding development, product descriptions, long-form articles, email content, and newsletters.
Aaron also serves as a full-time faculty member in Klamath Community College’s Arts and Communication department in Klamath Falls, OR. He teaches several writing, communication, public speaking and philosophy courses that train students for higher education.
He’s a contributor at Lifehacker, Fast Company, Huffington Post, Entrepreneur, Inc., Business Insider, The Next Web, Content Marketing Institute, Success Magazine, Copyblogger, MarketingProfs, and others.
How to follow Aaron:
- iconiContent blog
8. Avinash Kaushik
Avinash is a web analytics specialist and the Digital Marketing Evangelist for Google. Known for putting a common-sense framework around the complex environment of web analytics, he helps marketers leverage data to reinvent their digital existence. He’s the creator of the popular blog Occam’s Razor, and he’s written two bestselling books – Web Analytics 2.0, and Web Analytics: An Hour a Day.
Avinash is the Chief Education Officer and co-founder of Market Motive Inc., a resource that teaches digital marketing from Silicon-Valley based industry experts. He has worked with world-renown brands such as Time Warner, Dell, Unilever, Porsche, IBM, and Vanguard. He’s also lectured at universities like University of California – Los Angeles, University of Virginia, Stanford University, and University of Utah.
How to follow Avinash:
- Occam’s Razor blog
9. Ian Cleary
Ian is the founder of RazorSocial, the world leading site on social media tools. It’s “dedicated to helping others become insanely productive and efficient in online marketing through the use of online tech and tools – so no entrepreneur gets left behind.” RazorSocial’s training programs teach businesses and marketers how to create a digital marketing engine that builds a consistent stream of profitable leads.
With 20 years in technology and digital marketing, Ian was listed as the 8th most influential person in social media globally by Onalytica. He’s also been the winner of the annual “Best Social Media Blog” award by Social Media Examiner for the past four years.
Ian has been Published in MarketingProfs, Entrepreneur, Huffington Post, VentureBeat, Social Media Examiner, and many more. He’s also a professional speaker at marketing events such as Social Media Marketing World and Content Marketing World.
How to follow Ian:
- RazorSocial blog
10. Diane Rayfield
One of the first 40 people worldwide to become certified in social-media marketing, Diane is a true social media pioneer. She’s the founder of Harp Social, and she believes that behind every visible brand is an expertly-engineered and executed social media strategy. Her focus is on helping businesses implement a sound social media marketing strategy through social-media best practices.
To quote Diane: “Today most clients have social media but have no idea how to optimize it, how to benefit from it and really, don’t have the proper resources to maintain and grow their social presence. That’s where I come in with a strategy, content plan and community management plan based on each client’s goals and budget.”
Diane also provides customized social-media training. From training on optimizing LinkedIn profiles to instructing on how to leverage social media platforms, Facebook marketing, Twitter, or Google+, all of her classes are interactive.
How to follow Diane:
- Harp Social blog
11. Amber Naslund
Seasoned marketing executive Amber Naslund has a deep understanding of how social media and digital communication impacts organizational culture and operations. Amber says, “I believe social media is a catalyst for change – not the solution in itself – and that marketing has an unprecedented opportunity today to drive change within our businesses.”
She’s presently the SVP of Marketing for social intelligence platform Sysomos. Her role is to create value for customers and community through content development, customer success and engagement programs, employee engagement initiatives, social strategy, and industry thought leadership.
Throughout her 15+ years of marketing expertise, she’s served as the president of SideraWorks and VP of Social Strategy for Salesforce Radian6. She’s advised such Fortune 500 companies as Coca-Cola, American Express, L’Oreal, Dell, AMD, Kraft Foods, CDW, Avaya, and others.
Amber is the co-author of The Now Revolution. This bestselling social-business book is used by companies and universities to teach a strong foundation for social strategy. She also delivers keynote speeches on corporate culture, social business, and communication at industry conferences and private events every year.
How to follow Amber:
- Amber’s blog
12. Vanessa Fox
An influential blogger, SEO consultant and author, Vanessa Fox says “I’m particularly interested in the intersection and evolution of how we interact with the world offline and online.”
She’s the CEO Keylime Toolbox, a fresh approach to understanding SEO. The resource includes a comprehensive reference library and tutorials. It features important SEO metrics and actionable insights for improving qualified traffic from unpaid search.
Vanessa is also a part time lecturer at University of Washington. She teaches an undergraduate class at the iSchool about search engine optimization, searcher behavior, and the search engine industry. She’s also on the University’s Informatics Advisory Board.
She authored Marketing in the Age of Google: Your Online Strategy IS Your Business Strategy. The book has been called the “first must-read-to-survive business book of the twenty-first century”.
How to follow Vanessa:
Vanessa’s blog
13. Ehsan Jahandarpour
Ehsan Jahandarpour is a globally recognized growth hacker, and influencer marketing strategist. Forbes listed him as top 20 growth hackers in 2016.
Ehsan is known for his innovative approach towards growth hacking, and earned-media strategies. He helps companies like Microsoft, PETRONAS, BBDO, etc. to scale their business and grow faster.
If you want to learn about influencer marketing, and growth hacking, Ehsan has been sharing his actionable strategies on his blog, his growth hacking webinar, and authoritative magazines such as Entrepreneur magazine, Inc, Huffington post, business2community, business.com, socialmediatoday, etc.
How to follow Ehsan:
Ehsan’s site
14. Pam Moore
Pam is a passionate marketing, social media, and branding enthusiast. With over 15 years of experience building brands and communities, she’s been included in Forbes Top 5 Social Media Women Influencers, Forbes Top 10 Social Media Power Influencers, and Forbes Top 50 Social Media Influencers.
She founded Marketing Nutz, a full-service social media, digital marketing, experiential branding agency. Her services include marketing & strategy, social and digital quick-start consultation, social-media services, branding and creative services, and training workshops.
Pam is also a dynamic keynote speaker at worldwide events, as well as a trainer, best-selling author, consultant, and a strategist who “has the guts to tell you what you may not want to hear but must hear to drive results.”
She co-authored a book titled Relationship Age: The World’s Leading Experts Teach You Proven Strategies for Creating Profitable Relationships in the World of Social Media.
How to follow Pam:
- Pam’s blog
15. Krishna De
Krishna is an influencer in the fields of marketing, social media, personal branding, and online reputation. She’s a mobile brand journalist, a keynote speaker, mentor, live-stream strategist, and a mom to three girls on top of it all.
In her digital marketing mentoring, she works with client agencies behind the scenes to help them understand how to integrate their inbound marketing. In her social media consulting, she helps clients communicate social media policies and frameworks, and helps deliver social media communications programs.
Krishna also helps her clients with mobile and micro content creation, as well as live stream strategy and training.
Besides helping her clients boost their marketing and social business success, she also leverages her experience by speaking at industry conferences across Europe.
