Top Social Media Marketing Experts & Influencers to Follow
With so much being written and said about social media, its impact and marketing potential, it’s useful to know the experts and thought leaders. To this end, we put together a list of social media marketing experts and influencers, their Twitter handles, and a little about them and their interests. Hope you find the resource helpful – please do drop in a note in the comments section if you think we are missing someone on the list.
Sean Gardner
One of the most powerful influencers on social media, Sean Gardner describes himself as a world traveler, keynote speaker, digital marketing consultant and author. He is the co-founder of the Huffington Post’s “Twitter Powerhouses Series”. A man with many feathers on his cap, Sean uses the power of social media and technology to bulid authentic online communities.
Beth Kanter
Beth helps non-profit organizations leverage the power of social media (and digital technology at large) for bringing social change. She was honored with the Terry McAdam Nonprofit Book Award in 2013 for co-authoring the book Measuring the Networked Nonprofit. Fast Company has recognized her as one of the most influential women in technology.
Seth Godin
Seth has some interesting ideas about contemporary marketing . He is a widely respected blogger and speaker. He’s also an entrepreneur and author, who writes extensively about marketing. He has published 18 international bestsellers including Linchpin, his best-selling book and What to Do When It’s your Turn, which is his latest release.
Ann Tran
Ann Tran is a leading social media consultant who helps brands recognize the importance of social media and helps them enhance their online presence. She is often seen speaking at events related to social media, and is a regular contributer at Entrepreneur and Huffington Post.
Michael Hyatt
As a marketing expert, Michael Hyatt blogs about leadership, publishing and productivity on his website. The former Chairman and CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, is now running his own successful business, and also hosts a weekly podcast related to personal development, publishing and marketing. He has authored 8 books, including 2 best-sellers.
Brian Solis
A well-known blogger and a keynote speaker, Brian helps companies chart out their own new media strategies and build a strong online presence. He writes regularly for publications like VentureBeat, Harvard Business Review, Wired and more. His blog is ranked amongst the top 10 marketing blogs in the AdAge Power 150.
Glen Gilmore
Recognized as one of the top influencers in social media and content marketing, Glen is a digital marketing strategist who also teaches social media law at Rutgers School of Business. Other than being a professor, he provides his services as a social media advisor to a marketing firm based in Memphis. He has written Social Media Law for Business and has co-authored Strategic Digital Marketing.
Pam Moore
Pam is a self-proclaimed “marketing nut” whose expertise lies in social media marketing and brand strategy development. With her vast experience in this field, she guides several Fortune 500 brands to success and helps them become more “socially relevant”. She is a passionate keynote speaker and the best-selling author of two books.
Warren Whitlock
As a social media marketing strategist, blogger, speaker and the author of a best-selling book Profitable Social Media: Business Results Without Playing Games, Warren dons many hats. He has assisted various businesses with their marketing programs, and has also developed and integrated new strategies like mobile marketing and lead generation to help businesses achieve better results.
John Battelle
An entrepreneur and a social media wiz, John founded Federated Media Publishing, an online advertising network. He also helped with the launch of Wired and The Industry Standard in the 1990s. He regularly maintains Searchblog where he covers topics related to social media, technology and culture.
Neil Patel
Neil Patel is one of the top social media influencers and has co-founded three very successful businesses: Crazy Egg, Hello Bar and KISSmetrics. With his expertise in digital marketing, he helps big brands like Amazon, NBC and HP in growing their revenue. Named as one of the top 100 entrepreneurs under 30, he is also a regular contributor to TechCrunch, Mashable, Moz and Business Insider.
John Sparks
John is a widely respected Twitter guru, also known as the “Go-To man for Twitter”. He has authored 365 Ideas to go from Good to Great on Twitter, and offers personal Twitter coaching to businesses, corporations, celebrities and media personalities. When he is not speaking at an event or coaching, he enjoys traveling and spending quality time with family.
Scott Stratten
President of Unmarketing, Scott’s expertise lies in social, viral and authentic marketing. He speaks at various events hosted by companies like PepsiCo, Red Cross, Fidelity Investments and many others – giving advice on tackling social/viral media. He has written best-selling books, and regularly hosts a podcast called Unpodcast.
Jeremiah Owyang
Jeremiah is a speaker and an industry analyst who provides advice to companies on using web-based technologies to interact with their customers. He is the founder of Crowd Companies and shares his insights and advice on his blog at web-strategist. His dog, Rumba, also tweets!
Jay Baer
As one of the leading marketing keynote speakers, Jay truly belongs to the limelight. He has spoken at numerous events and since 1994, has served as a marketing advisor to more than 700 companies including Nike and Caterpillar. He is the owner of Convince and Convert, and is a best-selling author with four books to his name.
Ted Rubin
A well-known social marketing strategist, Ted coined the term “ROR” (Return on Relationship) and believes that nurturing strong relationships is at the heart of social media marketing. He has also authored two books including Return On Relationship, which released in 2013. He is the acting CMO of Brand Innovators, and the most followed CMO on Twitter.
Dave Peck
Online marketing, social media, social networking and other areas related to the new media scene are Dave’s specialities. He entered the field in 2004 and definitely doesn’t want to leave it anytime soon. Currently, he is the Global Head of Digital, Influence and Social Media at PayPal. He describes himself as a pop culture nut, a geek, a husband, and a father of five!
Deborah Lee
As an international social media advisor, Deborah doesn’t just talk the talk – she can also walk the walk. She is a widely respected speaker and a sought-after Twitter coach helping numerous companies harness the power of social media. Deborah maintains her blog and is a frequent contributor for Huffington Post. Forbes has recognized her as one of Top 20 Women Social Media Influencers.
Danah Boyd
Danah, a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research, calls herself a social media scholar whose research has led to her writing two books based on how new media impacts the youth. She is an avid music lover and maintains an Ani DiFranco lyrics site along with her own blog at www.zeophoria.org/thoughts
Liz Strauss
With a simple motto: Be Irrestible, Liz has made a name for herself in the world of social media. As a social web strategist, speaker, and a blogger – Liz brings innovative concepts and information related to social media to the table. She is the founder of SOBCon, and has been honored with the Titan of Web 2.0 award.
Martin Jones
Martin regularly gives talks about social media, content marketing, and growth hacking at various events, and helps companies surpass their competition with the help of social media. He is currently heading the Cox Communications social media team as a senior Marketing Manager and he also develops content marketing strategies for Cox Business. He contributes to Social Media Today, Steamfeed.com, Yahoo and more.
Steve Farnsworth
Steve is an experienced Demand Generation Content Marketing Strategist who helps B2B companies develop strong content marketing strategies. With over 14 years of experience under his belt, he has spoken at and has headed several events at Intel, Symantec, NetApp, Google and more.
John Paul Aguiar
John Paul is a Twitter marketing, blog marketing and social media coach. He turned to blogging after he was put on disability due to a kidney transplant, and today, through his blog, The Money Dummy, John Paul teaches his clients how blogging can help drive traffic and increase business profitability by attracting more readers.
Joseph Bushnell
A self-taught Internet marketer, Joseph was introduced to Internet marketing when he was looking for ways to promote his book idea online. Since then, he hasn’t looked back. He now helps his clients grow their businesses, increase conversions and customer values. Other than marketing, Joseph is an ardent football fan and loves good food and traveling.
John Jantsch
Tagged as the World’s Most Practical Small Business Expert, John has been known to provide practical solutions and marketing strategies to businesses. He is a best-selling author of Duct Tape Marketing, The Commitment Engine and The Referral Engine. He is the founder of Duct Tape Marketing System and Duct Tape Marketing Consulting Network.
Sarah Evans
Sarah is a digital correspondent for brands like PayPal, Cisco, Cox Communications and provides social news for these brands. She is the founder ofFavesand.co, a digital lifestyle publication, which is a venture under her current company Sevans Strategy. She also runs another publication, #1StepAhead, which is directed towards parents and caregivers.
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Neal Schaffer
Neal is a social media strategy consultant who helps businesses integrate and maximize the use of social media in their marketing strategies. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of Maximize Social Business, formerly known as Windmill Networking Blog. He is also a sought-after speaker and the founder of Social Tools Summit.
Joel Comm
As a marketing consultant, entrepreneur, speaker and an author, Joel wears many hats. And if that’s not enough, he also describes himself as a wannabe comedian. He is the best-selling author of 12 books which include The AdSense Code, Twitter Power 2.0, Click Here to Order: Stories from the World’s Most Successful Entrepreneurs, and many more. He speaks at various events on topics related to business and entrepreneurship.
Eric T. Tung
Eric has a very different approach when it comes to being a social media trainer, consultant and a speaker. He is a top ranked social media manager and strategist and has made it to the list of top digital influencers. He speaks about social media at various corporate events and is currently working as a social manager at BMC Software.
Brian Carter
With a strong following on various platforms, Brian is one of the leaders in social media marketing. His company, the Brain Carter Group, helps businesses with digital and social media marketing. He is also a keynote speaker, author of award-winning books and an active blogger.
Jonathan Nafarrete
As a social media strategist, Jonathan belives people should have a more active social media engagement through photos. He began as a mobile street photographer on Instagram and has worked with Ford, Sheraton, Audi USA and Nike for national and international ad campaigns. He has been described as the most creative marketer on social media.
Jason Falls
Along with being a social media celebrity, Jason Falls is a digital marketing and SEO guru, a keynote speaker, humorist and a PR expert. He has also authored a number of books on digital and social media. He is one of the most sought after, entertaining and informed speakers for conferences and training sessions.
Renee Blodgett
When it comes to social media and digital marketing, Renee is a big name. She has been working in communications for decades and is now the CEO of her company, Magic Sauce Media. She is also an avid photographer, blogger and traveler, having traveled to over 75 countries and lived in 10 of those. She is the founder of an online luxury travel site, We Blog the World. She has been listed as one of the top 20 women influencers in the world by Forbes.
Joel Mackey
Joel has a massive following because of his expertise in social media engagement and marketing. He is an internet marketer and LinkedIn expert whose services are highly in demand. He is the executive editor of Z6Mag, and is a techie and a hippie who is obsessed with cryptocurrency. He is also a social media marketing trainer and speaker.
Viveka Von Rosen
Viveka is one of the leading experts when it comes to LinkedIn, other social media engagement and marketing. She regularly hosts a LinkedIn chat on Twitter. She works with legal and other business owners and helps them understand better networking and marketing strategies using LinkedIn. She is also an author, trainer and speaker, with millions of followers on LinkedIn and elsewhere on social media.
Mathew Ingram
Mathew is big on social media due to his regular updates about technology, as well as his journalism-related work. Until early 2015, he was working for GigaOm, one of the top technology blog networks in the United States. He is also a journalist, editor and blogger, writing mainly about the evolution of media over the years.
Joe Pulizzi
Joe is a content marketing and marketing education expert. He currently runs the Content Marketing Institute which hosts the largest content marketing event in the world. Winner of the John Cadwell Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014, he is an avid blogger, keynote speaker and a board member of various content and media companies.
Pam Dyer
Pam blogs about social media marketing and is known for her work in content marketing and brand optimization. As an expert in social media marketing and sales, she trains people in organizing, implementing and optimizing marketing strategies on various social media platforms, and has a number of international clients. She has been named as one of the top 25 power influencers by Forbes.
Margot Bloomstein
Founder of Appropriate Inc. and author of Content Strategy At Work, Margot is a brand and content strategist who has helped many businesses engage their audience through social media as well as traditional media. She speaks at various conferences and events including Harvard Digital Content Connect and the Content Strategy Forum. Apart from being a practicing content strategist, she describes herself as a liberal realist and a dog lover.
Shelley Kramer
Shelley is a magician when it comes to digital content and marketing. She has become a social media celebrity for her work in marketing and idea generation. Shelley now helps people understand how social media works and how it can benefit their companies and organizations. She is also a brand strategist, information junkie, a scribbler and a member of Oversharers Anonymous.
Bonnie Sainsbury
As an expert in social media networking and marketing, Bonnie shares her expertise via various platforms. She assists businesses with online marketing strategies, creation of social network communities and blogging She has been listed as a top women and CEO social media influencer by Forbes for three consecutive years since 2013.
Christopher Penn
Christopher is a digital marketing ninja and a social media expert. He shares his professional experience and knowledge with his followers through his posts and updates, getting him dedicated followers on various social media platforms. He is a Buddhist, a speaker, an author and a co-host for Marketing Over Coffee.
Marshall Kirkpatrick
Marshall is a pioneer in social media research. He has a dedicated fan following on social media for his work, as well as for his time as a journalist with Tech Crunch. He is the founder and CEO of Little Bird, a company that helps businesses with social media-related data for better marketing strategies.
Tara Hunt
Tara has been called a innovator in online marketing. She advocates using social media and web standards as a tool for connecting businesses effectively with customers. She has presented at several marketing conferences and training sessions. Along with being an online marketer, she is a traveler, foodie, geek and a classic movie buff.
Eve Mayer
Voted as the fifth most powerful social media influencer by Forbes, Eve is the CEO of Social Media Delivered, which is one of the most reputed and respected companies working in the social media space. She is also a speaker, author and a humorist, and makes her talks and sessions very entertaining and engaging for the audience.
Calvin Lee
Calvin is a self-admitted Twitter addict who lives and breathes social media. By professions, he is a brand strategist and an award winning designer whose work and social media engagement has been featured by Forbes, Mashable, Huff Post and Wired. He is the Creative Director of Mayhem Studios, a company that works towards building brand and identity recognition for companies.
Robin Good
Robin has been providing advice and helping independent web publishers integrate new media technologies in their communication strategies. He is a new media consultant and the founder and publisher of MasterNewMedia – an online independent magazine which is published in both English and Italian.
Olivier Blanchard
A social media marketing wiz, Olivier is the Director of Strategy and Operations at Frontspace. He has worked with companies around the world as a business consultant and has authored 2 books including Social Media R.O.I. Apart from being an excellent keynote speaker and a blogger, Olivier is a foodie and a competitive cyclist who also happens to love croisssants!
Andrew McCauley
A self-confessed geek and social media bloke, Andrew is an expert in optimizing social media for business marketing. He travels around the world, delivering lectures, holding workshops and training businesses in online marketing strategies. He is the co-founder of Autopilot Your Business, a social media and website building/operations company.
Lori Taylor
Lori tweets regularly, sharing her vast knowledge in social media marketing and branding with her thousands of followers. She is the founder and executive director of Social Caffeine, a platform that specializes in digital brand management and social networking, as well as the founder of REV Media Marketing LLC, a direct response social media agency.
Melonie Dodaro
She has been named the number one LinkedIn expert in Canada by the media and has a dedicated social media following. She is the founder and CEO of Top Dog Social Media, a company that specializes in social media marketing. She is also an author, a speaker and has won a number of social media-related awards for her company.
Jason Keath
Jason is a social media expert, and the CEO of the Social Fresh conference. The conference is a two day event focusing on various aspects of social media like marketing, networking, brand visibility and more. He travels all over the world for work and leisure, and often speaks at Social Fresh and various other social media conferences.
Todd Wheatland
Todd is a social media expert who has recently started podcasts about marketing. His social media following seems to be rising constantly, thanks to his informative posts and podcasts. He has been recognized as one of the top 100 digital marketing experts and one of the top 50 social media experts of 2014. He is also an author, speaker and HR specialist.
Joanna Lord
As a digital marketing pro, Joanna has vast experience in the various sub-domains of digital marketing like social media, SEO, content management, analytics and more. She shares this know-how through her social media network. She is also an entrepreneur, a fashionista, a consultant and a start-up culture supporter who travel a lot and loves coffee.
Tom Critchlow
He loves coffee and knows Kung Fu, but he is also an expert freelance strategy consultant. Tom has been involved with technology and marketing for over 10 years now, and has worked with tech giants like Google and Microsoft to name a few. He is also in the process of establishing a business that will help local artists and makers earn a profit from selling their product.
Peg Fitzpatrick
As a social media strategist, Peg is an active personality on Pinterest and is passionate about visual social media. She shares various tips and tricks on how to improve your social media marketing and build a better online presence. She is also an author, and a sought-after speaker. She has worked with companies like Audi, Motorola, Virgin and Google, spearheading their social media marketing campaigns.
Douglas Karr
Douglas is an online marketing expert who founded DK New Media. He shares interesting and informative articles about social media marketing. The company assists businesses with increasing their online and social media visibility with better marketing. He is also a coach, teacher, blogger, speaker and mentor for online marketing.
Rebekah Radice
Rebekah’s posts integrate text with visuals to be more appealing and through her blog, she helps entrepreneurs and small businesses with social media and digital marketing strategies. She is an award winning blogger, speaker, and author, who loves dogs and coffee.
Alex Houg
Tagged as “young Steve Jobs”, Alex Houg is the founder and CEO of Portage and is passionate about online marketing and analytics, especially on Facebook. He has authored Facebook Nation a book about Facebook marketing that is now used for teaching social media marketing in over 500 universities. When he is not working, he loves to play soccer, go backpacking and also loves to teach.
Justin Levy
Being a social media expert, Justin loves to share his knowledge and new ideas with his online followers. He is the head of global social media at Citrix. He is an author, foodie, fitness freak who loves dogs and the Red Sox, while being a die-hard fan of the Celtics.
Tim Ash
Tim has followers on various social media platforms today mainly because of his work in website optimization as CEO of SiteTuners. He is a pioneer in website conversion rate optimization. He is also an author of a bestselling book about optimization. He is a computer and cognitive scientist, with a PhD in artificial intelligence and neural networks.
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Heather Whaling
Heather is a PR expert who contributes to Twitter’s #pr20chat that delves into the effect and influence of social media on PR. Through her company Geben Communication, she helps small businesses, entrepreneurs and non-profits with better social media engagement, and advices them on how to integrate digital marketing strategies with other more traditional marketing approaches.
Shonali Burke
Shonali describes herself as a social media geek with a popular presence on a number of platforms. She is the founder and CEO of a social media business in her name. She has been named one of the 25 under-40 women that rock the social media by PRWeek. She is also a teacher who loves dogs, shoes, Abba and Elvis.
Jill Rowley
Founder and Chief Evangelist at Social Selling, Jill is a big name on social media when it comes to marketing for start-ups. She calls herself a change agent and an evangelist who is passionate about making her customers happy with her modern marketing techniques. She is also a keynote speaker, conducts workshops about social selling, and loves cocktails.
Andrea Vahl
She has an active following on social media because of her work with start-ups and small businesses. She also started an online course called the Social Media Manager School to help people learn and become consultants and managers. She is a speaker, an improv comedienne and an author.
Mike Allton
A social media manager by profession, Mike is an expert in managing and working with social media. His specialties are in the areas of SEO, blogging and content marketing. He works as an editor at Social Media Hat. He is also an educator, author, and Hootsuite pro who loves minestrone.
Stanford Smith
Stanford is obsessed with and passionate about social media and digital marketing. He is the founder and managing director of Pushing Social, a company that specializes in customized content and social media marketing. He has worked with non-profits, start-ups and big businesses, having developed award-winning SEO, marketing, social media and content strategies for them.
Arnie Kuenn
With 25 years of experience in marketing and new tech, Arnie is a big name in social media and is an old marketing hand. He is the CEO of Vertical Measures, a company that works in the social media, content and search marketing sector. He worked on the Super Bowl Marketing Committee in 2008 and is also an author, and a speaker who loves to play sports and goes traveling often.
Nichole Kelly
Nichole has over 15 years of experience as a brand-side marketer, and is a known name in social media for her work. She is the founder and Managing Director at SME Digital, a digital consultancy firm attached to Social Media Explorer. She is a well-known speaker, and has authored How to Measure Social Media. Here is a fun little fact: Nichole is also a world renowned karaoke star!
Patsy Stewart
The owner of Social Buzz Lab, Patsy is a social media practitioner with over 12 years of experience in marketing, branding and digital media. She moved to digital marketing from an earlier career as an engineer at GE. She works with integrating social media and traditional advertising, and is also a blogger and a speaker.
Lynette Young
Lynette has been into digital and social media publishing since 2006. She is highly respected in social media circles. She founded her own company, called Purple Stripe Productions, in 2006, and is currently the Director of Marketing Technologies at Mingl Marketing. She is also a speaker, corporate trainer and author who engages her audiences with her informative sessions.
Andy Crestodina
Andy is a known name in social media and is currently the Strategic Director for Orbit Media. He has been into web strategy consulting for over 12 years and has advised over 1000 businesses. Andy is also the author of Content Chemistry, the Illustrated Handbook for Content Marketing. He is very passionate about teaching web marketing. He is also an active blogger, author and speaker, who is certified to teach Chinese.
Stephanie Sammons
As a LinkedIn marketing expert, Stephanie advises her clients on how they can use LinkedIn’s publishing platform to their benefit. She founded WiredAdvisor to help financial firms and advisors better understand the power of having a digital presence. LinkedIn has recognized her as one of the top 25 social media experts.
Michele Linn
Michele is passionate about content, and writes articles and blog posts about all things related to B2B marketing. She consults with companies that are part of Fortune 500 and other small businesses as a B2B content marketing consultant. She is also the Vice President of Content at the Content Marketing Institute and contributes articles to their website.
Lewis Bertolucci
Lewis can be described as a social media expert as well as an entrepreneur. He is currently the Head of Social Media at Fortune 100, Humana Inc. He is the founder and CEO of Sellit mobile application, and has also established an online lifestyle magazine along with an online magazine rack. When he is not busy keeping up with work, he loves music, sports, great food and a good bourbon.
Stephanie Tilton
Stephanie is a B2B content marketing consultant and a content developer. She believes that content can lead to faster conversions, and can help build stronger client-company connections. Stephanie runs her own content development company Ten Ton Marketing and has worked with major companies like Microsoft, Novell, Symantec, LinkedIn and more.
Matt Gentile
Global Director of Social Media at Century 21 Real Estate LLC, Matt strongly believes that content is all about filling the void. His variety of skills include digital marketing, strategic message development, copywriting, media relations and many others. Besides his role in social media, he is involved with charities like Easter Seals and Habitat for Humanity. He is also an ardent Steelers fan.
Renilde De Wit
Renilde is a community manager and content curator at Social Marketing Forum. She is also the founding partner at i-SCOOP which is a strategic marketing consultancy. In 1999, she was nominated as a finalist in the Junior Publisher of the Year award. She is a mother of 4 and very passionate about marketing, social media and enhancing customer experience.
Melonie Gallegos
With very different views on social media, Melonie is a social marketing strategist who motivates her clients to try new approaches and experiment with their marketing strategies. She is the founder of Fandom Marketing – a company that builds communities of consumers for various brands. Her social marketing blog, Brands With Fans, is one of the top 10 finalists for the Social Media Examiner’s Blog of the Year.
Martin Shervington
With over 15 years of experience as a coach, consultant and a marketing psychologist, Martin helps companies build their brand on Google+ and enhances their online presence. He is the founder and community manager of Plus Your Life! and Plus Your Business! and has written several books including Developmental Coaching and Peak Performance. Martin also learnt stand-up comedy for 6 months in San Francisco, and claims to be quite amusing.
Cynthia Sanchez
Cynthia is a Pinterest wiz who provides Pinterest coaching and training services to her clients with her motto “Don’t Just Pin It, Do It.” She quit her full time job as a radiation oncology nurse in 2012 and focused on building her blog Oh So Pinteresting. Today, she provides practical solutions to her clients and helps them learn the ropes on Pinterest. When she can find some time from Pinterest, she loves traveling and learning photography.
Hannah Smith
Hannah works at Distilled, an online marketing agency, as a content strategist. She was working in offline marketing, until she found her true calling, and began working as an in-house online marketing manager. She regularly contributes to Medium, State of Digital and SEO Chicks. In her free time, she is a lover of theatre and of crime investigation television shows such as CSI.
Melanie Duncan
Melanie describes herself as a serial entrepreneuress in the social media sphere, especially Pinterest. As a Pinterest marketing expert, she helps her clients build an online presence, and grow their businesses. She believes all entrepreneurs are allowed to work and have fun and she is passionate about teaching others how to make the most out of their time.
Donna Moritz
Winner of the best Australian Business Blog 2014, Donna is a visual social media and content strategy expert. She has a very different and creative take on marketing and is passionate about word of mouth marketing and content strategy. With regular contributions to social media websites likeSocial Media Examiner and Entrepreneur Online, her thoughts and opinions have been features in Forbes, NBC and Young Entrepreneur.
