Top Influencers & People to Watch – Volume 10

The term “influencer” is wiggling its way through the proverbial tangled web of the “digital ecosystem” – and it’s become a tough one to define because an influencer is much like a changeling… it boasts a different image for every brand, and often for every campaign attached to a brand. But now that word-of-mouth recommendations (and criticisms) spread through social media channels faster than a brushfire, influencers have come to represent people who are uber-active on social media and blogs, and are often referred to as brand advocates and niche promoters.

If you take one thing away from the following roundup of modern marketing experts, it should be this notion: True influence drives action, not just awareness.

Cynthia Johnson

Known as “The Social Media Girl” in many circles, Cynthia is the Director of Social Media Marketing at RankLab, a member of the Global Board of Directors and Editorial Director for the Social Media Club – in addition to being a digital marketing professional and motivational speaker. Boasting six years of diverse work experience in entertainment, marketing and digital advertising, she has held positions in both corporate companies and small tech startups, eventually leading to an involvement in social media and viral campaigns for such brands as Levi’s, Vans, Chevrolet, Susan G. Komen, Peta2 and Maker Studios. Knowledgeable in social media marketing for SEO, viral campaign strategy, branding reputation management and community building, Cynthia is a current contributing columnist for Entrepreneur, Search Engine Journal, Startup Grind and SheKnows, and has spoken at several marketing conferences including Pubcon and SMX West.

Dan Stasiewski

With more than 10 years’ worth of professional experience in marketing and public relations, Dan focuses on integrated, multi-channel communication to help develop online communities and build buzz for companies, products and brands. As the Marketing Technology Director at Kuno Creative, an inbound marketing agency, he is constantly analyzing marketing data and trends and consulting enterprise-level companies on content marketing, lead nurturing and marketing automation strategies. Before landing at Kuno, Dan worked in the software and digital media industry, where he coordinated communication with major software, retail and media companies including Amazon, Microsoft, Random House and EMI Music.

Brian Massey

As a “Conversion Scientist,” Brian is author of Your Customer Creation Equation: Unexpected Website Formulas of The Conversion Scientist, which stresses his belief that no matter what kind of conversion someone is trying to achieve – a sale, a lead, a download or something else – there’s no question that improvements can always be made to increase the amount of conversions we see. At ConversionScientist.com, he helps clients focus on optimizing their websites through, aptly enough, science, and provides high-quality, to-the-point study courses on how to make more money via web traffic.

Kim Garst

A self-proclaimed lover of God, family and hockey and based in Tampa, Florida, Kim is a social selling strategist as well as a best-selling author, speaker and Forbes Top 10 Social Media Influencer. She is a major part of Boom Social, a professional social media marketing firm dedicated to helping small business owners, entrepreneurs, marketers and managers with traffic, engagement, conversion and content needs. Boom Social is focused exclusively on making social selling simple and affordable, with Kim herself believing in transparency and free-flowing information, following her own advice to help build one of the largest, most comprehensive and successful digital platforms anywhere.

Becoming a marketing leader, or expert, doesn’t happen overnight; it takes careful planning and hard work. But the aforementioned movers and shakers have positioned themselves as leaders in respective fields by addressing niches, differentiating themselves from so-called “wannabes,” responding quickly to changes in the marketing landscape, satisfying customers and, ultimately, investing their time in the future of marketing.