Are you an Inbound Marketing newbie?
No?
Are you an expert?
Where do you go for inspiration when things don’t work?
I usually look up success stories. I think that one of the best places to find inspiration is by following wildly successful and awesome people who do the same thing as you. That’s right, hook your social media feeds up with some inbound marketing leaders and sit back and soak in some inspiration.
Check out my list of Inbound Marketing Influencers you must follow.
Dharmesh Shah (@dharmesh)
The founder and CTO of HubSpot.
A serial entrepreneur with a knack for SEO (LinkedIn Bio). In addition to co-authoring “Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media and Blogs”, Dharmesh founded and writes for OnStartups.com, a top-ranking startup blog and community with more than 500,000 members.
In 2013, Dharmesh published HubSpot’s Culture Code, which has garnered over 2.5 million views on SlideShare. Named an Inc. Founders 40 in 2016, he is an active member of the Boston-area entrepreneurial community, an angel investor in over 60 startups, and a frequent speaker on startups and inbound marketing.
Reason I chose Dharmesh – As a person we found Dharmesh very friendly, helpful and unassuming. His guidance has been very helpful as a senior leader at HubSpot.
Brian Halligan (@bhalligan)
Brian Halligan is Co-founder and CEO of HubSpot. Prior to HubSpot, Brian was a venture partner at Longworth Ventures and VP of sales at Groove Networks, which was acquired by Microsoft.
He has co-authored two books, “Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead” with David Meerman Scott and Bill Walton, and “Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs” with Dharmesh Shah.
Brian was named Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 2011, a Glassdoor 25 Highest Rated CEO in 2014 and 2015, and an Inc. Founders 40 in 2016.
Reason I chose Brian – At the partner’s day in Boston, he was way ahead in guiding and interacting with the HubSpot Partners. Mostly discussed various challenges of an inbound marketing agency like scaling and talent crunch.
Rand Fishkin (@randfish)
Rand Fishkin is co-founder of Moz.com.
For me, he is the undisputed king of SEO. The Wizard of Moz is my go to place for any SEO related queries. His series Whiteboard Friday has been very helpful in learning the concepts of SEO.
Rand not only has a really awesome mustache, he’s also incredibly smart about search and getting yourself found on the internet.
With Google constantly changing its algorithm, you’ll want to make sure you understand where it’s going, what Google values and how to use that knowledge to help your business’ organic results. Trust me, there is no one better than Rand to help you learn this stuff.
Reason I chose Brian – As earlier mentioned, he is one of the pioneers of the SEO industry. His initiative along with HubSpot Inbound.Org has been a great community for inbound marketers to discuss and interact.
Neil Patel (@neilpatel)
Neil Patel has become a household name for marketers all over the world. The wild success of his companies Kissmetrics, QuickSprout and CrazyEgg can be seen from the fact that Google, GM and eBay are among their clients.
As an Inbound Marketing strategist and expert in web analytics, marketing and conversions, Patel is also a regular contributor to Inc, Fast Company, Forbes, Entrepreneur.com and TechCrunch.
Colleges and Universities across the US even teach his methodologies in marketing classes. Neil was recognized as the Top 100 Entrepreneurs in the world under the age of 30, by former President Barrack Obama.
You simply can’t turn down Obama’s advise, can you?
Reason I chose Patel – He communicates real life marketing experiences, Inbound marketing strategies and his methodology humorously. Not only the students enjoy his marketing lectures, but his articles are fun to read too.
Ann Handley (@annhandley)
Chief Content Officer at MarketingProfs and the author of Everybody Writes.
She was also recognized by ForbesWoman as one of the top 20 women bloggers and is an active keynote speaker and regular columnist for Entrepreneur.com.
It’s no surprise that she is one of the preeminent speakers on topics of content and inbound marketing. Handley does an incredible job of connecting with her audience and explaining why content is the future all with an engaging nature and great sense of humor.
Reason I chose Ann – I find her articles on every top blog. Be it Forbes, Entrepreneur.com or Search Engine Land. She just loves to write. People often wonder if she sleeps or not.
Marcus Sheridan (@TheSalesLion)
Sheridan has an incredibly interesting story about how he got started with inbound marketing.
He actually got his start when his pool installation business, River Pools and Spas, had a decline in orders from an average of six/month to barely two/month.
Not sure what to do, Sheridan took a shot at a new type of marketing. Instead of spending his average $250,000 on radio, TV and PPC advertising, Sheridan went all-in on a new focus, generating sales through informational blog posts and videos.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
Reason I chose Marcus – Gradually, Marcus has become someone who his blazing a trail. In the US, marketers are very impressed by his teachings, sessions and methodologies.
There are tons of other smart people out there talking about inbound marketing challenges and solutions, but these six influencers should at least get you started thinking about how you can make your inbound marketing even better this year.
