Digital marketing is evolving daily before our eyes. Before I was a “marketer,” I didn’t truly understand the scope or the breadth of digital marketing. There are so many facets and so many disciplines to learn and understand. It is extremely overwhelming even for the most savvy marketers. So, my goal is to give you a little push in the right direction. The thing I found most helpful in my journey was to learn from the best. Those amazing influencers who are true experts in their fields. I have compiled a list below of my favorites. Most are tremendously well-respected experts. Some are just people that motivate me to push through and keep going. Either way, enjoy the list and let me know what you think. I can always be reached at jp@wespeakeasy.com or on social media @johnpspeakeasy.
PART I – GET ME UP OUT OF BED
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Gary Vaynerchuk – Some people find Gary V. annoying or grating. I love him. His no bullshit attitude really hits home for me. Gary does the one thing I really love in my influencers: he walks the walk. There are a ton of “social media experts” out there who talk the talk, but you never see them actually crushing it. They just talk about crushing it. Gary crushes it. Here are a few of my favorite pieces of his content.
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Jocko Willink – Jocko is not a digital marketing guy. He just crushes life. Jocko was a Navy Seal and is now a corporate business consultant. If you don’t love Jocko, we can’t be friends. Jocko will most certainly motivate you. Check out his hits below
PART II – DIGITAL MARKETING BIG SHOTS
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Ryan Deiss – DigitalMarketer – Ryan is the founder and CEO of DigitalMarketer. DigitalMarketer is a firm that teaches you to be a better digital marketer, so no surprise here that Ryan is an influencer. Ryan and DigitalMarketer produce a staggering amount of content, and it is all amazing. Check out some highlights below.
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Neil Patel – Neil is pretty widely recognized as a digital marketing expert. He is a little loud and brash, and I find him come across spammy a little. But… there is amazing content there.
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Rand Fishkin – When I first started in marketing, I watched pretty much every video of Rands’. His content has always been stellar. He is a great speaker and widely regarded as an SEO guru. Rand is a bit eccentric and weird, but who isn’t? Here are some of my favorite Rand videos.
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Wil Reynolds – Wil is local to us in Philly and is widely known as an excellent speaker around all things search. Wil is excellent at breaking down complex subjects and making them easy to digest and understand.
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Jay Baer – Jay Baer takes marketing and customer service to the next level. He is the mind behind the Convince and Convert website, which is excellent. He releases a ton of content, and it is all worth your time.
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Marcus Sheridan – Anyone who has been around me for more than a day has heard the River Pools story. Marcus is a pool guy turned marketer who really understands content and inbound marketing. He is one of my favorite speakers and is super high energy.
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Shep Hyken – Shep is a customer service wizard, but he pulls that over to the marketing world. His videos are very practical and easy to watch quickly.
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Joe Pulizzi – Joe is the founder of the Content Marketing Institute. Their material is excellent for learning digital marketing.
PART III – COMPANIES TO FOLLOW
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HubSpot – Hubspot is an amazing tool. They produce volumes of excellent content. If you need to get up to speed quickly and you have no cash, HubSpot has your back. They have free certifications for just about everything digital marketing related, and they are excellent. My favorite certs at the moment are Content Marketing and Growth Driven Design. You can learn way more about Hubspot here:
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DigitalMarketer – My absolute favorite company in this space. For a fairly small price, you can learn real life actionable skills for every facet of digital marketing. If you have extra spare cash lying around, you can join their lab program and become part of a great digital marketing community that really strives to help each other. Check them out below.
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@digitalmarketer
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SEMRUSH – If you need an amazing tool to help you manage keyword research, SEO, search marketing, social media posting and reporting, and God knows what else, SEMRUSH is for you. It is hands down the best tool our agency has ever used. I am in it every single day. For one user, it is not overly expensive, and the amount of bang for your buck is staggering. Check them out here:
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@semrush
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Social Media Examiner – This is just a great resource and a great place to hit up daily to learn and hone your craft. They can be found at:
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@SMExaminer
Thanks for reading. This list is by no means exhaustive. If you have a great company or influencer you think would be a great addition to this list, send it over today and we will check them out.
Don ‘t miss our Digital Marketing 101 Webinar coming up here.
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