Menu

Who Really Are The Best Valuable Social Media Influencers?

In Marketing, Social MediaLast Updated: November 19th, 2019 Lisa

Valuable Social Media Influencers

Everybody today is talking about valuable social media influencers. Just who are they? Are they everyone’s social media influencers or just valuable social media influencers in their own niches?

What is an influencer? According to the dictionary an influencer is a person or a thing that influences and /or causes change by inspiring others. They can change people’s mind about something or influence them to make a decision or a purchase.

influencer marketing

 

According to Wikipedia – Influencer marketing (also influence marketing) is a form of marketing in which focus is placed on specific key individuals (or types of individual) rather than the target market as a whole. It identifies the individuals that have influence over potential buyers, and orients marketing activities around these influencers. They are programs like Kred to count influencer scores.

In the past companies relied on marketing via commercials presenting the benefits of their products or by price wars. Today they are using their own customers as people to talk about their products or services and influence others to buy and use them too.

This has become a big shift in marketing over the past few years alone. It is also similar to the old fashion word of mouth marketing.

I don’t believe having influence is all about the follower count but having more followers can help. It is a numbers game but it is also more than that! One must be engaging and engaging in a manner to create influence. Influence involves creating others to perform an action – like a retweet, leaving a comment on your post or purchasing a product from you.

Remember the old quote “Actions speak louder than words?”

Today they are using their own customers as people to talk about their products or services and influence others to buy and use them too. #influencers Click To Tweet

What Others Have To Say About Valuable Social Media Influencers

Ali Lawrence

“Sali lawarenceocial followers are easy to come by today. You can even purchase thousands of followers on sites like Fiverr. So the number of followers is a poor determining factor when looking for the right influencer. The best social media influencers are ones that actually have sway over their audience.

You can typically find these influencers by browsing their social account to see how much positive engagement and interaction they have on their posts. I’d rather work with an influencer who is trusted by a small audience with higher engagement than an influencer who has a million followers but only a few ever interact. ”

Ali Lawrence, former blogger. 

The best social media influencers are ones that actually have sway over their audience. Click To Tweet

Tor Reflasland

“Some of the best social media influencers that provides tons of value are:

Gary Vaynerchuk from https://www.garyvaynerchuk.com/Tor

Evan Carmichael from http://www.evancarmichael.com/

Scott Eddy from

Sue B. Zimmerman from https://suebzimmerman.com/”

Tor Refsland from www.timemanagementchef.com

And More From Others

Mike Kawula

“The label “Social Media Influencer” should be taken with a grain of salt. There are many self-proclaimed influencers who take an online course over the weekend and anoint themselves experts on Monday. It is true that all exerts were once a beginner and the adage “fake it till you make it” is a reality.

However, as an owner who’s going to trust someone and take their business advice, it’s important to take a hard look at these individuals to determine if they’re actually succeeding themselves by practicing what they claim they can do for you. Influencers like Kim Garst, Rebekah RMike Kawulaadice, Sam Hurley, Marcus Sheridan, and so many others are influencers because they’ve put in the work, tested what they preach and reaped the rewards.

Peel back the layers and really look at the individual, not the label they’ve given themselves or some list that someone creates whose intentions you don’t know.

Social Media and digital marketing in general can do wonders for your business and there are plenty of tremendous influencers/experts who are ready to assist you in reaping the rewards. Again, the key is finding the influencers who are walking the walk – then, and only then, should you listen to them talk the talk. ”  Mike Kawula, Entreprenuer.

'They’ve put in the work, tested what they preach and reaped the rewards. - Mike Kawula' #influencermarketing Click To Tweet

Enstine Muki

“There is too much noise on social media these days and this calls for serious filtering. I think the best valuable influencers and those that have successfully and naturally builtEnstine Muki a huge community of targeted and active followers.

People can use software and scripts nowadays to bump the numbers. But that absolutely
doesn’t make any sense to me. A six-figure follower-base doesn’t  attract me. How responsive
they are is what counts.”  Enstine Muki, of  EnstineMuki.com 

How responsive they are is what counts - Valuable Social Media Influencers. - Enstine Muki #influencers Click To Tweet

Don Purdum

 “Social media influence can be such a vague term. For some they define it as how many people follow someone on social media. While that can be important, I define it as how many people take action on social media? Meaning, do they engage, comment, share and/or indirectly endorse your work.
Influencers who are willing to “influence” your work are a challenge to find and it takes time to establish relationships with them. There are a few that come to mind.
First is Sam Hurley (@Sam_Hurley). Not only does Sam have a large Twitter following, he has promoted an article I featured with him, witDon Purdumh reckless abandon and with each tweet I gain upwards of 20-50 new Twitter followers and hundreds of re-tweets.
Ryan Biddulph (@RyanBiddulph) is another social influencer who not only has a massive following, his audience re-tweets as well. He is extremely engaged with his audience and his social influence is obvious by the number of visits that come back to my website within a few moments of him tweeting an article.
Another is Mark Schaefer. Known for his book “The Content Code”, Mark not only has a large following, but he is authentic, sincere and every post on Facebook on his personal wall and especially in his private Facebook group is enlightening and refreshing.” Don Purdum, UnveiltheWeb 

Eli Seekins

“People who care are the most valuable influencers on social media. It’s really simple. If you want to make an impact on social media you need to care about people – you need to care about your tribe. Sharing content and links like your throwing up the spaghetti you just had for dinner isn’t going to work. It’s not enough. You need to really get to know people. Don’t pretend to care, ACTUALLY care. Have REAL conversations.
Get on Skype with your followers, just to talk. Post content that shows who you are as a person. It doesn’t always have to be on topic. Show people that you are just like them. Be authentic. Don’t be afraid to show your flaws. Don’t pretend to be someone your not. Be relatable. Create legitimate relationships. And provide value to everyone you come into contact with.Eli Seekins

My favorite two people on social media right now are Gary Vaynerchuk and Casey Neistat. They have both mastered the art. It amazes me how well they connect with their followers and how good they are at cultivating relationships.It takes time though. You can’t become an influencer overnight. You need to be patient and work hard. For tips on how to get started on social media check out: The Beginner’s Guide To Social Media Marketing.” – Eli Seekins, former blogger.

Philip Verghese Ariel

“Social media can play a vital role in our daily activities.  When it comes to our routine job, we, bloggers used to really depend on social media. No matter it really influences our daily life too!

As it is observed and proved the theory of 80:20 formula works well with the social media.  In short, it solely depends on social media to implement that theory or ratio in our blogging activity. 20% content creation and 80% promotion, especially through social media platforms. Philip Ariel

Coming to your question, as per my knowledge Jeff Bullas (@jeffbullas), Ted Rubin (@TedRubin  and David Leonhardt (@amabaie) are the first three names comes to my mind, and they are really wonderful social media influencers.

Their activities on different social media platforms are worth notable and worth following. ” – Philip Verghese ‘Ariel’, Multilingual freelance writer, blogger, and editor at pvariel.com.

click_to_tweet tweet=”The theory of 80:20 formula works well with the social media. – Philip Verghese Ariel. #socialmedia” quote=”The theory of 80:20 formula works well with the social media. – Philip Verghese Ariel. #socialmedia” theme=”style2″]

Brenda Pace

When poised with the question Who Really Are The Best Valuable Social Media Influencers?  I knew this would be difficult. There arBrenda Pacee so many prominent influencers in my virtual world. How is it possible to nail it down to a few?
If you’re going to force me to, here’s my most valued Social Media Influencers (in no particular order):  Donna Merrill of Donna Merrill Tribe, Ryan Biddulph of Blogging in Paradise,  Mike Allton of The Social Media Hat, and of course, You! I learn something different from each of these Influencers and would be lost without them. – Brenda Pace – former blogger.

Sue Anne DunlevieSue Ann Dunlevie

I love Donna Moritz of Socially Sorted, Ian Cleary of RazorSocial and Amy Porterfield. Also, I have taken courses from each of them and they are all experts in their specific areas of social media. I also read the blogs of Rebekah Radice and Marie Smith, two other important influencers.
All of these bloggers share a lot of free content and I have learned quite a bit from them in regards to using social media to gain blog visitors. – Sue Dunlevie of Successful Blogging

Ana Hoffman

“Who is the best valuable social media influencer to YOU? That’s the right answer, no need to listen to the rest of us… 🙂 … but since you are still here, here’s what I’d say.”Someone who influences my business. Who can teach me something I didn’t know. Then, who always responds and engages. Who KNOWS me. I know that’s a tall order, but that’s the kind of people we are talking about here – rising above everyone else, right?
Ana Hoffman
As I am writing this, can’t help but think of two people who stand out in every single way: Mike Allton of TheSocialMediaHat.com and Ashley Faulkes of MadLemmings.com. They always bring a smile to my face whenever they pop up in my feed… and that’s priceless! – Ana Hoffman of TrafficGenerationCafe
Social Media Influencers - rising above everyone else, right? Ana Hoffman Click To Tweet

Ashley Faulkes

For me, the most valuable influencers to connect with are the ones I can have a long-term relationship with (business relationship of course!). I am not after quick wins, one-off shares or other fly-by-night connections.
I prefer to get to know someone, kinda like in “real life”. That also means that I am looking for a win-win. That is, a connection with someone I can help, as well as potentially be helped by (if not now, then perhaps in the future). Ashley Faulkes
So many people are just looking at either the number of followers of influencers, or what they can get out of them now. I recommend taking a step back and instead seeing how you can further a relationship that yields something for both of you for a long time to come! – Ashley Faulkes from MadLemmings.

In Conclusion of Influencers

What do you think sets the most valuable social media influencers apart from the others?

I’d love to know your thoughts in the comments below.

free trial of agorapulse

 

Follow Me
Latest posts by Lisa (see all)

Lisa loves helping others to thrive online through Social Media, Blogging, and SEO. What good is knowledge if you cannot share it with others? She has 30+ years of experience in marketing/advertising with 10 years of experience in content marketing, social media, blogging, and SEO. You can purchase her eBook about Twitter on Amazon, or take her Instagram class on Udemy.

Post Navigation

What Happened to Blogging and Having a Great Blog?

How To Avoid Getting The Mute on Twitter Now

Related Posts:

use social media for black friday deals

How to Use Social Media for the Best Black Friday Deals

improve customer trust

5 Ways to Improve Customer Trust in 2021 and Beyond

How To Build Trust From Your Online Leads

How To Build Trust From Your Online Leads and Grow Them

  • I’ve been hearing good about Enstine, He is one of the best guys in the Internet Marketing.
    Also, I’ve been following his blog for the last few months.

    In the post, I discovered many other Social Media Influencers as well.

    Thanks.

    • Hi Yasar, welcome to Inspire to Thrive. Enstine is quite the guy – he knows his internet marketing for sure! Did you know any of the others as well Yasar? Thanks for coming by and have a great day.

  • Hi Ashley,
    I know many of these people but didn’t know this information. Thanks for helping me learn more about them.
    Janice

    • Sorry Lisa,
      Ashley retweeted, so I thought this was his article. Thanks for letting me know more about my friends.
      Janice

      • Hi Janice, you are welcime. Ashley’s been a great sharer of this post 🙂 I appreciate you coming by Janice – have a great day!

  • Some of them are already in my FOLLOWING list. I will try to add the rest today. Looking forward to get useful information and learn growth hacks from them.

  • Hi Lisa!
    Thank for sharing this amazing post with us. I love to know about all these social media influencers. They all have different point of view but point toward same goal. I like this quote most.
    How responsive they are is what counts – Valuable Social Media Influencers. – Enstine Muki

    • Hi Junaid, welcome to Inspire to Thrive. You are welcome. Enstine did have a great quote Junaid. Thanks for coming by and for your comment, have a great rest of the week.

  • Hey Lisa,

    When it comes to influence I think it comes to three things

    1. How much value are you getting from others
    2. How much reciprocal communication you get from them.
    3. How inspiring they are to you

    Everything else falls under this as far as the technical side of getting traffic, backlinks, guest posting, etc..

    When it comes down to it, being genuine whether directly or indirectly is really what matters when it comes to influence. Without it, I believe many would just be another blogger.

    Great topi, list and share Lisa! Have a great weekend!

    • Hi Sherman, those are 3 good ways to measure it. I think value is really #1. Is it worth it to visit their blog and read their shares? Oh yes, genuine is key to all of it Sherman. Thanks for your input and all the Twitter shares on this one – have a great weekend ahead too!

  • Hey Lisa,

    Using social media influencers in our marketing is the practice of building relationships with the people who can build relationships for us. Whether an influencer’s audience is small or large, an influencer can reach consumers via their blogs and social networks that our brand may not be able to. The most effective influencer marketing strategies build and foster strong relationships with current network, happy consumers and new influencers who are active in relevant verticals.

    We should create a message that people actually want to hear and share. Whether it’s in the form of research, infographics, surveys, fun facts, etc. we need to make sure our message is something unique and interesting. From there we will be able to steer our influencer strategy ship in an awesome direction. Eventually, thanks for your great support.

    With best wishes,

    Amar kumar

    • Hi Amar, Excellent point – whether their audience is big or small it’s how they can reach our consumers and foster strong relationships. Messages that are shared well do well and learning to make those messages to get shared more is key to a brand. Thanks for your input on this one Amar. I do hope you are having a good weekend!

  • Hi Lisa,

    This is a great list of social media influencers. There are some familiar faces here and some new ones I wouldn’t mind connecting with one day.

    It was great to read everyone’s responses. Thanks for putting this together. I hope you’re having a great week so far. 🙂

    Cori

    • Hi Cori, thank you. I love when I find new ones on the roundup posts. I really like how everyone responded a little differntly too, it’s interesting to read. This week has been flying by for me Cori, I hope things with are doing well and that your mom is doing better. Take care and have a nice day Cori.

  • Hi Lisa,

    What a great round up of influencers in the industry. I do believe that this is the cutting edge of marketing at the present time. More and more companies are seeing mid stream influencers than large company folks. All of the above make the grade!

    I was so delighted seeing Bren mention me.

    Cheers!

    -Donna

    • Hi Donna, thank you. Yes, more companies are using the “niche” influencers rather than the large popular types. I’m not surprised at all that Bren mentioned you Donna 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to come by and comment on this one. Have a wonderful day!

  • Hey Lisa,

    I have come across many people who are influencing the social media. But there are few people who know the true value of influencing other with their content.

    On Twitter, people just through the tweets with the number and don’t even look at anything. As Enstine said, there is so much noise on the social media.

    You need to figure out the right platform to build your authority.

    Thanks for this roundup.

    ~Ravi

    • Hi Ravi, you are right about there being so much noise on the social networks. It can be deafening at times. I’d agree, you need to find the right platform and use it to the max! Thanks for coming by Ravi with your input on this topic. I really appreciate it and have yourself an awesome day.
      PS: Which is your fav of the social networks yourself?

    • Hi Mike, I was not surprised at all to see you mentined by some of my readers. You are always out there engaging on the social networks. Thanks for taking the time to come by Mike and have a terrific day!

  • Hello Lisa
    Great post ! I There is alot of food for thought in this post and some great straight forward advice. This is a super roundup with some proven social media influencers,four of whom I read their blogs already and follow. And as Neena mentioned above me I DON’T just look for a name, but me personally I look for someone who is experienced 3-5 years if I’m going to order courses from them. Again thanks for this value-packed post , I like reading roundups because you always learn about “new” people crushing it .

    • Hi Darrell, thank you! I love how everyone had a different twist with their answers. That’s great- that you look for someone with 3-5 years experience Darrell, excellent point! You are welcome and yes I really like that too about round up posts, you can always learn something new and meet new people in your niche. Thanks for coming by Darrel and adding your input on this one. Have a great day ahead!

  • Love what Sue is sharing on her blog, and appreciate everything she’s sharing while also want to check out more of others work here.

  • Hi Lisa,

    Awesome list! And thanks Don and Bren for the shout outs! Caring is at the core of super social influencing, and both these awesome folks up top and their mentions really, truly care for their followings in a loving, caring way. Sam Hurley is one such guy. He’s infused with gratitude in all he does on social platforms, one of the elite tweeters among the millions of them. I personally believe he is the #1 tweeter on earth. Seriously. Between his value shared and responsiveness, and his loving, caring, personalized delivery, he is the best tweeter I have ever seen among the nearly 8 years I’ve been on Twitter and over the half million tweets I’ve sent out (with some bot help LOL).

    Thanks for sharing!

    Ryan

    • Hi Ryan, isn’t that cool to see others mention you? Oh yes, Sam is just awesome on all the social networks. I would agree with you on him being #1 on Twitter. Wow, you are up there in tweets Ryan, I think I’m nearing around the 200,000 tweet mark. It’s amazing how quickly they add up there. You are welcome Ryan and have a fantastic rest of the week on the islands.

    • So, so true Ryan!!!!! Amazing list, honourable people to follow and I’m so appreciative (Lisa, Ryan, Mike + Don) for the incredible shoutouts!!!!!!! I can’t thank you guys enough and have screen-shotted each one of them…there’s always a place in my heart for you all! Words can’t express what this means to me :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

      When people put the time in and genuinely care for others…amazing things begin to happen – and they happen fast. Relationships with influential figures like yourselves not only nurture personal development, business and engagement…but state-of-mind and happiness too. I class that as: invaluable 😀 😀 😀

      Absolutely love you all !!! 🙂

      • Hi Sam, nice to see you here. You are so welcome! Yes, I never expected that from twitter and blogging, state of mind and happiness through relationships formed with others. Truly invaluable indeed 🙂 Guys like you and Ryan truly amaze me with always being there online responding to everyone in a very timely manner too.
        Thank you Sam and have yourself an awesome Wednesday.

      • Hi Sam,

        Our pleasure dude! I finally learned that all the trappings/trimmings rock on the social media front, with traffic and income and stuff, but happiness is A1 in my eBook 😉 Being social and engaging with you and many folks on this comment thread is fun, and makes me happy, and that is the exact invaluable note you mention.

        Thanks again!

        Ryan

  • Hey Lisa,

    What a great post!

    Connecting with influencers will greatly impact the online business, it opens a lot of opportunities for the online growth..

    Thanks for presenting these influencers to us, I already know three of them, the others are a great addition.

    Regards
    Hussain

    • Hi Hussain, thank you. Which of the three did you already know? It’s fun to see others you don’t know. I like when I visit roundup posts myself. Thanks for coming by and have a great day.

  • Hi Lisa! Happy Monday!

    This is a great roundup! First off, thank you for asking me to contribute. I believe there are different social media influencers for each one of us. What one may see as an influencer, another may not. Is it the value you we place on one person that we learn so much from? Or is it the number of Twitter or Facebook followers? I think it’s a tricky question. I’m sure we are all Influencers to some degree, right?

    Great to see so many contribute to your article. I’ve learned a few new names. 🙂

    Have a great Monday!

    B

    • Hi Brenda, you too happy Monday – Another one flew right by! I’d agree with that too, one is to me may not be to you. It all depends on one’s niche and interests. I don’t think the # of followers is it. It’s more about getting people to Jump as Adrian indicated. Or getting them to add to a discussion, etc. Any action. When someone can get someone to act, that is influence in my book. Glad to see you learned a few names too Brenda. Thanks for particpating and coming by to comme nt too! (PS Thanks for sharing those quotes!)

  • Hi Lisa,

    Social media influencers (SMI) have lots of followers. But there are many regular gals and guys who have lots of followers. It’s not that difficult to get tens of thousands of followers.

    SMI get many retweets when they tweet something. But there are regular gals and guys who get the same thing. I remember how one of these regular guys tweeted one of my articles and … guess what! Within one minute that tweet got over 300 retweets. But… no one clicked the link to my article. Bots don’t click, just retweet 😉

    When the real SMI tweet something, it’s not very unlikely to get from tens of clicks to hundreds of clicks or even more. The regular guys (some of them listed in your article :)) and the fake SMI cannot replicate such a performance.

    That’s how you see when someone is a real SMI. When they tweet, people jump. And by jump I’m not referring to favoriting the tweet (bots do it too), or replying “awesome” while doing nothing else.

    That’s how to detect a SMI.

    As for how to become a SMI, I won’t fall into such a trap. I’ll tell you how to become one when I’ll be one of them. [No plan to become a SMI though.] Till then I can only make assumptions. And such assumptions have zero value. I let others make assumptions 😉

    Have a great week ahead!

    • Hi Adrian, Isn’t that amazing when a tweet gets retweeted immediately like that? But you are right, retweets that get clicks are much MORE valuable. I like your defination via a tweet Adrian. We could say the same for any social network medium too. Those that get engagements and clicks get the best value and can seen as social media influencers. Once a person is a social media influencer they must continuously work at it too.
      Thanks for adding to this discussion Adrian and have a great week there!

  • Hi Lisa,
    This is really an informative piece, a wonderful collection of influencers.
    I appreciate the way in which you presented them here.
    Thank you so much for including my two cents opinion too!
    Good to know few more SM influencers through this roundup post.
    Keep it up!
    Thanks again for sharing
    Keep sharing
    Best Regards
    ~ Philip

    • Hi Philip, thank you. I like the way everyone came up with different answers too. It’s always interesting to see how people interpret things differently. You are welcome and thanks for sharing in many places. Have a wonderful day Philip!

  • Hi Lisa,
    Such good advice in this article from so many proven social media influencers.
    Personally, I don’t just look for the name or the following. The person’s message and journey also have to resonate with me.
    Sometimes it is that person who is just one step ahead of me that can teach me the most because they have recently been in my shoes.
    I think authenticity is key.

    • Hi Neena, I think authenticity is very important too. I like your thought about being a step ahead too. Thanks for coming by and adding some great points to this topic. Have a wonderful day!

  • Hi Lisa,

    I just watched an article last night on 60 Minutes about Social Media influence. What was interesting was they were all in the 20’s (minus Kim Kardashian) and doing some really interesting things with video. They defined it very different than we do in our context.

    Connecting with one another is vital to our growth, success and opportunities for expanding our businesses.

    Thanks so much for including me Lisa!

    ~ Don

    • Hi Don, I wish I had seen it, I used to love that show. That does sound interesting about the video. I wonder why all in their 20s though? You are welcome Don and thanks for your additional input here too.

    • >