6 Marketing Influencers Every Entrepreneur Should Follow

If you’re the owner of an SMB (small or medium-sized business), you might feel as if you’re left out of much of the online content published today. Sure, it would be nice to have a marketing budget big enough to advertise on every billboard or YouTube video, but not everyone has access to that.

Well, fear no more. With updates in social media and across the web, your opportunity to compete with the ‘top dogs’ is more accessible than ever before if you implement the right strategies.

One of the ways you can begin the process is by learning from the experts. Here are 6 marketing influencers who can get you results no matter what your budget is.

Neil Patel is a NY Times Bestselling author, serial entrepreneur, and marketing aficionado. He publishes almost daily content designed to teach anyone how to step up their online marketing game with little to no spend.

His work is extremely actionable, and includes detailed explanations and plenty of screenshots. The best way to stay up-to-date on Neil is by subscribing to his newsletter.

Sue B. Zimmerman is an Instagram marketing expert (if not, the Instagram marketing expert), who provides her audience with tangible strategies on how they can grow their influence using the platform. I had the opportunity to hear her speak at Social Media Day San Diego, and the pen I was writing with quickly ran out of ink.

Instagram’s utility is growing stronger by the day. Instagram Stories has now surpassed Snapchat with 250 million daily users, and their user base is growing by 100 million every 9 months.

Oh yeah, and they’re owned by Facebook (if you needed more convincing).

In short, you should be invested in Instagram. It’s not going away any time soon. It doesn’t get much better than Sue B. Zimmerman. She doesn’t just teach Instagram, she lives it.

In addition to being one of the top social media influencers on the planet, Mari Smith has been labeled by Facebook itself, as their ‘Small Business and Facebook Marketing Expert’.

If you haven’t hopped on the Facebook bandwagon yet, it’s not too late. Facebook is, arguably, the most effective social media platform for anyone on a budget. In addition to the unprecedented targeting capabilities, you’re also able to boost posts for as low as $1 and run Facebook Ads for as low as $5 per day.

If you don’t have that kind of marketing budget, then you probably are going out of business tomorrow or you shouldn’t be in business in the first place.

Rand Fishkin is the founder of Moz, an SEO software company and a company that has one of the top marketing blogs on the whole internet.

For businesses of all types, appearing high on search engine results should be at the top of your list of marketing priorities, and Rand’s expertise on this topic is outstanding.

Check out his Whiteboard Friday videos, which are quick shorts that cover digital marketing tactics and topics. They’re also very entertaining.

Rich Brooks is the author of The Lead Machine: The Small Business Guide to Digital Marketing, and founder of Agents of Change, which is both a podcast and annual conference covering social media marketing, mobile marketing, and search engine optimization.

With the rise of mobile phone usage across the globe, local business owners are in a better position than ever before to capitalize on local marketing strategies. Already, social media giants like Snap have created features such as Snap to Store, which enables advertisers to know whether or not people who saw their ad visited their store’s location within 7 days after viewing the ad.

Marketing influencers like Rich Brooks will enable you to get ahead of your competition when it comes to this monumental shift to local marketing.

I had to throw an up-and-comer in here, and Garrett is one you should keep your eyes on, especially if you own a local business. He’s the CEO of Directive Consulting, a public speaker and frequent contributor to many of the top marketing blogs on the internet (Moz, Marketing Land, and more).

In his work, Garrett provides thorough and creative guidance that’s both data-driven and enjoyable. Additionally, he includes plenty of tips on leveraging Yelp, a non-negotiable platform for any local business.