Top 29 Digital Marketing Influencers to Follow in 2026
The digital marketing influencers you follow shape how you think, test, and grow. Algorithms shift, buyer behavior changes, and the tactics that worked last quarter may not work today. The right voices keep you sharp and can help you select the right marketing tools and adopt the best practices. These are the influencers worth your attention.
Top 29 Digital Marketing Influencers
Below are the profiles of the top digital marketing influencers, covering who they are and the impact they've made in this space.
Rand Fishkin
Rand Fishkin is CEO and co-founder of SparkToro, the audience research company, and previously co-founded Moz. He is also the author of Lost and Founder and a longtime marketing speaker.
Fishkin’s work…
Rand Fishkin is CEO and co-founder of SparkToro, the audience research company, and previously co-founded Moz. He is also the author of Lost and Founder and a longtime marketing speaker.
Fishkin’s work challenges marketers to look beyond traffic and attribution toward where audiences actually spend attention. His research and writing span audience intelligence, search, zero-click behavior, content distribution, and the changing power of digital platforms.
Andy Crestodina
Andy Crestodina is co-founder and CMO of Orbit Media Studios, where he leads marketing and web strategy. He is also the author of Content Chemistry and a longtime digital marketing educator.
Crestodina…
Andy Crestodina is co-founder and CMO of Orbit Media Studios, where he leads marketing and web strategy. He is also the author of Content Chemistry and a longtime digital marketing educator.
Crestodina turns analytics, SEO, audience research, content strategy, and conversion principles into practical guidance for marketers. Through extensive writing, teaching, and speaking, he connects creative content decisions with measurable website performance.
Ann Handley
Ann Handley is a partner at MarketingProfs, bestselling author of Everybody Writes, keynote speaker, and entrepreneur who co-founded ClickZ and helped build MarketingProfs into a major resource.
Handley has made better writing…
Ann Handley is a partner at MarketingProfs, bestselling author of Everybody Writes, keynote speaker, and entrepreneur who co-founded ClickZ and helped build MarketingProfs into a major resource.
Handley has made better writing a core marketing discipline. Through Everybody Writes, her newsletter, teaching, and speaking, she shows marketers how stronger voice, useful content, empathy, and creative communication can turn ordinary business messages into work people want to read.
Ross Simmonds
Ross Simmonds is the founder and CEO of B2B content marketing agency Foundation. He also built Distribution.ai.
Simmonds is especially associated with the idea that creating strong content is only half the…
Ross Simmonds is the founder and CEO of B2B content marketing agency Foundation. He also built Distribution.ai.
Simmonds is especially associated with the idea that creating strong content is only half the job; distribution determines how far it travels. His work explores B2B content engines, repurposing, channel strategy, SaaS growth, and using AI to amplify useful ideas across formats.
Aleyda Solís
Aleyda Solís is an international SEO and AI search consultant and founder of Orainti. She also created SEOFOMO, LearningSEO.io, and Crawling Mondays, and is an author and frequent industry speaker.
Solís pairs…
Aleyda Solís is an international SEO and AI search consultant and founder of Orainti. She also created SEOFOMO, LearningSEO.io, and Crawling Mondays, and is an author and frequent industry speaker.
Solís pairs deep technical search expertise with practical resources for marketers. Her work covers international, ecommerce and SaaS SEO, while her recent research and frameworks examine AI-search visibility, citations, measurement, and how search strategy is changing as discovery moves beyond traditional results.
Lily Ray
Lily Ray is Vice President, SEO and AI Search at Amsive, where she leads strategy for agency SEO programs. Her career in search began in 2010 and spans technical SEO, ecommerce, B2B,…
Lily Ray is Vice President, SEO and AI Search at Amsive, where she leads strategy for agency SEO programs. Her career in search began in 2010 and spans technical SEO, ecommerce, B2B, and major brands.
Ray closely studies how search engines evaluate quality and how major algorithm changes reshape visibility. Her research now extends into AI search, including brand citations, answer-engine optimization, emerging visibility metrics, and the relationship between traditional SEO and generative discovery.
Kipp Bodnar
Kipp Bodnar is Chief Marketing Officer at HubSpot, where he leads global marketing strategy. He previously ran worldwide demand generation and helped build its marketing teams across multiple regions.
Bodnar works at…
Kipp Bodnar is Chief Marketing Officer at HubSpot, where he leads global marketing strategy. He previously ran worldwide demand generation and helped build its marketing teams across multiple regions.
Bodnar works at the intersection of brand, demand, technology, and B2B growth. Beyond leading HubSpot marketing, he co-hosts Marketing Against the Grain and has written about social media, AI, changing buyer behavior, and the strategic shifts marketers need to make as digital channels evolve.
Amanda Natividad
Amanda Natividad is Chief Evangelist at SparkToro and co-author of Zero Click Marketing. A former journalist and marketer, she led marketing at Growth Machine and helped build Fitbit’s B2B team.
Natividad explores…
Amanda Natividad is Chief Evangelist at SparkToro and co-author of Zero Click Marketing. A former journalist and marketer, she led marketing at Growth Machine and helped build Fitbit’s B2B team.
Natividad explores how marketers can earn attention without forcing every interaction back to their websites. Her work on zero-click marketing, audience research, organic content, distribution, and measurement encourages brands to create value directly on the platforms where their audiences already spend time.
Michael Stelzner
Michael Stelzner is founder and CEO of Social Media Examiner and creator of Social Media Marketing World. He hosts the Social Media Marketing and AI Explored podcasts and has authored two books.
…
Michael Stelzner is founder and CEO of Social Media Examiner and creator of Social Media Marketing World. He hosts the Social Media Marketing and AI Explored podcasts and has authored two books.
Stelzner built an education platform around helping marketers keep pace with fast-changing channels. Through research, conferences, podcasts, and expert interviews, his work tracks social platform strategy, content, creator marketing, audience development, and the practical use of AI.
John Jantsch
John Jantsch is founder and CIO of Duct Tape Marketing, creator of its marketing system and consultant network, host of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, and author of the book Duct Tape…
John Jantsch is founder and CIO of Duct Tape Marketing, creator of its marketing system and consultant network, host of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, and author of the book Duct Tape Marketing.
Jantsch approaches marketing as a repeatable business system rather than a collection of disconnected tactics. His books, consulting methodology, podcast, and training emphasize strategy, customer journeys, referrals, positioning, and giving smaller businesses a structured way to build sustainable demand.
Paul Roetzer
Paul Roetzer is founder and CEO of Marketing AI Institute and SmarterX, co-author of Marketing Artificial Intelligence, host of The Artificial Intelligence Show, and creator of the MAICON conference.
Roetzer has focused…
Paul Roetzer is founder and CEO of Marketing AI Institute and SmarterX, co-author of Marketing Artificial Intelligence, host of The Artificial Intelligence Show, and creator of the MAICON conference.
Roetzer has focused much of his work on making artificial intelligence understandable and actionable for marketers and executives. His writing, education, consulting, podcasting, and events examine AI literacy, adoption, transformation, strategy, and how intelligent technologies change marketing organizations.
Brian Dean
Brian Dean is co-founder and CEO of Exploding Topics, a trend-spotting platform acquired by Semrush. He previously built Backlinko into a widely read resource for practical SEO and content marketing.
Dean built…
Brian Dean is co-founder and CEO of Exploding Topics, a trend-spotting platform acquired by Semrush. He previously built Backlinko into a widely read resource for practical SEO and content marketing.
Dean built his audience by breaking SEO and content growth into detailed, actionable strategies rather than abstract advice. At Exploding Topics, that analytical approach extends to identifying emerging products, industries, and behaviors through search, conversation, and online trend data.
Neal Schaffer
Neal Schaffer is a fractional CMO, digital marketing consultant, educator, speaker, and author whose books include The Age of Influence, Digital Threads, and Maximizing LinkedIn for Business Growth.
Schaffer’s work connects social…
Neal Schaffer is a fractional CMO, digital marketing consultant, educator, speaker, and author whose books include The Age of Influence, Digital Threads, and Maximizing LinkedIn for Business Growth.
Schaffer’s work connects social media with broader marketing strategy rather than treating platforms as isolated channels. His books, consulting, podcasting, and teaching cover influencer programs, content, personal branding, social selling, and the ways digital relationships shape business growth.
Tom Orbach
Tom Orbach is Director of Growth Marketing at Wiz and publishes MarketingIdeas.com. He is a growth marketer known for creative digital campaign ideas and for creating the Viral Post Generator.
Orbach specializes…
Tom Orbach is Director of Growth Marketing at Wiz and publishes MarketingIdeas.com. He is a growth marketer known for creative digital campaign ideas and for creating the Viral Post Generator.
Orbach specializes in unconventional ideas designed to earn attention rather than simply buy it. His work dissects social growth, giveaways, viral products, behavioral economics, brand campaigns, and practical experiments drawn from hands-on growth marketing.
Avinash Kaushik
Avinash Kaushik is Chief Strategy Officer at Human Made Machine, a marketing transformation consultant, and author of Web Analytics 2.0 and Web Analytics: An Hour a Day. He spent 16 years at…
Avinash Kaushik is Chief Strategy Officer at Human Made Machine, a marketing transformation consultant, and author of Web Analytics 2.0 and Web Analytics: An Hour a Day. He spent 16 years at Google.
Kaushik has long pushed marketers to move beyond reporting activity and toward analysis that improves decisions. His frameworks and writing connect data, customer behavior, experimentation, business outcomes, AI, and strategy, helping teams ask better questions before reaching for another dashboard or metric.
Seth Godin
Seth Godin is an author, entrepreneur, and longtime marketing thinker whose books include This Is Marketing and This Is Strategy. He founded Akimbo, home of the altMBA, and publishes a daily blog.
…
Seth Godin is an author, entrepreneur, and longtime marketing thinker whose books include This Is Marketing and This Is Strategy. He founded Akimbo, home of the altMBA, and publishes a daily blog.
Godin’s body of work asks marketers to earn attention, serve a specific audience, and create ideas worth spreading instead of relying on interruption. Across his books and daily essays, he explores positioning, trust, permission, differentiation, community, creativity, and meaningful work.
Ryan Deiss
Ryan Deiss is founder and CEO of The Scalable Company and founder of DigitalMarketer. He created the Traffic & Conversion Summit and co-authored Digital Marketing For Dummies in its second edition.
Deiss…
Ryan Deiss is founder and CEO of The Scalable Company and founder of DigitalMarketer. He created the Traffic & Conversion Summit and co-authored Digital Marketing For Dummies in its second edition.
Deiss has spent years turning digital acquisition and business growth into systems marketers can implement. His work spans funnels, customer journeys, conversion, traffic, marketing education, and the operating structures founders need as their companies grow beyond founder-led execution.
Olivia Mae Hanlon
Olivia Mae Hanlon is founder of Girls in Marketing, a community-led education business for women in marketing. She is also a speaker, startup marketing advisor, podcast host, presenter, and mentor.
Hanlon combines…
Olivia Mae Hanlon is founder of Girls in Marketing, a community-led education business for women in marketing. She is also a speaker, startup marketing advisor, podcast host, presenter, and mentor.
Hanlon combines marketing education with community building, helping marketers and founders strengthen practical digital skills. Her own experience spans brand building, growth strategy, creative campaigns, SEO and organic marketing, while Girls in Marketing focuses on making industry learning and support more accessible.
Larry Kim
Larry Kim is founder and CEO of Customers.ai and the founder and former CTO of WordStream, which was acquired by Gannett. He writes and speaks on paid media, remarketing, conversion, AI, and…
Larry Kim is founder and CEO of Customers.ai and the founder and former CTO of WordStream, which was acquired by Gannett. He writes and speaks on paid media, remarketing, conversion, AI, and startups.
Kim’s marketing work has centered on finding unusually high-performing opportunities and scaling them. From paid search and social advertising to visitor identification, remarketing, email, and AI, he focuses on turning digital attention and website traffic into measurable customer acquisition.
Garrett Sussman
Garrett Sussman is Marketing Director at iPullRank, host of The SEO Weekly, and an industry speaker. His work spans SEO, content, AI search, audience behavior, and the changing mechanics of discovery.
Sussman…
Garrett Sussman is Marketing Director at iPullRank, host of The SEO Weekly, and an industry speaker. His work spans SEO, content, AI search, audience behavior, and the changing mechanics of discovery.
Sussman examines search as both a technical and behavioral problem. His recent work explores how generative AI, conversational interfaces, personalization, memory, citations, and shifting user habits change brand discovery—and what marketers need to rethink as search expands beyond familiar rankings.
Lee Odden
Lee Odden is founder, owner, and CEO of TopRank Marketing, a B2B agency integrating search, content, and influencer marketing. He is also the author of Optimize and host of Beyond B2B Marketing.
…
Lee Odden is founder, owner, and CEO of TopRank Marketing, a B2B agency integrating search, content, and influencer marketing. He is also the author of Optimize and host of Beyond B2B Marketing.
Odden has spent decades connecting disciplines that marketers often manage separately. His work combines SEO, content, social and influencer strategy around becoming the best answer for buyers, with newer work extending that principle into generative search and AI-era brand visibility.
Matt Diggity
Matt Diggity is founder and CEO of Diggity Marketing and an SEO entrepreneur behind The Search Initiative, LeadSpring, and the Chiang Mai SEO Conference. His work centers on test-backed SEO strategy.
Diggity…
Matt Diggity is founder and CEO of Diggity Marketing and an SEO entrepreneur behind The Search Initiative, LeadSpring, and the Chiang Mai SEO Conference. His work centers on test-backed SEO strategy.
Diggity approaches search marketing as an experimental discipline, emphasizing controlled tests, case studies, tracking, and repeatable evidence over assumptions. His businesses and educational content cover affiliate SEO, agency search, link building, rankings, digital growth, and emerging AI-search changes.
Carrie Rose
Carrie Rose is founder and CEO of Rise at Seven, where she leads the agency across the UK and US. Her background spans SEO, digital PR, copywriting, content strategy, and cross-channel campaigns.
…
Carrie Rose is founder and CEO of Rise at Seven, where she leads the agency across the UK and US. Her background spans SEO, digital PR, copywriting, content strategy, and cross-channel campaigns.
Rose’s approach brings creative campaigns and technical search thinking together. Her work pushes SEO beyond rankings alone, using digital PR, culturally relevant ideas, content, consumer insight, and multi-platform execution to earn attention while strengthening how brands appear across search and discovery.
Heidi Cohen
Heidi Cohen is Chief Content Officer of Actionable Marketing Guide and president of Riverside Marketing Strategies. Her career includes brand marketing, consulting, teaching, writing, and speaking.
Cohen translates broad marketing concepts into…
Heidi Cohen is Chief Content Officer of Actionable Marketing Guide and president of Riverside Marketing Strategies. Her career includes brand marketing, consulting, teaching, writing, and speaking.
Cohen translates broad marketing concepts into practical guidance marketers can use. Drawing on corporate brand experience and years of teaching, her work covers content strategy, social media, customer needs, branding, digital channels, and building marketing plans that connect individual tactics to business goals.
Oli Gardner
Oli Gardner is a co-founder of Unbounce and creator of Conversion-Centered Design, a framework for building higher-converting campaigns. He has taught marketers about landing pages, testing, and UX.
Gardner helped make landing-page…
Oli Gardner is a co-founder of Unbounce and creator of Conversion-Centered Design, a framework for building higher-converting campaigns. He has taught marketers about landing pages, testing, and UX.
Gardner helped make landing-page optimization a distinct marketing discipline. His Conversion-Centered Design framework connects persuasive design, psychology, copy, relevance and calls to action, giving marketers a systematic way to evaluate campaign experiences instead of relying on subjective design preferences.
Sujan Patel
Sujan Patel is managing partner at Ramp Ventures and a longtime SaaS marketing operator. His work includes building and growing sales and marketing software businesses such as Mailshake and Voila.
Patel’s work…
Sujan Patel is managing partner at Ramp Ventures and a longtime SaaS marketing operator. His work includes building and growing sales and marketing software businesses such as Mailshake and Voila.
Patel’s work sits where hands-on growth marketing meets SaaS entrepreneurship. Across software ventures and marketing education, he has focused on customer acquisition, content, outreach, growth systems, and the practical challenge of turning early traction into repeatable growth for software businesses.
Jay Baer
Jay Baer is a marketing and customer experience author, speaker, and entrepreneur who has written seven books. He is also co-founder of Slingshot and co-founder and editor of The Tequila Report.
Baer’s…
Jay Baer is a marketing and customer experience author, speaker, and entrepreneur who has written seven books. He is also co-founder of Slingshot and co-founder and editor of The Tequila Report.
Baer’s marketing work examines how businesses earn attention, recommendations, and loyalty by being genuinely useful and responsive to customers. Across books and speaking, he has explored content, word of mouth, customer experience, service, and the behavioral factors that turn ordinary interactions into reasons to talk.
Peg Fitzpatrick
Peg Fitzpatrick is a social media author and marketer focused on helping small businesses grow online. She co-authored The Art of Social Media and served as Canva’s first Head of Social Strategy.
…
Peg Fitzpatrick is a social media author and marketer focused on helping small businesses grow online. She co-authored The Art of Social Media and served as Canva’s first Head of Social Strategy.
Fitzpatrick brings hands-on platform experience to social media education for entrepreneurs and small businesses. Her work covers content planning, visual communication, engagement, blogging, Pinterest, Instagram, and building an approachable online presence without treating every platform as interchangeable.
Ruben Hassid
Ruben Hassid is the creator of EasyGen, an AI writing tool built for LinkedIn, and a creator who teaches professionals to use AI for content. His work combines social growth, writing, and…
Ruben Hassid is the creator of EasyGen, an AI writing tool built for LinkedIn, and a creator who teaches professionals to use AI for content. His work combines social growth, writing, and AI.
Hassid treats generative AI as a tool for multiplying ideas and drafts rather than removing human judgment. His public work focuses heavily on LinkedIn growth, AI-assisted writing, ideation, personal branding, and using rapid iteration to choose stronger hooks, angles, and content before publishing.
Selection Methodology
We selected the leaders on this list based on their relevance, demonstrated expertise and impact, professional credibility, and ongoing contributions to the field.
Create a Free Account to Read More
You need to sign up for a free membership to complete reading this article:
Have an account? Log In
We look for evidence such as leading meaningful initiatives or delivering notable results within their organizations, developing influential ideas or practices, publishing research or educational resources, speaking or teaching, and other contributions that demonstrate impact within their work or the broader field.
What’s Next?
Ready to grow? Subscribe to The CMO newsletter to stay on top of trends and get the latest tips, resources, and guides from our community of seasoned marketing leaders straight to your inbox.
