influencers - Express Writers

35 Popular Bloggers in Content Marketing You Should Be Following

June 19, 2024August 1, 2017 by Adam Oakley

Have you been looking for fresh voices to add to your feed? Or, maybe you need some industry practical advice from people who have been there, done that, in the wonderful world of online marketing? I’ve got just the list for you! From beginner-level advice to the most advanced industry tips and tricks, these bloggers run the gamut from copywriters to social media marketers to industry influencers. Each one of them will give your brain something to chew on no matter where you’re at, or what you do, in content marketing and social media. You’re going to want to follow them on Twitter and read their blogs, or listen to their podcasts. Let’s dive in! 35 Popular Bloggers in Content Marketing to Watch: Get Inspired By These Experts This list is is no particular order. 1. Steve Rayson & the BuzzSumo Team Here’s the thing: I’ve seen many bloggers grow stagnant through time, but that is not true of the BuzzSumo team. I have rarely found a more epic staff of bloggers than BuzzSumo. Steve Rayson, co-founder, “broke the interwebs” with this post: We Analyzed 100 Million Headlines. Here’s What We Learned (New Research). One thing that makes them stand out is the amount of data-based, statistical research they do in the industry of content marketing. It helps all of us know what not to do – and what to do. BuzzSumo’s blog is a blog to watch, follow, absorb and read – weekly. 2. The Smart Blogger Team If you need blogging and writing advice, Smart Blogger should be your first stop. Founded by Jon Morrow and headed up by Glen Long, the Managing Editor, the blog features a rotation of authors and engaging topics. Here’s a sampling: “Writer’s Block: 27 Ways to Crush It Forever,” “20 Rules for Writing So Crystal Clear Even Your Dumbest Relative Will Understand,” and “How to Be Unforgettable.” 3. Seth Godin If you want a unique approach to marketing, turn to Seth Godin. One of the first bloggers that made it, and currently one of the most popular bloggers in the world, Seth is an industry thought leader, popular blogger, and best-selling author. He has an amazing record because of committing to one blog a day – some of them famously 1-2 sentences long. (His works include The Dip and All Marketers Are Liars.) Seth’s blog is a compendium of fresh, out-of-the-box thinking about problems in marketing. His words will get your gears turning and your mind humming. 4. Copyblogger Another authority on copywriting and content marketing is Copyblogger. Brian Clark, the founder, is a pioneer when it comes to blogging. The proof is in the pudding for these guys. They built their company from the ground-up using the techniques they teach. And, teach they do – they offer a free library of training material on top of fresh, informative blog posts. [bctt tweet=”Looking for great #ContentMarketing and #SocialMedia blogs to read? Check out this round-up!” username=”ExpWriters”] 5. Sujan Patel If you want to learn how to create effective, engaging content that works, Sujan Patel is your guy. He’s a top internet marketer, has founded multiple startups, and he blogs at major sites like Forbes, Entrepreneur, Inc., and HubSpot. He co-founded Web Profits, a growth marketing agency, and speaks at hundreds of national and international marketing events. This guy is an expert with 13 years in the biz, and the mind of a hustler as well as content marketer. As a result, he’s one to listen to and learn from. 6. Mark Schaefer – {grow} blog Mark Schaefer’s {grow} blog is regularly cited as one of the top five business blogs worldwide. He’s a star of internet marketing, and has the chops to prove it. He’s also a speaker and educator who enlightens the world about social media marketing. Bonus: I had him on my podcast, and he’s also delightfully down-to-earth! He also wrote the foreword to my new book. 7. Convince and Convert by Jay Baer If you want to understand how to make the customer experience in content a stand-out, read the Convince and Convert blog. Led by Jess Ostroff and internet pioneer Jay Baer, C&C accurately refers to themselves as a group of expert “counselors” who can guide you to content greatness. Content Marketing Institute even crowned them the #1 content marketing blog. 8. Jeff Goins If you want to be a better writer in general, Jeff Goins is your guide. He provides insights and advice from the writing life, including how to balance writing as creative work and as a job. He should know – he’s the author of five books, some of them best-sellers, and has a lot of gold nuggets for better writing and better copy. 9. Joe Pulizzi & Content Marketing Institute Joe Pulizzi is a huge pioneer in this amazing industry. He founded Content Marketing Institute (which was acquired by UBM in 2016) in 2007, and more or less started the widespread use of the term “content marketing”. You can read his column on CMI. The entire CMI team is awesome. They hold a Twitter chat, #CMWorld, at 11 AM CST on Tuesdays. A unique trademark they use is a widespread brand usage (down to the suits Joe wears on stage to speak) of the color orange. 10. Jeff Bullas Another big name in digital content marketing is Jeff Bullas – his success comes mostly because of how long-term and committed Jeff stayed at producing high-quality content. He started his site back in 2008 with a $10 investment, and today, he ranks as a top global influencer in the industry. His blog covers a whole spectrum of topics. Read about copywriting, business management, content marketing, social media marketing tips, and more. He’s a voice you should listen to – Forbes named him one of the “Top 20 Influencers of CMOs” in 2017. 11. CoSchedule Content marketing requires extensive planning, and nobody knows that better than CoSchedule. Their blog, along with their platform, focuses on this piece of the puzzle. It provides timely, useful … Read more

Expert Weigh-In: Content Marketing Predictions For 2016

December 31, 2020December 31, 2015 by Adam Oakley

We talked to more than 15 content marketing experts (19, to be exact) this month and asked them for 2016-geared content marketing predictions on our industry. Here’s what they shared. Longer insights directly from the experts are shared below the infographic. The Experts Weigh-In: 19 Content Marketing Predictions For 2016 1. Joe Pulizzi, Content Marketing Evangelist, Founder of Content Marketing Institute, Author, Speaker, Twitter @JoePulizzi “Focus everything on building subscribers – one content type, one platform and consistent delivery over time.” 2. Kevan Lee, Content Crafter at Buffer, Twitter @kevanlee “Really excited to see where content marketing goes in 2016. I have a sense that we’re nearing some really big changes, perhaps even a bit toward segmentation of sorts. I’m kind of thinking back even to blogs like Daring Fireball and Kottke that have been curators of a sort, while also taking occasion to go longform on a topic if need be. This mix – long plus short, or rich media plus plain text also – is one direction I could see things heading, as it might support the varied tastes of readers who might want different things!” 3. Steve Rayson, Director at BuzzSumo, Twitter @steverayson “The job of content marketers will be challenging in 2016. The volume of content published will continue to grow exponentially and getting your voice heard will be harder. Thus it will be important to research content opportunities before you start creating content. For example, what content does your audience love, what emotional elements engage them, what formats do they like and what content do they particularly like to share such as quotes, facts, images, tips, research, news, etc.? What is the best content in your space and how can you improve on it? It will also be increasingly important to have an amplification strategy before you create content. Who will share the content and who will link to it? You need a clear outreach strategy for influencers and link building. Building relationships with key influencers will grow in importance. In 2016 the battle for content engagement will be won or lost before any content is even written.” 4. Ted Rubin, Social Marketing Strategist, Keynote Speaker, Brand Evangelist, Acting CMO of Brand Innovators, Twitter @tedrubin “For marketers thinking about approaching content marketing from a networking and community building aspect rather than a marketing and sales aspect can be very difficult. Brands need to attract customers, but breaking through the clutter is challenging. Every day brands and marketers are spending millions trying to get you to use, keep using, and share that you love their brands. But why aren’t they doing everything they can, and using some of those millions to do it (probably way less that they are spending on those marketing campaigns), making experiences with their brand remarkable. Opportunities to do this are given to brands each and every day and they simply, turn their heads, rave about their latest and great “campaign’ as if it were a military conquest, and pass up ways to really create customers for life. 2016 needs to be the year of doing what I call… Looking People in the Eye Digitally. The last few decades of marketing tactics have made us lazy communicators and I’ve had just about enough. Most often we don’t even pay attention to who we are talking to other than via the data we collect (and even that’s a maybe). In order to fix this and really start to benefit from the content we produce (both as individuals and as companies), we need to start looking people in the eye digitally.’ Brands, in 2016, and going forward… Standout by “LIKING” them BEFORE they “LIKE” you. #RonR… #NoLetUp!” 5. Michael A. Stelzner, Founder of Social Media Examiner, host of Social Media Marketing podcast, Twitter @Mike_Stelzner “360 Degree Live Video Experiences: The year 2015 started an era of live casting with the introduction of new technology such as Periscope, Facebook Live and Blab. 2016 will take some of these live broadcasts to an entirely new level with the introduction of live 360 degree broadcasts that will allow people to move their mobile phones and experience the action as if they were actually present and moving their heads. In addition we’ll see the wide scale adoption of cost effective virtual reality devices that will enable fully immersive 3D experiences that are live. Much of this will be enabled by low cost 360 cameras like the Ricoh Theta combined with economical devices like Google Paper that transform the smart phones everyone already owns into a virtual reality device. This represents an entirely new opportunity for marketers to give factory tours and any other form in-person experience the mind can imagine.” 6. Mark Traphagen, Top 10 Expert for SEO & Content Marketing, Speaker, Sr. Director of Marketing at Stone Temple Consulting, Twitter @marktraphagen “Make 2016 your year of quality over quantity. Rather than straining to get out as many content assets as you can, concentrate on producing fewer but truly epic pieces, and then repurpose and re-promote them over and over again.” 7. Brian Fanzo, Change Evangelist & Keynote Speaker, host of #SbizHour, #CloudTalk, SMACtalk, Twitter @iSocialFanz “Content Marketing in 2016 will see a new focus on creating great content that embraces real-time input from the community while creating and delivering the content at the right time! “Content is king” inspired marketers to create content just because they knew that content was powerful rather than asking for feedback, leveraging data and creating great content. Thanks to apps like snapchat, periscope and Facebook live streaming brands can now crowd source content ideas in real-time while also surveying their audience to better understand the content they should be creating for their community. Live streaming will also drive a new focus on creating more authentic content and dissolving the notion that customers prefer perfect content. 2016 is an exciting year for content marketing as I believe the content will be more data driven and include the community in the creation like never before ultimately making happy customers, … Read more