Smart business owners know that engaging people on social media is critical to success. Customers are ever more interested in interacting with companies, sharing their feedback and becoming more involved with the brand. Those that can leverage social media effectively already stand head and shoulders above the brand. In a nutshell, as Simon Mainwaring, a leading brand consultant and social media whizz puts it:
“The new dynamics between brands and consumers, driven by social media, are proving to be a powerful impetus for change”.
In 2014 Leadtail, in search of social media insights conducted a study to understand how mid-size company marketers use social media to show themselves as thought leaders and people to be followed. The goal was to focus on companies of 50 to 5,000 employees to understand the trends and behaviours associated with marketing and decision making at this level. In trying to gain important insights to help other companies better understand how to do social media well, the study looked at a number of different areas, for example:
- How do marketers at mid-size companies describe themselves on social media sites?
- Which social media sites do marketers at these companies use to spread the word?
- What do these marketers talk about, in terms of other people and topics of focus?
- What types of media sources do these people use and share with others?
- What people and other brands appear to have the most influence on these marketers?
There were a number of interesting take away learnings from the study. Of perhaps the most enlightening is that these mid-sized marketers had actual personas online. They were authentic. As Leadtail puts it:
“The social profiles of marketers from mid-size companies provide insights into both their professional interests and the topics they are passionate about in their personal lives (like sports, comedy and culture”.
The type of content that these marketers share is also of interest. It seems that in engaging people on Twitter, these marketers that were able to grab the attention of so many others had a focus on business and strategy. Interestingly however, mainstream media was the top category of content type shared with 43% of all content shared fitting into this type. Favourite sources for such information were Forbes, the Huffington Post, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and BuzzFeed. Perhaps unsurprisingly, industry media accounted for 34% of the shares, and social media itself, 18%. Popular industry sources were Mashable, Business Insider, Adweek, TechCrunch and Ad Age. Meanwhile, the most popular social media shares were YouTube videos.
Understanding who does social media marketing well is helpful in building your own strategy. By knowing who the top 50 people mentioned on Twitter are you can review what they do and emulate it in your own style. The important part is in your own style. Copying others is inauthentic and unlikely to engage.
So, who are these people top 50 people most mentioned on Twitter by mid-size marketers? They are:
1. Gary Vaynerchuk @garyvee
2. Jay Baer @jaybaer
3. MarketingProfs.com @MarketingProfs
4. Vala Afshar @ValaAfshar
5. Michael Brenner @BrennerMichael
6. Jack Dorsey @jack
7. Jeff Bullas @jeffbullas
8. Guy Kawasaki @GuyKawasaki
9. Joe Pulizzi @JoePulizzi
10. Ted Rubin @TedRubin
11. Jeremiah Owyang @jowyang
12. Mark W. Schaefer @markwschaefer
13. Kent Huffman @KentHuffman
14. Brian Solis @briansolis
15. Belle Beth Cooper @BelleBCooper
16. Augie Ray @augieray
17. Ian Gertler @IanGertler
18. Chris Brogan @chrisbrogan
19. Dave Kerpen @DaveKerpen
20. Margaret Molloy @MargaretMolloy
21. Michael Brito @Britopian
22. Brian Morrissey @bmorrissey
23. R Ray Wang @rwang0
24. Brian Kardon @bkardon
25. Marissa Mayer @marissamayer
26. Marc Benioff @Benioff
27. Mitch Joel @mitchjoel
28. Cheryl K. Burgess @ckburgess
29. Gini Dietrich @ginidietrich
30. Ann Handley @annhandley
31. Lee Odden @leeodden
32. Christopher S. Penn @cspenn
33. Jon Miller @jonmiller
34. DJ Waldow @djwaldow
35. Jimmy Fallon @jimmyfallon
36. Sheryl Sandberg @sherylsandberg
37. Unmarketing @unmarketing
38. Peter Shankman @petershankman
39. Bryan Kramer @bryankramer
40. David Armano @armano
41. Kerry Gorgone @KerryGorgone
42. Glen Gilmore @GlenGilmore
43. Jill Rowley @jill_rowley
44. Stan Phelps @9INCHmarketing
45. Scott Brinker @chiefmartec
46. Adam Singer @AdamSinger
47. David Ortiz @davidortiz
48. Dick Costello @dickc
49. Jeffrey Hayzlett @JeffreyHayzlett
50. Shel Israel @shelisrael
Paula Newton is a business writer, editor and management consultant with extensive experience writing and consulting for both start-ups and long established companies. She has ten years management and leadership experience gained at BSkyB in London and Viva Travel Guides in Quito, Ecuador, giving her a depth of insight into innovation in international business. With an MBA from the University of Hull and many years of experience running her own business consultancy, Paula’s background allows her to connect with a diverse range of clients, including cutting edge technology and web-based start-ups but also multinationals in need of assistance. Paula has played a defining role in shaping organizational strategy for a wide range of different organizations, including for-profit, NGOs and charities. Paula has also served on the Board of Directors for the South American Explorers Club in Quito, Ecuador.
