Who Really Are The Best Valuable Social Media Influencers?

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.

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.

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 "?

What Others Have To Say About Valuable Social Media Influencers

Ali Lawrence

"S

ocial 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. "

The best social media influencers are ones that actually have sway over their audience. - Ali Lawrence 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/

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

Scott Eddy from http://www.mrscotteddy.com/

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

Tor Refsland from www.timemanagementchef.com

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 R

adice, 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, CEO of Social Quant

They've put in the work, tested what they preach and reaped the rewards. - Mike Kawula 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 built

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 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, wit

h 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,

Social Media Influencers - people that take action on social media - Don Purdum. Click To Tweet

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.

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, from LaunchYourDream

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!

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 http://pvariel.com.

The theory of 80:20 formula works well with the social media. - Philip Verghese Ariel. Click To Tweet

Brenda Pace

Sue Anne Dunlevie

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

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.

Top Image via Brenda Pace of Virtual Bren