Influencers

of 2011Influencers

of 2011

Social MediaSocial MediaTop 10 Picks for Leading

WEB WINNERS

Picking the top social media influencers of the year is a tough job. We researched their numbers of followers, their engagement levels, their reach and their overall mentions using the Sysomos MAP listening tool. We checked their Klout scores, their Twitter rankings, and their Facebook popularity. We didn’t want to just serve up the same names as everyone else, so we did our best to find something a little different.

To deliver that different take, we then looked for demonstrated leadership in unique areas. A new book or radical move this year helped to catch our eye. Ultimately, we focused on the people who kept popping up no matter where we looked. Influence is a holistic thing, so we also zeroed in on people we felt were interesting both online and off. We hope you will find something you can relate to in our choices—and that you take the time to follow these online influencers in the year head. You’ll be glad you did!

WEB WINNERSTop 10 Picks for the Leading Social

Media Influencers of 2011

1. Chris BroganA Rebel with a Cause

Chris shows up on every list we searched. He’s a well-known social media expert and best selling author. He was a featured speaker at the 2011 PRSA International Conference and he’s one of the top 100 Twitter users in the world. Chris has all the professional credentials to be considered top shelf without reservation.

Our personal favorite thing about Chris is his brazen desertion of Facebook for Google+. He has even written a new book, to be released in January, about how to best use this new social media network. He is blazing new trails, stepping out in front of a new development and calling it like he sees it. We +1 him.

WEB WINNERSTop 10 Picks for the Leading Social Media Influencers of 2011

2. Mari Smith Pied Piper of the Online World

Mari is mentioned everywhere you turn on Facebook. She is highly connected, often retweeted, prolific and engaging. She travels all over the world speaking about social media and is perhaps one of the nicest people you will ever meet. Mari’s latest book, The New Relationship Marketing: How to Build a Large, Loyal, Profitable Network Using the Social Web, demonstrates her expertise perfectly.

What we think makes Mari such a great influencer is her zealous advocacy for the medium. Dubbed the “Piped Piper of the Online World” by Fast Company, she lives, breathes and adores social. We adore her for that, along with millions of others. You go, Mari!

WEB WINNERSTop 10 Picks for the Leading Social Media Influencers of 2011

3. Chris AbrahamBecause the Medium Is the Message

Chris Abraham is president and COO of the social media marketing firm Abraham Harrison LLC. Chris specializes in social media and technology strategy, online education, virtual community building, web publishing and blogging. He came in with strong Twitter numbers and lots of mentions within our listening platform.

What we like most about Chris is his attention to memetics. The memes of our culture greatly influence us and Chris is both a student and a master of them. Add in that he was “found in the company of a brood of Unicorns and is believed to have been bred for his skills in magic” (his words, not ours), and you have a truly unique 2011 influencer.

WEB WINNERSTop 10 Picks for the Leading Social Media Influencers of 2011

4. Guy KawasakiAn Enchanting Winner

Guy Kawasaki is a busy man. He’s the creator of Alltop.com, a media library of 15K+ different blogs and content sources. He’s a consultant and author of multiple books. He’s a highly sought after speaker, and his Twitter account is on fire.

Guy’s latest book, Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions, speaks to a mindset that is so often missing in social media. Much like one of our favorites, Gary Vaynerchuk, Guy addresses the need to be interesting and leverage factors such as personal charisma in order to be truly successful in building a social media following. He certainly practices what he preaches, if his numbers of followers and fans are any indication!

WEB WINNERSTop 10 Picks for the Leading Social Media Influencers of 2011

Ford Motor Co. must be revved up to still have Scott Monty helming its social media as the organization’s global digital and multimedia communications manager. Under his guidance, this classic automobile brand is working hard to reinvent itself via online engagement and is finding plenty of success in doing just that.

Scott has been featured in over 20 books and is revolutionizing the way enterprise corporations are applying social media. We admire his tenacity, energy and drive. Oh, and one final little-known fact: Scott coined the Oxford Dictionary-accepted term “tweetup.” We think that certainly is influential!

5. Scott Monty Rev Your Engines!

WEB WINNERSTop 10 Picks for the Leading Social Media Influencers of 2011

Reg Saddler, a.k.a. Zaibatsu, came up as a high-authority, high-relevancy Twitter source when we queried MAP for "social media" + "influencer" +"top.” He has a 10 out of 10 authority ranking. He has 150K+ followers on Twitter. Reg also cohosts a social media podcast called The Drill Down. His bio states that he is, “Just a guy who loves Social Media, Tech, Business and News.”

Reg is actually a little bit of a bad boy, having been banned from Digg in 2008 (while being its third all-time highest user ever). He has edge, is a prolific resource provider, and doesn’t shy away from the tough issues.

6. Reg SaddlerThe Howard Stern of Social?

WEB WINNERSTop 10 Picks for the Leading Social Media Influencers of 2011

7. Neal Schaffer LinkedIn Connector

Neal has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg/Business Week and the American Express Open Forum. He is an author, speaker and social media strategy consultant. He demonstrates strong community and engagement, because he shares his virtual space by featuring other writers, as well.

We feature Neal here because of his consistent devotion to the power of LinkedIn and his attention to the B2B social media landscape. He came up high on queries for “PR 2.0” and “LinkedIn.” His latest book, Maximizing LinkedIn for Sales and Social Media Marketing: An Unofficial, Practical Guide to Selling & Developing B2B Business on LinkedIn, puts him squarely into the influencer category. Check him out.

WEB WINNERSTop 10 Picks for the Leading Social Media Influencers of 2011

8. Brian ClarkBlogger Guru to the Stars

Brian Clark, founder of Copyblogger Media, is a force of nature when it comes to great blogging. He is also the consummate social media and blogging expert among social media experts.

Brian has been featured in books by other social media elite like Seth Godin, Darren Rouse, Chris Brogan and more. Daniel Pink included him in Free Agent Nation. Brian’s numbers are sky high and his mentions are prolific. He’s number five on AdAge’s Power150 Marketing Blogs list, consistently appearing on the top 10 list time and time again. As far as blogging reach within social media goes, Brian is a a source we RSS.

WEB WINNERSTop 10 Picks for the Leading Social Media Influencers of 2011

Social media’s power is often manifested best in the hands of citizens, not social media gurus or celebrities. We get to see real life from the streets through them. Rosuflood is a perfect example of the unsung yet highly influential social media hero—two guys, some graphics, a bit of video and a catastrophic natural disaster.

This series of “I know the flood” videos has spread like wildfire in a country devastated by massive flooding in 2011. They’ve shared information about how to be safe in a post-flood environment with a population with low literacy rates, providing clean water handling tips and more. As social media influence goes, video rocks—but video + social good rocks even better.

9. RosufloodThai Flood Video Heroes

WEB WINNERSTop 10 Picks for the Leading Social Media Influencers of 2011

Influence comes in many forms. Sometimes it’s your numbers. Sometimes it’s your creativity. Sometimes it’s the community you build around your ideas. Steve Jobs wins on all of those fronts. We knew a 2011 list of top social media influencers would not be complete without mentioning Steve Jobs.

The social media revolution would not be what it is today without Steve Jobs. His influence at the helm of Apple has turned the branding, communication, and Internet worlds on their heads. In a world where PCs once ruled, he created a cultural ethos based in creativity and style. If that isn’t significant influence, we don’t know what is.

10. Steve Jobs A Legend Lives On

WEB WINNERSTop 10 Picks for the Leading Social Media Influencers of 2011

Influence Is Almost Inexplicable

We could have listed the already well-known superstar influencers, but it seemed like everyone else had already. While we certainly don’t want to imply that those go-to influencers are in any way inconsequential, we do love adding our twist to the idea of influence.

We instead would have liked to feature more grassroots movement leaders for events like Arab Spring. We see the world pulsating with creativity and crowd sourcing. We know the numbers are important, but when you can move the hearts and minds of the world, we can’t resist gravitating towards it. That is influence to us. We welcome your comments on the top 2011 influencers in the comment section below …

WEB WINNERSTop 10 Picks for the Leading Social

Media Influencers of 2011

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WEB WINNERSTop 10 Picks for the Leading Social

Media Influencers of 2011