The “digital disruption” of 2017 brings both challenges and new opportunities to modern marketers looking to expand beyond traditional marketing practices. Social media is a major player in this digital landscape.

For this reason, it’s important that brands turn to industry influencers to understand best practices for tackling what social media has to offer. To make it a little easier to stay on top of these trends, I’ve compiled the top eight social media influencers to start following:

1. Ted Rubin (@TedRubin) – Ted, a leading social marketing strategist featured in our “Insight from Experts” series, is a keynote speaker and brand evangelist with more than 20 years of experience in marketing and sales. He is the acting CMO of Brand Innovators, a company that provides brand marketers with skills and best practices for making adjustments during the shift from traditional to digital marketing. Ted coined the term “Return on Relationship,” referring to the need for planning, strategizing and evaluating social marketing. Be sure to check out his page for the latest news on social media marketing!

“Old marketing was dictation… new marketing is communication. Change from Convince & Convert to Converse & Convert.”  -Ted Rubin

2. Brian D. Evans (@BrianDEvans) – Brian is the founder and CEO of Influencive, a company focused on providing unconventional business and entrepreneurial wisdom to people looking to grow their brand and understand what makes a person or company influential. Brian was named a top seven influencer by Forbes and is a contributor for Inc, Entrepreneur, The Huffington Post and Business Insider. He engages with his 265K followers on Twitter through sharing industry trends, promoting his company, and highlighting best practices for brands in online marketing.

3. Ann Handley (@MarketingProfs) – Ann’s second appearance in our influencer blog series is a testament to how well respected she is in the industry. As the Chief Content Officer for MarketingProfs, Ann is a go-to influencer for marketing news and content creation. She leverages her talents on social media, and was cited in Forbes as the most influential woman on social media. She is a member of the LinkedIn Influencer Program, where she advises marketers internationally about the skills necessary to build a successful company. She is the author of Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Ridiculously Good Content and co-author of the best-selling book Content Rules. Visit Ann’s Twitter profile and become one of her 392K followers for some fresh tips and tricks!

4. Michael A. Stelzner (@Mike_Stelzner) – Michael is the founder of Social Media Examiner, a guide to help marketers leverage social media to connect with customers, drive site traffic, generate awareness and increase sales. He also started the annual Social Media Marketing World Conference, which is attended by leading marketers. These two forums put Michael on the marketing map, and have continued to help him grow his Twitter presence to 153K followers. For more news from Michael, check out his Social Media Marketing podcast or his book about composing white papers.

“When you get other people involved with your content, you not only provide value to your audience, you also forge relationships that can result in long-term benefits to your business.” -Michael Stelzner

5. Susanna Gebauer (@dreckbaerfrau) – Susanna is the founder of The Social Marketers, a company focused on providing marketers with comprehensive training that helps them increase site traffic and brand awareness. She is known for expanding her thought leadership through her blog, and via her Twitter account, where she has garnered over 225K followers in the past seven years. Susanna’s expertise extends beyond her love for social marketing, and into various kinds of digital and content marketing practices. Be sure to find her on social… she won’t disappoint!

6. Andrew Hutchinson (@adhutchinson) – Andrew is a self-proclaimed “data geek” with a passion for writing and social media. He’s the Head of Content and Social Media for @Socialmedia2day, a company with almost 625K followers on Twitter. Andrew focuses on sharing best practices and tips for a successful social marketing strategy, which eventually helps brands build awareness and drive sales. Be sure to visit the website for interesting webinars, newsletters and tidbits on how to be a successful modern marketer.

7. Neal Schaffer (@NealSchaffer) – Neal thrives off of helping brands generate ROI from social media using the latest and greatest social marketing techniques. He is the founder of Maximize Your Social, as well as the co-founder of the leading social media conference, Social Tools Summit. Neal is the author of multiple award winning books about social media strategies, and regularly contributes to the business blog that he created, Maximize Social Business. Be one of Neal’s 178K followers and stay up to date on his upcoming speaking opportunities!

“Social media is half science half art: I can teach you the science but you need to be the artist.” – Neal Schaffer

8. Robert Jones (@exodusanalytics) – Robert is a modern marketer hailing from Ireland who specializes in targeting your audience through social media. He focuses on helping to curate viral content and drive traffic organically. He is a consultant at Exodus Digital Marketing and has been dubbed a “Jack-of-All Digital Marketers” by Entrepreneur Magazine.His knowledge of the industry is evident through his commendable history of marketing consulting and his 34K followers on Twitter.

Social media integration is key to any marketing and PR strategy. While the list of social influencers could go on forever, these eight are experts worth checking out. For more marketing influencer lists, take a look at our other blogs below!

• Top 10 Content Marketing Influencers You Should Be Following
• Top 10 SEO Influencers to Follow During 2017