2015 is here, and with the New Year comes new strategies, technology and trends in the marketing and PR industries. One of the best ways to keep up with all of this new information is to explore Twitter, where you can engage with influencers who are using these ideas, grow your network and become a thought leader in your field.
In the first #NiceToTweetYou post of this new year, we’re listing our old and new favorite influencers for you to add to your Twitter lists. Get ready to hit that “follow” button!
First, here’s a few new influencers to add to your Twitter list:
- Alison Podworski (@AlisonMayPR): A fellow female entrepreneur, Alison is the owner and CEO of Alison May Public Relations. Her tweets are full of fun images, marketing tips and her life as a mother, wife and CEO. Talk about great work/life balance!
- Mark Schaefer (@markwschaefer): With over 100,000 followers, Mark is a social media and content marketing superstar, sharing his knowledge on blogging, resources, social tools and more! If you’re looking to learn more about creating great content, Mark’s the guy to follow.
- Sarah Mitchell (@globalcopywrite): Sarah is a content marketing consultant, speaker, Head of Content Strategy at Lush Digital Media and one of the hosts of the Brand Newsroom podcast. Sarah’s tweets are a wealth of information on content marketing best practices and brand journalism.
Here are some fabulous influencers we featured in 2014 — make sure they’re on your radar:
- Heather Whaling (@PRtini): Founder and CEO of Geben Communications, Heather Whaling is a social media and PR powerhouse (and fellow Columbus dweller) who speaks nationwide, co-moderates #pr20chat and was voted one of the top 30 PR experts to follow on Twitter. Heather is incredibly smart, committed to social good and women’s empowerment, tech savvy and she leads an amazing team of smart PR pros to boot.
- Jay Baer (@jaybaer): Although not *technically* a PR pro, Jay Baer is a content marketing influencer must follow. He’s a New York Times best-selling author, entrepreneur, sought-after speaker, runs the world’s #1 content marketing blog…basically, he’s a wealth of knowledge about all things marketing. Jay also hosts and produces the Social Pros podcast and vlogs daily on #JayToday.
- Rebekah Iliff (@RebekahIliff) Chief Strategy Officer at AIRPR, Rebecca is incredibly smart, author of amust-read Inc. column PLUS she totally gets how to tangibly measure PR back to results — triple threat at least. Rebekah keeps her Twitter feed full of news relevant to PR pros and is also a contributing writer for Mashable, Entrepreneur, Huffington Post, PRWeek’s “The Hub”, and the Salesforce blog.
- MuckRack (@MuckRack) Want to know what journalists really think? Follow MuckRack. The team at MuckRack uses social media to create smart and relevant opportunities for PR pros and journalists to collaborate together in ways that keeps both parties (and clients) happy and informed.
- Arik Hanson (@ArikHanson) Arik writes one of the leading PR industry blogs recognized by PRWeek and PRSA and works with top Fortune 500 brands. We follow Arik for his PR insight and ability to address PR and industry trends head-on. He’s a PR thought leader worth following and we highly suggest subscribing to his blog.
- Gini Dietrich (@ginidietrich) Named the number one PR professional by Klout and TechCrunch, Gini Dietrich is the author of Spin Sucks, a leading PR industry blog, and CEO and founder of Arment Dietrich. Gini’s blog is a must-read for PR pros as each post delivers cutting-edge insight into what’s happening in PR, social media and content as well as best practices and key concepts for the PR industry.
- Prezly (@Prezly) Even though this recommendation is for a brand, we have to give a shoutout to the team at PRezly for consistently sharing content that provides PR pros with perspective from journalists and addresses the sacred cow that is the news release. Follow Prezly for say-it-like-it-is insight into how, why and when of news distribution and creative ideas for giving journalists what they really want.
- Carrie Hill (@CarrieHill): One of the founders of Ignitor Digital, Carrie is an SEO and social expert, speaker and contributor to several industry outlets such as SearchEngineLand and SearchEngineWatch. Basically, if you want great tweets on search and social, Carrie is a must-follow.
- Nate Riggs (@nateriggs): A friend and supporter of Team Belle, Nate is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to content marketing and social strategy. Between his highly-ranked blog, speaking gigs, teaching at Ohio University, hosting the Social Restaurant Podcast and being a boss at NR Media Group, it’s amazing he has time to tweet such useful and interesting content daily.
- Leah Franklin (@leahkaye126): It’s always fun to see students who are passionate about growing in the indsutry. As an aspiring PR pro, Leah stands out with her thoughtful questions, tweets and eagerness to learn. Also, she was recently featured in the Wall Street Journal – go Leah!
- PRNewser (@PRNewser): While not a singular person, PRNewser is full of the latest news, trends and more related to the PR and social media industry. From quirky PR news to the latest trends and interviews with industry experts — if you want to keep up with what’s up PR-wise, follow along with Patrick Coffee and team.
- Jayme Soulati (@Soulati): Jayme is spunky and very smart. She’s a master at helping brands identify and deliver their message to increase ROI and boost effectiveness. Follow her for helpful PR, content and brand advice. She’s also an Ohioian, which of course means bonus points from our team.
- Laura Click (@lauraclick): Laura is the founder and CEO of Blue Kite Marketing and a personal friend. Laura’s tweets are upbeat, smart and practical. If you need advice on what’s up with all things social, Laura is one of the best sources to follow. Her tweets are knowledgeable and full of valuable info on social and content marketing.
- Deirdre Breakenridge (@dbreakenridge): Deirdre the CEO of Pure Perfection Communications, a notable speaker, author, adjunct professor and a co-founder of the #PRStudChat. Deirdre tweets about cutting-edge PR tools, trends and strategy, providing great insight and resources to her followers.
- Jessica Lawlor (@jesslaw) Inspiration alert! We first got to know Jess in her role as features editor for Muck Rack and quickly fell head-over-heels for her informative and inspirational tweets. She’s been featured numerous times within the media and PRSA as a top PR influencer to watch and an inspirational leader with her #GetGutsy take on life. Jess rocks.
- Amy Schmittauer (@Schmittastic): The mind behind Savvy Sexy Social, Amy is a fellow Columbus-dweller and a thought leader in content marketing and how brands can utilize YouTube. Her tweets are full of humor and the latest on tech, marketing and business.
- Jim Dougherty (leaderswest): Jim is the force behind leaderswest, a leading digital marketing journal. Jim tweets about marketing and SEO issues, strategy, trends and best practices. Warning: It’s difficult not to retweet every one of Jim’s tweets.
- Tara Parsell (@tara_parsell): Coming from ABC News to the PR field, Tara is the newest member of Team Belle and brings a journalistic perspective to her tweets with a mixture of humor, PR and life in Central Ohio. Bonus: She also has an adorable puppy.
- Jess Ostroff (@jessostroff): Jess and her team at Don’t Panic Mgmt support many content, social and PR influencers (like Jay Baer, Gini Dietrich and more!) and her tweets are a wealth of knowledge within each of those industries. Jess is also a world traveler, aspiring trapeze artist and foodie.
- Shonali Burke (@shonali): The principal of Shonali Burke Consulting, Shonali is also a teacher at Johns Hopkins University, a renowned speaker, founder of the #measurePR Twitter chat and was voted one of the 25 Women to Rock Social Media by TopRank’s Online Marketing Blog.
- Jessica Vogel (@jayvogue2): Jessica is an up-and-coming PR pro who loves building and executing needle-moving PR strategies. She’s a great example of how to build your network and stay current despite the pull of an abundant school schedule. As part of the Scripps chapter of PRSSA at Ohio University and Chipotle’s student brand ambassador, look for relevant, thought provoking content from Jessica.
Don’t forget to send your new follows a #NiceToTweetYou welcome and here’s to an amazing 2015!
We love making new friends and finding influencers on Twitter. Follow us @ThinkBelleCom or share your favorite PR/marketing thought leader with us below – we could feature them in our next post!
