The New Year’s period is always chocked-full with ‘top ten’ lists and countdowns, and unfortunately, too many blog posts and articles that come out in this period are pretty much news/information you can’t really do anything with. Inward reflection, but not actionable; sentimental, but not really something you can leverage moving forward.
I’ve been thinking for the last few weeks that for the New Year I wanted to do a post that is action-oriented and that will help you be a better B2B marketer in 2010.
I also believe strongly in being a catalyst for sharing ideas — which is why I started this blog — and so I thought one of the most-actionable posts I could do would be to point you to resources where you can learn from the best and brightest in the B2B marketing community throughout 2010. The gift that keeps on giving …
What are my criteria for the luminaries I’ve included in this list?
I didn’t start out with a formal set of criteria, but here’s what’s emerged:
- First, these are all people that prolifically share their insights — cross-medium. They Tweet, they blog, they speak, they write books, they consult, etc. And they are generous in this regard.
- Second, their expertise centers around new strategy, innovation and technology for marketing — particularly B2B marketing — and they are truly advancing the body of Marketing 2.0 knowledge … advancements that will help us cure the ad-centric, interruptive, paternalistic Mad Men hangover that has plagued marketing for decades.
- Third, these are people whose insights I actually follow. There is no one on this list whose insight I would not personally recommend and whose own books, blogs posts, Tweets, etc. I do not personally read.
- Fourth, and in all honesty, all of these folks — except for one — are on Twitter. Because if you’re not, and you have any insight into Marketing 2.0 … well, get with it!
- Fifth, I did not look at anyone else’s ‘top influencer’ list in putting my own list together, nor have I feigned reverence to others’ ideas of who is a thought leader … and who is not.
Disclaimer 1: This list may or may not be exhaustive, and it may or may not include people you think should be included on this list. So don’t be offended if I’ve left someone off. I probably have, and so I’ll endeavor to add additional people in the comments area below. And you should too!
Who made the list?
So who has new and innovative insights for ‘propelling’ B2B brands going into 2010?
I’ve grouped them by area of insight — [update] from my own POV, i.e., how I know/think of them and where I’ve learned from them, which may not be how others know/think of them – so here goes. Drum roll please …
Buyer 2.0 + Buyer Personas + Customer Experience
- Gord Hotchkiss (CEO of Enquiro)
- Peter Kim (Being Peter Kim blogger + Managing Director for Dachis Group)
- Steve Mulder (author of The User is Always Right + VP for Molecular)
- Laura Ramos (Forrester analyst)
Buyer Dialogue + Content Marketing
- Ardath Albee (consultant + wrote eMarketing Strategies for the Complex Sale)
- Michele Linn (Savvy B2B Marketing blogger/co-founder + freelance marketer)
- Valeria Maltoni (Fast Company columnist + The Conversation Agent blogger)
- Joe Pulizzi (Junta42 blogger + author of Get Content Get Customers)
- Stephanie Tilton (Savvy B2B Marketing blogger/co-founder + freelance marketer)
CRM 2.0
- Paul Greenberg (author of CRM at the Speed of Light + ‘Godfather of CRM’)
- Martin Schneider (CRM Outsiders blogger + evangelist for SugarCRM + former 451 analyst )
Lead Management + Demand Generation
- Brian J. Carroll (B2B Lead Generation blogger + author of Lead Generation for the Complex Sale)
- Jep Castelein (Lead Sloth blogger + demand generation/marketing technology consultant)
- Mike Damphousse (CEO of Green Leeds)
- Carlos Hidalgo (President of The Annuitas Group)
- Jay Hidalgo (CEO of The Annuitas Group)
- Robert Lesser (Acquiring Minds blogger + President of Direct Impact Marketing)
- Craig Rosenberg (The Funnelholic blogger + VP, Products and Services at Tippit) [update] Added to list.
Marketing Automation + Enterprise Marketing Management + B2B E-Marketing
Disclaimer 2: As you are probably aware if you follow my blogging, I lead field marketing and am a B2B marketing evangelist for Silverpop. Despite this, I did not want to omit others in my industry whose thought leadership I truly respect. So included below are folks whose ‘stuff’ I really do read and appreciate … even if some of them work for competing companies. And some of them don’t.
- Akin Arikan (author of Multichannel Marketing Metrics + evangelist for Unica)
- Kevin Joyce (CMO of Market2Lead) [update] Added to list.
- Jon Miller (Marketing VP + evangelist for Marketo)
- Loren McDonald (e-mail strategies columnist + VP of Industry Relations + e-mail marketing evangelist for Silverpop)
- Maria Pergolino (inbound marketer + evangelist for Marketo)
- David Raab (wrote Marketing Performance Management Toolkit + industry analyst/consultant) [update] After some additional thought, I decided to move David up to this category from measurement and analytics, where I’d initially placed him. He has a ton of insight into both topics, but I think this is a better fit.
- Will Schnabel (GM of International Markets for Silverpop + former CEO of Vtrenz, acquired by Silverpop)
- Steve Woods (CTO + evangelist for Eloqua)
Marketing Evolution
- Richard Bush (Managing Director of Base One Group) [update] Added to list.
- Kyle Flaherty (Dance With Strangers blogger + marketer for BreakingPoint)
- Malcolm Friedberg (Left Brain Marketing co-founder)
- Ann Handley (Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs)
- Megan Heuer (SiriusDecisions analyst)
- Chris Koch (B2B marketing analyst at ITSMA)
Measurement + Analytics
- Jim Lenskold (wrote Marketing ROI + marketing measurement consultant)
- Disclaimer 3: Jim got a free pass, but he should be on Twitter.
- Laura Patterson (President of VisionEdge Marketing)
PR 2.0
- David Meerman Scott (wrote The New Rules for Marketing and PR)
- Brian Solis (FutureWorks principal)
- Sam Whitmore (Media Survey founder)
Sales 2.0 + Sales/Marketing Alignment
- Mac McIntosh (sales guru + consultant)
- Rand Schulman (CMO of InsideView)
- Rod Sloane (No Bull Business blogger)
Search + Landing Page Optimization + Post-Click Marketing
- Scott Brinker (The Chief Marketing Technologist blogger + President/CTO of Ion Interactive + Harvard grad fellow)
- Rand Fishkin (CEO of SEOmoz)
- Deric Loh (SEO guru + digital marketer)
Social Media + User-generated Media + Social Networking
Disclaimer 4: Beware of anyone who claims to be a social media guru. 99% of social media gurus are ‘snake oil salespeople’ … seriously. That having been said, the people below have real Street Cred and are worthy of the guru moniker.
- Ken Burbary (Head of Digital Strategy & Social Media at Ernst & Young)
- Beth Harte (Community Manager for MarketingProfs)
- Amber Naslund (Community Manager for Radian6)
- Jeremiah Owyang (former Forrester analyst + Altimeter Group partner)
- Michael Volpe (VP Marketing + evangelist for Hubspot)
Who is missing?
I’m sure I’ve missed someone who is noteworthy. If you have additional luminaries you’d like added to this list, them please add them below and provide rationale for why they should be included.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Adam Needles, Adam Needles. Adam Needles said: Top #B2B Marketing 2.0 Luminaries to Follow in 2010. Just posted on PB. http://bit.ly/6gpfrE [what do you think?] [...]
Thank you for this list – it contains many who I already greatly respect and follow – and do you have a Twitter List for these?
Thanks for including me along with so many fantastic marketing folks. I follow most of them myself. Found a couple of new peeps to add as well.
Happy New Year!
Ardath
@Adam – thanks for including me with these B2B notables. All similarities to Craig Rosenberg are entirely coincidental
My blog is Acquiring Minds.
@Ian – I created a couple of Twitter lists that may be helpful:
http://twitter.com/#/list/RobertLesser/b2b-analysts
http://twitter.com/#/list/RobertLesser/marketing-automation
@RobertLesser
[...] more: Top B2B Marketing 2.0 Luminaries to Follow in 2010 « Propelling Brands By admin | category: marketing consultant | tags: bansal, castelein, complex, Consultant?, [...]
Adam — thanks for both including me on this list, with company whom I admire greatly, as well as introducing me to a few excellent folks that I didn’t know before!
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by abneedles: Top #B2B Marketing 2.0 Luminaries to Follow in 2010. Just posted on PB. http://bit.ly/6gpfrE [what do you think?]…
Thanks for adding me onto the list Adam
and sharing with us the many other cool marketing folks; and not really a guru, can say I love to share the insights which I hope are useful and practical with everyone.
happy new year !
Thanks Adam … it’s new/interesting for me not be mentioned in a marketing or analytics role! But, Sales 2.0 works well! I have a great deal of respct for Akun, Paul, Martin, Loren, and Jon. Actually we’re all becoming Smarketing people. Just follow the lead.
Best, and Happy New Year
[...] This post was Twitted by dericloh [...]
Thank you for including me on the list, Adam. My goal in the next year will be to shift to the marketing evolution category. Current marketing practices are still pretty archaic and tired in many industries.
Adam, Great list and thanks for including me. You obviously spent a lot of time on this. And it is refreshing to see some overly hyped people not on the list and many I do not know (and will check out) who made it.
However, it seems like for some people the categories you chose are quite arbitrary. Many of those you chose could be in multiple categories or their expertise, in my opinion, primarily seems to me to be in a category other than the one you placed them in.
All the best for 2010.
Nice List Adam – I would love to be included nest year under B2B Marketing – See http://pauldunay.com
Great list Adam. Thanks for taking the time & effort to compile.
Lots of great folks here Adam. Thanks for including me.
@ Robert Lesser – Yeah, sorry for that flub first go-round on your blog’s name.
When you compile a list this long, it’s inevitable that you will cut and paste the wrong name from the wrong blog at some point.
This is updated.
@ Rand Shulman – I had suspected you would find my putting you in that category interesting. I think one of the things I wanted to do with the list was push the boundaries of how we think of some of these categories and who is shaping their direction — at least from my own point of view.
Your ‘smarketing’ mindset is indeed spot-on, and it’s why I think you’re helping to re-define Sales 2.0 … and in doing so drive sales and marketing alignment.
@ Valeria Maltoni – I think that marketing evolution should be a key goal for all of us. That having been said, I think your work over the last few years in helping to improve company/brand/product dialogue with buyers and to be more customer-centric and buyer-aware is truly admirable — hence the categorization for this year.
@ David Meerman Scott – I wouldn’t say that any of the assignments here were arbitrary on my part. They’re not, although you’re right that many of these people may have expertise in multiple categories — and to your point, their primary area of expertise may even exist in another category.
What I’ve tried to highlight is an area of thought leadership where each person on this list has done great work and has really shaped my own thinking on these topics … and where I’ll be following them in 2010.
So mabe the criteria is ‘this is how I know these smart people.’ And so the categories align in that way.
Adam, this is a great list, and I am honored to be included! There are a number of others from the burgeoning marketing ‘cloud’ and related services that could also be included (Kevin Joyce from M2L, Thor Johnson ex-Eloqua, Brian Gramer ex-Vtrenz, etc), so I am sure this list will continue to grow. Plus, I found a number from your list that I wasn’t yet following. Thanks.
Thanks so much for including me, Adam, and for pulling the list together. There are lots of great folks here.
Happy New Year to you and yours — hope to see more of each other in 2010!
Adam
Top List.
Thanks for including me
Can I double my fees now?
[...] This post was Twitted by AnneDGallaher [...]
Adam,
I’m honored to be included in your list with so many others who I admire and follow; thanks for including me. Like others said, there are new people on this list who I will check out as well.
I wish you all the best for 2010 – I’ll be seeing you on Twitter and your blogs!
Hey Adam,
I’m honored to be included. Thank you. I’m looking forward to adding some new names to follow. Looking forward to collaborating with you all in 2010.
Chris
Ditto to all of the above – I’m honored to be part of the list. I’ll be in good company in 2010!
Excellent list, Adam! Thanks for taking the time and energy to put this together. It is a valuable resource for B2B marketers such as myself.
Happy New Year,
Stacey
Adam,
Thanks so much for including me on your comprehensive list, and introducing me to some new faces. Appreciate it, and my best to you in 2010!
Amber
Adam,
Thanks for including me and I found several new people to follow on Twitter.
It’s nice that you made many categories: it gave me good ideas on how the very broad category of B2B Marketing can be classified.
Jep
Adam,
This is a great list. I’m honored to be included among the movers and shakers you’ve listed. Thanks!
Sincerely,
Mac McIntosh
mcintosh at sales-lead-experts dot com
Adam,
Thanks for putting together such a well thought out and well researched list. I think I speak for many of us in saying that we aspire to the level of research, thoughtfulness, and insight you put into each of your posts, and clearly this one was no exception.
Thanks for including me with such a great set of peers, and cheers to a great 2010.
Steve
Great list Adam!
I was looking for something just like this to start off the new year right! My Twitter list has been stagnant for a while.
I just ran through these and there is some REAL talent here.
Also, thanks for not using terminology like “social media expert” or ninja in the post… quite refreshing. =)
Cheers,
David
Adam,
I can’t think of a better way to start the year than to find myself in the company of the folks listed here. Thanks for the inclusion and for sharing this fantastic list. Here’s to a thought-provoking 2010!
Best,
Stephanie
Adam,
Thank you for your great list! I definitely found some new interesting people to follow on twitter and share some marketing B2B knowledge with. I’m a director of social media for a B2B Ad Agency, so if you have a minute, look at our profile @fusionb2b. We’re really trying to put some good content out there, keep it fun and stay in touch with our colleagues. If you have any suggestion or tips, we’ll take them!
Cheers,
Pavel
Adam,
Thanks very much for sharing this list, and for including me. Love the category of marketing evolution! I look forward to learning from the great folks you highlight in the year ahead.
Best wishes for 2010,
Megan
What a great way to kick off the year- Adam, great job!
Just in case you decide to put together a Sales 2.0 Luminaries to Follow in 2010- I would like to step forward.
I’m a pioneer of the Sales 2.0 movement, my book Smart Selling on the Phone and Online was highlighted by 800CEOREAD as one of the best sales books of 2009 and I am recognized as one of the world’s leading experts and thought leaders on b2b inside sales and my Cubicle Chronicles blog was voted among the list of top 25 blogs.
Hope to make the next cut-
Happy New Year!
@josianefeigon
Adam, many thanks for including me on the list, but mainly for pointing me to a lot of great resources!
/kff
@kyleflaherty
Thanks for everyone’s kind words on the list. Glad to see such a positive reception. This is a smart bunch, so glad to be able to connect many of you.
@ Will Schnabel – Just added Kevin Joyce, per your recommendation, to the list.
FYI – Also just added Craig Rosenberg and Richard Bush to this list. (I knew I would leave some people off I’d eventually really want to add!)
@ Steve Woods – Really appreciate your kind words. Thanks.
@ David Wells – Your call-out on my intentionally not building a list of ‘social media experts’ made me laugh. I had a boss nearly a decade ago that counseled me from using e-business as the new thing as the Internet caught steam. He said, “Adam, in 10 years, e-business will be business.” Same concern I have about people over-positioning themselves as social gurus/ninjas/etc. Enough said …
Best wishes to everyone for a great 2010!
[...] worth turning to the other Marketing 2.0 experts out there. I recently published a list of the top B2B marketing luminaries that I will be following in 2010. It’s a great list of some super-smart people, and I’d highly recommend following them [...]
[...] (And for more on ‘B2B marketing 2.0 luminaries to follow in 2010, check out this Propelling Brands post.) These are all smart people with great [...]
Fantastic List! Just come across it today! Going to check it out!
[...] (And for more on ‘B2B marketing 2.0 luminaries to follow in 2010, check out this Propelling Brands post.) These are all smart people with great [...]
Great references. I’ve taken the liberty of adding several of the suggested luminaries to my B2B Twitter list http://twitter.com/#/list/thewebchef/b2b
Paul a.k.a. the Web Chef
@RobertLesser – thank you for the lists – And apologies for the slow acknowledgment !
[...] “Top B2B Marketing 2.0 Luminaries to Follow in 2010″ | 31 December 2009, Propelling Brands blog [...]
[...] generation model. This is a topic I’ve covered in my blogging over the last 12 months and some of the best and brightest in B2B marketing have detailed in their own research and [...]
[...] The major obstacle today for the next generation of B2B demand generation is actually the ‘people and processes’ that must be in place to successfully leverage marketing automation technology. And this is a point backed up by stacks of recent research reports and commentaries by some of the best and brightest in B2B marketing today. [...]
[...] worth turning to the other Marketing 2.0 experts out there. I recently published a list of the top B2B marketing luminaries that I will be following in 2010. It’s a great list of some super-smart people, and I’d highly recommend following them [...]