Content Marketing World 2023 takes place September 26 – 28 both in-person in Washington, D.C. and online, and as the biggest content marketing conference in the world, #CMWorld annually brings together a fantastic group of top-notch professionals sharing their curiosity for future trends, marketing insight, and aspirations for elevating the industry.
For the past 15 years top marketers from the world over have gathered for one of the world’s most comprehensive content marketing events, and this year’s Content Marketing World returns again for expanded networking and learning.
Readers of our blog know we have a longstanding history with the conference starting at the very beginning, with 13 years of speaking and attending along with eight years during which we partnered with the Content Marketing Institute to develop speaker and influencer content marketing campaigns.
A favorite classic TopRank Marketing tradition that has been imitated in recent years but never duplicated is our annual list of content marketing experts to follow — a helpful compilation extracted from top industry leaders and the hundreds of fantastic #CMWorld 2023 speakers.
List Methodology: For this list we utilized the Traackr influencer marketing platform to measure resonance surrounding the topic of content marketing.
Many thanks go to all the people who are actively sharing knowledge about content marketing in 2023 by engaging and working to elevate others with insight and expertise on the social web. This list is just a starting point to help expand your own content marketing learning.
In this year’s list there are plenty of familiar faces along with many new additions. We expect to learn new lessons from each of these 50 content marketing influencers, and hope that you’ll do the same throughout the rest of the year and into 2024 and beyond.
We extend special thanks to Stephanie Stahl, who as general manager of Content Marketing Institute has passionately continued on the ambitious mission of CMI founder Joe Pulizzi.
Stephanie Stahl @EditorStahl
General Manager, Content Marketing Institute
Now let’s jump right in with this year’s list of 50 top content marketers to follow and learn from.
Top 50 Content Marketing Influencers To Follow
Ann Handley @marketingprofs
Chief Content Officer, MarketingProfs
Joe Pulizzi @JoePulizzi
Founder, The Tilt
Andy Crestodina @crestodina
Chief Marketing Officer and Co-Founder, Orbit Media Studios
Deane Barker @deane_barker
Global Director of Content Management, Optimizely
Joanne Sweeney @JSTweetsDigital
CEO, Public Sector Marketing Institute
Mike Allton @mike_allton
Head of Strategic Partnerships, Agorapulse
Marcus Collins @marctothec
Clinical Assistant Professor of Marketing, University of Michigan – Stephen M. Ross School of Business
Amber Naslund @AmberCadabra
Enterprise Sales Leader, Marketing Solutions, LinkedIn*
Derek Thompson @DKThomp
Writer & Editor, The Atlantic
Avinash Kaushik @avinash
Chief Strategy Officer, Croud
Melanie Deziel @mdeziel
Speaker & Consultant, StoryFuel
Dennis Shiao @dshiao
Founder and Head of Retention, Attention Retention
Lee Odden @LeeOdden
Founder and Board Advisor, TopRank Marketing
Beverly Jackson @BevJac
Vice President of Brand and Product Marketing, Zillow
Marcus Sheridan @TheSalesLion
Owner and Partner, IMPACT
Mariah Obiedzinski @MariahWrites
AVP of Content Marketing, Stamats
Meghan Keaney Anderson @meghkeaney
Vice President of Marketing, Jasper
Michael Barber @michaeljbarber
Vice President of Marketing, Charter School Capital
Andrew Hanelly @hanelly
Chief Strategy Officer, Revmade
Ann Gynn @anngynn
Principal Consultant, G Force Communication
Christopher Penn @cspenn
Chief Data Scientist, Trust Insights
Melissa Breker @melissabreker
Digital Transformation Leadership Coach and Founder, Breker Group Consulting
Jay Acunzo @jayacunzo
Co-Founder, Creator Kitchen
Amy Balliett @AmyBalliett
Senior Fellow of Visual Strategy, Material
Stephanie Losee @slosee
Director, Executive & ABM Content, Autodesk
Michelle Garrett @PRisUs
Public Relations Consultant, Garrett Public Relations
Pierre DeBois @ZimanaAnalytics
Founder and CEO, Zimana
Zontee Hou @ZonteeHou
Head of Strategy, Convince & Convert
Bert van Loon @bertvanloon
Co-Founder, Content Marketing Fast Forward
Pam Didner @pamdidner
B2B Marketing Consultant, Relentless Pursuit
Nancy Harhut @nharhut
Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer, HBT Marketing
Amy Higgins @amywhiggins
Director, Content Strategy, Lyra Health
Sydni Craig-Hart @SydniCraigHart
CEO, Smart Simple Marketing
AJ Wilcox @wilcoxaj
Founder and CEO, B2Linked
Carmen Hill @carmenhill
Principal Content Strategist & Writer, Chill Content
Wil Hart @wilbhart
Co-Founder, Smart Simple Marketing
Christine Michel Carter @cmichelcarter
Director of Content Marketing Strategy, Lexia Learning
Val Swisher @valswisher
Founder and CEO, Content Rules, Inc.
Andrew Davis @DrewDavisHere
Keynote Speaker and Author, Monumental Shift
Ahava Leibtag @ahaval
President, Aha Media Group
Bernie Borges @bernieborges
Vice President Global Content Marketing, iQor
Carlijn Postma @carlijnpostma
Author, Speaker and Entrepreneur, Carlijn Postma — Binge Marketing
Michael Brenner @Brennermichael
CEO, Marketing Insider Group
Mark Bornstein @4markb
Vice President, Marketing and Chief Evangelist, On24
Dusty DiMercurio @dustycd
Senior Director, Industry & Portfolio Marketing, Autodesk
Wendy Covey @wendycovey
CEO and Co-Founder, TREW Marketing
Dan Cafiero LinkedIn
Senior Program Manager, Account Based Marketing and Paid Media, Seagate Technology
Robert Rose @Robert_Rose
Chief Strategy Advisor, Content Marketing Institute
David Fortino @David__Fortino
Chief Strategy Officer, NetLine*
Liz Willits @lizwillits
Founder and Owner, Content Phenom
Jacqueline Loch @jacquelineloch
EVP Social + Emerging Platforms, SJC Communications
We Hope To See You At Content Marketing World 2023
Using the most detailed statistical analysis — no matter how comprehensive and well-researched — can only take you so far in finding the people who you’ll consider the most relevant and influential in your own daily professional marketing lives, which is why we’d love it if you’d share the names of other content marketers that influence you in the comments section below or on our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Twitter/X, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
To further your own content marketing expertise, here’s a bonus list of some of our top recent posts about content marketing:
- Growth Strategy: How Content Marketing Propels B2B Brand Growth Today
- A Home-Run for Humanizing B2B Content: Why Generative AI Can Only Get Your Business to First Base
- The Showmanship of B2B Marketing: Top 3 Lessons from the Festival Stage
- 5 Tips to Make Your Content More Accessible & Inclusive
- 3 Ways B2B Content Marketing Elevates Lasting Customer Loyalty
- What Is B2B Content Marketing? And How Does It Launch the Success of B2B Brands?
If you’d like to learn more about optimizing B2B content for search intent, you’re in luck, as our co-founder Lee Odden will be presenting at Content Marketing World on the topic. Here are the details about Lee’s session:
Wednesday, September 27 – 1:45pm Eastern
Workshop with Lee Odden
Presenting: You’re Doing SEO All Wrong: How to Optimize Content for Search Intent.
We hope to see you either in-person or virtually at the exciting Content Marketing World 2023 conference, and be sure to follow us on Twitter at @TopRank for real-time updates during the conference using the #CMWorld hashtag.
*LinkedIn and NetLine are TopRank Marketing clients.
