No longer do bloggers live behind the screens, in dark rooms with many-a-cup-of-coffee as their constant companion. An entire new breed of “influencers” have made their way into the toolkit of the modern-day marketer. To be honest, influencers are actually similar to celebrity endorsers. Just their size of audience is smaller and niche, which suits marketers, just as well as so is their price tag!Three words that define a influencer:
Influencers that influence me:In social media, two long-standing influencers who I follow very closely are Guy Kawasaki and Avinash Kaushik. Though Avinash is from Google and talks more search than social, his understanding of digital marketing helps learn how to stand back and get the bigger picture. Guy Kawasaki on the other hand, needs no introduction:Guy Kawasaki (Klout Score 87) is now the chief evangelist at Canva, a Sydney-based graphics-design company. As a former software evangelist at Apple, Kawasaki is a truly a 'guy' of diverse interests. In his own words, his goal is to change the world by democratizing design just as Macintosh changed the world by democratizing computers and Google, eBay did the same with information and commerce respectively. An author, publisher, entrepreneur and of course a social media connoisseur in his own right, it is both inspiring and sometimes hard to keep up with Guy Kawasaki who never leaves home his thinking cap so to say! His voice is neutral, which makes the fact that he’s an excellent curator shine all the more. Follow him at Twitter at @GuyKawasaki …trust me, you will thank me for it soon enough!Avinash Kaushik (Klout Score 83) – An Indian entrepreneur, author and public speaker, Kaushik believes in simplifying the perceived complexity in the field of data analytics. He is a distinguished member of the Advisory Board, University of Toronto Rotman School of Management as well as that of University of California's Irvine's program on Web Intelligence. A co-founder of Market Motive Inc and a keynote speaker at various conferences, Kaushik is of the opinion, “Ultimately social [media] is not just about how social your company is. It is about how many social ripples your products/services create.”In a verbose economy, influencers abound. The key is finding a handful and following them religiously. Reminds me of the day we would follow our favourite Hollywood stars. This is no different.