Over the past few years aka “the Covid years” the role of influence in B2B marketing has grown significantly. Our 2022 research report, The State of B2B Influencer Marketing, reported that 85% of B2B marketers believe that interest in working with influencers in the coming 12 months will increase. On top of that, of the B2B marketers that do engage in influencer marketing programs, 86% consider their efforts successful.
There’s a lot to be optimistic about, especially in a business environment that requires B2B marketers to find every advantage they can to grow in a potentially down market.
The rising tide of influencer marketing popularity amongst B2B brands has also seen a shift towards a more diverse group of influencers. Now don’t get me wrong, the majority of influencers I’m seeing from B2B brands are still the usual suspects which doesn’t exactly represent 100% of the audiences brands are trying to reach. So there has been movement towards engaging more women and people of color as influencers in the B2B space.
At TopRank Marketing we’re doing our small part to shine a light on more diverse talent within the B2B marketing world and with this 13th edition of our Women Who Rock list, we’re highlighting a mix of women that are influential in various B2B industries. From rising stars to north stars, from Bay Area to Zurich, we have a sample of the fast growing segment of influencer talent B2B brands should be considering as partners in their marketing programs.
Ann Handley /in/annhandley/ @MarketingProfs
Chief Content Officer at MarketingProfs
Ann is a speaker, author, and member of the LinkedIn Influencer program. She is the author of the Wall Street Journal best-seller on business writing, “Everybody Writes,” and the co-author of the best-selling book on content marketing, “Content Rules”.
Talks about #content #contentmarketing #b2bmarketing #CavalierKingCharlesSpaniels
Charlene Li /in/charleneli/ @charleneli
Chief Research Officer at PA Consulting, NY Times Bestselling Author
Charlene’s role is to catalyze transformation as an expert on disruption strategy and leadership by writing books, speaking, and advising companies and their leaders.
Talks about #disruption, #leadership, #futureofwork, #digitaldisruption, and #digitaltransformation
Duena Blomstrom /duenablomstrom/ @DuenaBlomstrom
Author, Keynote Speaker, CoFounder, Chief Product Officer at People Not Tech
London based Duena is the author of “Emotional Banking” and “People Before Tech: The Importance of Psychological Safety and Teamwork in the Digital Age”. She is a doer, an entrepreneur, an industry influencer, a blogger with cutting edge opinion style, a writer for Forbes, an international keynote speaker and the creator of the Emotional Banking™ and Human Debt™ concepts.
Talks about #teams, #devops, #humandebt, #technology, and #psychologicalsafety
Efi Pylarinou /in/efipylarinou/ @efipm
Founder of Pylarinou Advisory
Currently based in Zurich, Efi is a seasoned Wall Street professional and ex-academic who has become a Top Global Fintech and Thought Leader with a Ph.D. in Finance. She is also a prolific content creator, a Host, an Author, and a Speaker.
Talks about #fintech, #innovation, #digitalassets, and #artificialintelligence
Cathy Hackl /in/cathyhackl/ @CathyHackl
Founder & Chief Metaverse Officer at Journey
Known as the Godmother of the Metaverse, Cathy is a globally recognized metaverse/ web3 strategist, tech futurist, sought-after business executive, speaker and media personality with deep expertise working in metaverse-related fields with companies like HTC VIVE, Magic Leap, and Amazon Web Services.
Talks about #nfts, #metaverse, #technology, #augmentedreality, and #spatialcomputing
Kimberly Bryant /in/kimberlybryant/ @BlackGirlsCode
Founder and CEO Ascend Ventures and Founder Black Girls CODE
Kimberly has been nationally recognized as a thought leader for her work to increase opportunities for women and girls in the technology industry and has received numerous awards for her work with Black Girls CODE.
Talks about #culture, #leadership, #technology, and #diversityequityandinclusion
Katie Martell /in/katiemartell/ @KatieMartell
Marketing Communications Consultant, Speaker, Host and Emcee
Leaving it up to debate whether she is a hologram or real, Katie partners with brands to amplify stories of transformation, and trends in customer experience.
Talks about #cx, #b2b, #marketing, #digitalmarketing, and #customerexperience
Tiffani Bova /in/tiffanibova/ @Tiffani_Bova
Growth & Innovation Evangelist at Salesforce
As a Keynote speaker, WSJ Bestselling author, What’s Next Podcast host. Tiffani works with some of the most innovative companies in the world as they look to transform the way they engage with customers, grow their business and create amazing customer experiences. Her role is to look out to the future for disruptive trends while at the same time scanning the near horizon for the real world impact. Her current conversations center around 2 objectives: customer success and growth.
Talks about #sales, #growth, #leadership, #customerexperience, and #employeeexperience
Meghan Biro /in/meghanmbiro/ @MeghanMBiro
Founder at TalentCulture
Meghan is host of the #WorkTrends Podcast, Author, Speaker and a HRTech Evangelist that also contributes regularly at Forbes, Huffington Post, and several other media outlets.
Talks about #hr, #leadership, #worktrends, #workculture, and #futureofwork
Sally Eaves /in/sally-eaves/ @sallyeaves
CEO and Director Sally Eaves Consultancy, Keynote Speaker and Author
A member of the Forbes Technology Council, Sally is an award winning international keynote speaker, author and influencer with globally leading rankings across all advanced technology disciplines, digital transformation, future of work and social innovation aligned to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Talks about #5g, ##cloud, #techforgood, ##cybersecurity, and #artificialntelligence
Sarah Barnes-Humphrey /in/sarahbarneshumphrey/ @bevictoryus
Founder/Host Lets Talk Supply Chain podcast
Posting daily supply chain, diversity & inclusion, and leadership content that reaches millions.
Talks about #thoughtsandcoffee, #womeninsupplychain, #letstalksupplychain, #diversityandinclusion, and #supplychainmanagement
Theodora Lau /in/theodoralau/ @psb_dc
Founder – Unconventional Ventures
Theodora is a book author, podcast host, startup advisor and public speaker on DEI, Fintech, Financial Inclusion, and Tech for Good. Talks about #ai, #fintech, #longevity, #inequality, and #financialservices
Kimberly Ellison-Taylor /in/kimberly-n-ellison-taylor-b1a13a2/ @kellisontaylor
CEO KET Solutions
Kimblerly is a Global Technology and Finance Leader, Volunteer Leader, Corporate Board Director, and Keynote Speaker on finance and technology topics.
Talks about #governance #risk #compliance audit #cfo #globalleadership
Ty Heath /in/tyronaheath/ @tyrona
Director, Market Engagement, The B2B Institute at LinkedIn
Ty’s role focuses on researching, teaching and writing about B2B marketing, social selling as well as leadership, diversity and inclusion.
Talks about #b2binstitute, #b2bmarketing, #b2bcreativity, #entrepreneurship, and #diversityequityandinclusion
Helen Yu /in/tigonhyu/ @YuHelenYu
Founder & CEO at Tigon Advisory Corp
Helenn is a Board of Director; Fortune 500 Advisor; Top 50 Women in Tech; Wall Street Journal Best Selling Author; Keynote Speaker; and Host of CXO Spice among many other responsibilities.
Talks about #ai, #cybersecurity, #manufacturing, #customerexpereince, and #digitaltransformation
Shelly DeMotte Kramer /in/shellydemottekramer/ @ShellyKramer
Principal Analyst + Founding Partner, Futurum Research and The Futurum Group
Shelly has worked with some of the world’s largest brands to help them embrace disruption and the reality of the connected customer, and to successfully understand and navigate the process of Digital Transformation (DX).
Talks about #cloud, #security, #futureofwork, #collaboration, and #cybersecurity
Jo Peterson /in/jopeterson1/ @digitalcloudgal
Vice President Cloud & Security Services at Clarify360
Jo is a digital transformation expert, board member, advisor, philanthropist, and United States Air Force veteran.
Talks about #cio, #ciso, #cloud, #cybersecurity, and #edgecomputing
Kamales Lardi /in/kamaleslardi/ @KamLardi
Managing Director at Valtech
Swiss based Kamales is an author and keynote speaker with over 22 years of deep cross-industry experience with the latest digital and technology solutions and a strategic thinker on digital and business transformation.
Talks about #digitalacceleration, #blockchaintechnology, #emergingtechnologies, #digitaltransformation, and #artificialintelligence
Maribel Lopez /in/maribellopez/ @MaribelLopez
Founder & Analyst at Lopez Research
Maribel tech is an industry analyst, speaker and business advisor focused on helping companies understand and navigate digital transformation.
Talks about #tech, #edgecomputing, #futureofworkplace, #digitaltransformation, and #artificialintelligence
Kate O’Neill /in/kateoneill/ @kateo
CEO: KO Insights, Keynote Speaker and Author
Kate is an Author; host of The Tech Humanist Show and keynote speaker focused on the future of human experiences amid tech & other changes at scale.
Talks about #future, #humanity, #strategy, #experience, and #techforgood
Christina Trampota /in/christinatrampota/ @tektalk
Managing DirectorManaging Director at Innovate :: Grow :: Scale
As an award-winning digital, mobile, and fintech industry leader and influencer, Christina provides global corporate strategy and insights for connecting businesses with customers through unique touchpoints that grow lifetime value – living and working at the intersection of people, platforms and payments.
Talks about #web3, #fintech, #commerce, #payments, and #innovation
Linda Grasso /in/linda-grasso/ @LindaGrass0
Founder of digital transformation blog, DeltalogiX
Based in Naples, Italy Linda is a rising star Digital Creator & Tech Influencer, Infopreneur, YouTuber, #Sustainability Advocate & Life Enthusiast.
Talks about #innovation, #technology, #sustainability, #entrepreneurship, and #digitaltransformation
Dr Sarah-Jayne Gratton /in/sarahgratton/ @grattongirl
Founding Partner, The Influencers
Sarah is host of the Tech Uncorked Podcast, Editor of Agritech Future Magazine and a leading technology evangelist, specializing in emerging technologies and covering trends in artificial intelligence, machine learning, IoT, agritech, digital transformation and mixed reality.
Talks about #5g, #iot, #agritech, #customerexperience, and #artificialintelligence
Jessie Medina /in/jessiemedinaofficial/ @jessiemedinaoff
Founder & CEO @FEMXQUARTERS
Jessie is a speaker & consultant, podcast host and community builder. She speaks on intersectionality such as women in business, women in corporate, and equality. as women in business, women in corporate, and equality
Talks about #speaker, #femaleceo, #femalefounders, and #femaleentrepreneurs
Tamara McCleary /in/tamaramccleary/ @TamaraMcCleary
CEO at Thulium
A long time B2B tech influencer, Tamara’s focus is on academic research: science, technology, ethics & public purpose. She is currently a research scientist and technology ethicist and recent graduate (5/2022) of Harvard University’s Kennedy School and continuing dual degree student at the Harvard Divinity School.
Talks about #science #technology #ethics #publicpurpose
Please be sure to check out the LinkedIn profiles of this impressive group of influencers in the B2B world.
In case you missed it, here are the latest findings from our research on trends, strategies and best practices for B2B Influencer Marketing to guide you into 2023.
If you’re wondering about how to organize a program that effectively activates a small or large group of influencers for a project or program, look no further than the team at TopRank Marketing. We’ve worked with some of the influencers on this list for many years and some more recently – and we can help architect the right kind of content activations that will be as inspiring to the influencers as it will be to your customers. Ping Tony at tmascarenas@toprankmarketing.com for more information or contact us.
To see the previous 12 years of our Women Who Rock lists, check out the links below:
- 2010 – 25 Women That Rock Social Media
- 2011 – 25 Women Who Rock Social Media
- 2012 – 25 Women Who Rock Social Media
- 2013 – 25 Women That Rocked Social Media
- 2014 – 25 Women Who Rock Social Media
- 2015 – 50 Influential Women in Digital Marketing
- 2016 – 50 Influential Women in Digital Marketing: North Stars & Rising Stars
- 2017 – 25 Women Who Rock at Digital Marketing
- 2018 – 25 Influential Women in Digital Marketing Who Rocked and Inspired
- 2019 – 50 Women CMOs Who Rock in Marketing
- 2020 – 50 Influential Women in B2B Marketing Who Rocked in 2020
- 2021 – 25 Women of Color Who Rocked B2B Marketing in 2021
