5 Marketing Influencers to Watch in 2018

In all my time as a journalist for major publications, I’ve written about some of the best-known business influencers like Patrick Bet-David, Tony Robbins, and Eric Thomas. Throughout 2017 I’ve seen many entrepreneurs rise up to massive influence and notoriety. I’ve also seen a few just as quickly lose it due to burning themselves out. After taking a deep look at the influence of some of the top entrepreneurs in 2017, these were the ones who stuck out to me the most and look like they are here to stay.

Grant Cardone

I’ve been a fan of Grant Cardone (who is also an Influencive contributor) since reading his book, The 10x Rule. After reading his book, I couldn’t get enough of his work.

I’ve been following Grant for a while and continue to see him make improvements in his life. A major goal he set for himself is to become a billionaire while most people are just happy with making six figures. Grant is best known for his training programs, best-selling books, and for his phenomenal achievements as a real estate mogul. Grant has built a real estate empire grossing over $700M in real estate transactional deals.

Grant uses social media in unconventional ways. The so-called ‘experts’ tell you what time to post or how many posts to make on social media per day. Instead, Grant has no regard for the common rules, posting whenever and however much he desires.

Some entrepreneurs only make motivational quote posts. Almost every post that Grant shares nowadays is a video. I find that to be more impactful than reading his words.

The greatest thing I saw Grant create in 2017 was his 10x Growth Con, where he brought in top speakers to teach you how to become a successful entrepreneur. His first event was a major success that thousands attended. I look forward to attending the 10x Growth Con event in 2018.

Gerard Adams

I heard about Gerard Adams when his media company, Elite Daily, sold for $50 million. What I love about Gerard is that despite selling his company for $50 million, with which he could’ve ridden off into the sunset, he decided to help other millennials achieve their dreams.

Gerard has started another company called Fownders, in New Jersey, where entrepreneurs teach other entrepreneurs how to become a better version of themselves, all while building a successful business. He has now transitioned into bringing that learning platform online and expanding its reach to his large online audience. He is the host of Leaders Create Leaders, a podcast and video show where he interviews business moguls and creators. He originally created the podcast to provide awesome insight on how to build and grow your own business, what it really means to be an entrepreneur, and how to overcome obstacles along the way.

If you follow Gerard, even if just for a limited amount of time, I guarantee that you will learn something that you can implement into your business right away. Gerard wants to see you succeed, and he holds nothing back.

Gerard Adams will help turn your vision into reality heading into 2018.

Tai Lopez

First, it was YouTube and now it’s Snapchat. Like many people, you were introduced to Tai Lopez by his famous “Here in my garage” viral YouTube ad. Tai Lopez is well known for his entrepreneur training courses and his abundant lifestyle.

I thought I had seen enough of Tai and his ads on YouTube. Yet, every time I use Snapchat, there is Tai again with one of his video ads.

You might have noticed that a lot of entrepreneurs now use video ads on YouTube, but that all came after Tai. Tai was able to corner and dominate the market before the majority of entrepreneurs even touched it. By doing this, he was able to attract a large part of the market share and get his name out to the masses.

I haven’t seen an ad for any other entrepreneur on Snapchat besides Tai. This tells me something and should tell you something too: If Tai is using Snapchat ads, he must know something that you and I don’t. We’ve all seen his lavish lifestyle and I think that it’s safe to say that his results speak for themselves.

Going into 2018, it’ll be interesting to see if Tai continues to use Snapchat ads or if he decides to move to another platform.

Josh King Madrid

One of the younger influencers of this list, I first came across Josh when I listened to his well-known podcast show, The Dropout Degree. His podcast is ranked in the top 100 of the business section on iTunes since being released September ’17. It has captured massive attention across the millennial demographic.

What fascinates me about Josh is that he dropped out of college after only 4 months of attending the University of California, Irvine, to pursue full-time internet marketing. Now, at only 19 years of age, his companies have generated over $1,000,000 in revenue online. Most small businesses never generate that much revenue and Josh has done this before the age of 20.

Josh is a renowned marketing specialist and the Founder of Team Jet Set. He definitely knows what it takes to get your name out on the market, especially through the use of social media. Simply put, Josh has a created an online empire. He owns a marketing and media agency and has built and sold multiple e-commerce and SAAS businesses. Most people dream of starting their own business but don’t because they use the “age card” while Josh continues to prove that your age doesn’t matter, nor does your education; you can become successful no matter what.

Some people use social media for mindless consumption. Others use social media to grow their personal brand and business. Josh is of the latter.

If you’re looking to build an online brand in 2018, follow Josh.

Gary Vaynerchuk

Gary Vaynerchuk may be the top influencer ever and it wouldn’t feel right to keep him off of this list.

If you don’t know Gary’s story, he was able to take his parents’ liquor store from $3 million in revenue to $50 million through various forms of online marketing. One of the earliest forms of marketing he took advantage of was using YouTube to create a series called Wine Library, where he’d review and talk about different wines. This quickly went viral and drove massive traffic and sales to Gary’s wine business.

Gary now owns VaynerMedia, a full-service digital agency servicing Fortune 500 clients across the company’s 4 locations.

Gary is a 4-time NYT best selling author. When you read any of Gary’s books, there is no other option but to learn how to execute and become a better social media marketer. It’s time to embrace the new forms of marketing and, as many people know, Gary is always at the top of the game.

Whenever a new social media platform comes out, Gary will use it. Whether he becomes successful with it or not, he is always experimenting and testing the Next Big Thing. Gary stays ahead of everyone else in the market and isn’t afraid to take risks. That has allowed him to get to where he is today.

If you want to become a better marketer, start following Gary today and into 2018.

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