Our latest study focuses on leaders in content marketing, identifying the top content marketing experts of 2023. These are not just individuals who have name recognition for their work in content marketing, but rather they are the people who have substantial offerings for the rest of the community. We also take into account years of experience, social media follower count, whether they keep an active blog to maintain their online presence, as well as each expert’s primary area of expertise.
The table below lists each of these experts, as well as key information about each. Below, we outline each expert in further detail to highlight their accomplishments in content marketing as well as their approach and contributions to the content marketing industry.
The Top Content Marketing Experts, Compared
| Name | Associated Company/Entity | Specialty | # Years Experience | Estimated Social Media Followers | Active Content Marketing Blog? | |
| Evan Bailyn | First Page Sage | @ineffable111 | Thought Leadership SEO | 18 | ~149,000 | Yes |
| Ann Handley | MarketingProfs | @MarketingProfs | Training & Consulting | 15 | ~460,000 | Yes |
| Dana DiTomaso | Kick Point | @danaditomaso | Digital Marketing | 20 | ~11,600 | Yes |
| Robert Rose | The Content Advisory | @Robert_Rose | Consulting | 15 | ~39,000 | Yes |
| Rand Fishkin | SparkToro | @randfish | Market Research | 18 | ~463,000 | Yes |
| Joe Pulizzi | Content Marketing Institute (formerly) | @JoePulizzi | Content Marketing Research | 21 | ~154,00 | No |
| AJ Ghergich | Brado | @SEO | Case Studies | 17 | ~112,000 | No |
| Brian Dean | Backlinko | @BrianEDean | Backlink Building | 11 | ~125,000 | Yes |
Evan Bailyn
[mk_circle_image src=”https://firstpagesage.com/wp-content/uploads/1evan2-1.jpg” image_diameter=”200″]Evan Bailyn is one of the first in the digital marketing industry to combine thought leadership content with SEO and conversion optimization to position clients as leading authorities in their fields. Using these techniques, he founded First Page Sage in 2004, which currently sits as the largest SEO & thought leadership firm in the US. He has written two books, Outsmarting Google and Outsmarting Social Media, and has been profiled in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and Forbes.
Contact for:
- Thought Leadership & SEO
- Content Marketing for B2B Lead Generation
- Keynote Speaking
Ann Handley
[mk_circle_image src=”https://firstpagesage.com/wp-content/uploads/ann-handley.jpg” image_diameter=”200″]Ann Handley is a best-selling author and marketing trainer with more than two decades in the content marketing industry. She is the Chief Content Officer at Marketing Profs, and teaches marketing teams and influencers how to create engaging content that will reach their target audience. Her work also includes a litany of guest columns on reputable publications such as WSJ, Huffington Post, NPR, and IBM’S Deep Think.
Contact for:
- Content Marketing Training
- Keynote Speaking
- Guest Articles
Dana DiTomaso
[mk_circle_image src=”https://firstpagesage.com/wp-content/uploads/dana-ditomaso.jpg” image_diameter=”200″]Dana DiTomaso is an award winning public speaker who has discussed the finer points of content marketing for the last two decades. Her work focuses on two central areas: Identifying target audiences through market research, and promoting brand uniformity in marketing campaigns to create targeted content that more directly speaks to the target audience. Her “digital-first” approach to content marketing emphasizes the use of technology for both these ends,as well as a larger focus on online ads and content to reach a wider audience.
Contact for
- Market Research
- Brand Uniformity Consulting
- Keynote Speaking
AJ Ghergich
[mk_circle_image src=”https://firstpagesage.com/wp-content/uploads/t-3vZqYL_400x400-1.jpg” image_diameter=”200″]AJ Ghergich is the Chief Digital Officer at Brado, a marketing agency that specializes in providing data driven consulting for content marketing strategy. He is one of the central figures behind Brado’s move to harness AI and natural language processing to isolate potential audiences by combining content marketing with paid search and video advertising.
Contact for:
- Influencer Content Marketing
- Agency services
- Interviews
Robert Rose
[mk_circle_image src=”https://firstpagesage.com/wp-content/uploads/robert-rose.jpg” image_diameter=”200″]Robert Rose is the founder of The Content Advisory, a content strategy platform that offers consultation, research, and education to help businesses overcome marketing challenges in their campaigns. Rose himself is an accomplished keynote speaker and author, including the two books Killing Marketing and Managing Content Marketing. His emphasis on using storytelling in marketing has made him a mainstay of the industry for the last 3 decades.
Contact For:
- Content Strategy Consulting
- Marketing Research
- Content Marketing Training
Rand Fishkin
[mk_circle_image src=”https://firstpagesage.com/wp-content/uploads/image2.jpg” image_diameter=”200″]Rand Fishkin has been a staple in content marketing since he co-founded Moz in 2004. Fishkin is currently the CEO of Sparktoro, which produces audience research software to help marketers to identify key insights about their target market, including the content that best speaks to them.
Contact For:
- Social Media
- Market Research
- Public Speaking
Rand Fishkin can be reached here.
Joe Pulizzi
[mk_circle_image src=”https://firstpagesage.com/wp-content/uploads/joe-pulizzi.jpg” image_diameter=”200″]Joe Pulizzi is the founder of Content Marketing Institute and Creator Economy Expo (CEX), and the author of multiple content marketing books. While he left the Content Marketing Institute in 2016 and is currently focused on his nonprofit work with the Orange Effect Foundation, he continues to offer keynote speeches, publish a newsletter, and hosts two podcasts on content marketing.
Contact for:
- Keynote Speaking
Brian Dean
[mk_circle_image src=”https://firstpagesage.com/wp-content/uploads/Brian_Dean-e1623944055279.png” image_diameter=”200″]Brian Dean is the founder of the highly informational marketing blog Backlinko, which provides digital marketers with actionable SEO and content marketing advice. Brian has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur.com, and TechCrunch, and offers SEO-focused training for content marketing teams.
Contact for:
- SEO & Content Marketing Training
- Interviews
