Top Influencers in B2B Marketing to Follow (and Partner With) in 2026
Everyone has a list. Most of them are useless.
The B2B space is flooded with "top influencer" roundups that rank people by follower count, recycling the same names without asking whether those voices actually move buyers. In 2026, that approach hurts more than it helps. Decision-makers have developed strong filters against content that feels performative. Trust is harder to earn and easier to lose.
This list is different. Every person featured here is actually one of the top influencers in B2B Marketing and has a clear point of view, a relevant audience, and a track record of shaping how B2B teams think and buy. The lens is 2026: GTM strategy, RevOps, founder-led content, and real pipeline outcomes, not vanity metrics.
Use this as a resource for learning. Use it as a shortlist for partnership. Then scroll to the end to understand how to actually activate influencer marketing in B2B, because identifying the right voices is only half the job.
How We Chose the Top B2B Marketing Influencers
Audience Quality
Follower count is not the same as influence. A creator with 50,000 highly engaged SaaS operators can drive more pipeline than one with 500,000 followers from mixed or passive audiences. For this list, we prioritized creators whose audiences skew toward decision-makers: CMOs, founders, GTM leaders, RevOps professionals, and operators who actually buy things. If a creator's reach is built on growth hacks and viral tricks, they are not on this list.
Proven Expertise
Operator-first credibility matters. The top influencers in b2b marketing are not just commentators. They have built companies, led marketing orgs, scaled sales teams, or shipped frameworks that practitioners actually use. We also weighted multi-format presence. If someone publishes on LinkedIn and runs a newsletter, hosts a podcast, or leads a community, their reach is compounded and harder to replicate.
Real-World Outcomes
There is a meaningful difference between engagement influencers and decision influencers. The former generate likes and the latter shape category narratives, accelerate buyer trust, and move pipeline. Everyone on this list has demonstrated at least one of those outcomes. They are viable partners for brand campaigns, not just people worth following.
Core B2B Marketing and Brand Leaders
1. Dave Gerhardt
Dave Gerhardt is the founder of Exit Five, a community and media brand for B2B marketers, and a former CMO at companies including Drift and Privy. He is one of the most recognized voices in modern B2B brand strategy.
Core Platforms: LinkedIn (100K+ followers), Exit Five Newsletter (50K+ subscribers), Exit Five Podcast
Who They Influence: SaaS marketers, founders, heads of brand
What They're Known For: Brand-led growth, founder-driven content, modern B2B storytelling
2. Chris Walker
Chris Walker is the CEO of Passetto and founder of Refine Labs, where he pioneered the revenue-centric approach to B2B demand generation. He is one of the most cited voices on pipeline measurement and dark social.
Core Platforms: LinkedIn (130K+ followers), State of Demand Gen Podcast
Who They Influence: Demand gen leaders, CMOs, growth teams
What They're Known For: Revenue-centric marketing, pipeline measurement, paid and organic alignment
3. Emily Kramer
Emily Kramer is a co-founder of MKT1, a B2B marketing advisory firm, and a former marketing leader at Asana, Carta, and Amplitude. She publishes tactical, operator-written playbooks for building B2B marketing functions.
Core Platforms: LinkedIn (50K+ followers), MKT1 Newsletter (60K+ subscribers)
Who They Influence: Startup marketers, early-stage SaaS teams
What They're Known For: Tactical playbooks for building and scaling B2B marketing
4. Ann Handley
Ann Handley is the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs and the author of "Everybody Writes," one of the most widely read books on B2B content. She has been a leading voice in marketing for over two decades.
Core Platforms: LinkedIn (480K+ followers), Total Annarchy Newsletter
Who They Influence: Senior marketers, content leaders, brand teams
What They're Known For: Writing, storytelling, and human-centered marketing
5. Andy Crestodina
Andy Crestodina is the co-founder of Orbit Media Studios and a leading expert on data-driven content strategy. He publishes original research on blogging, SEO, and analytics that shapes how content teams measure their work.
Core Platforms: LinkedIn (50K+ followers), Orbit Media Blog
Who They Influence: Content strategists, SEO leaders, CMOs
What They're Known For: Data-backed content strategy and analytics
Demand Gen, Growth and RevOps Influencers
6. Kyle Lacy
Kyle Lacy is the CMO of Jellyfish and a former marketing executive at Salesforce and OpenView Partners. He is known for his frameworks around category creation and brand-led demand in B2B.
Core Platforms: LinkedIn (35K+ followers), The Weekly Thing Newsletter
Who They Influence: B2B CMOs and executive teams
What They're Known For: Category creation and brand-led demand
7. Kipp Bodnar
Kipp Bodnar is the CMO of HubSpot and co-host of the Marketing Against the Grain podcast. He has spent over a decade shaping inbound marketing practice at one of the most influential B2B companies in the world.
Core Platforms: LinkedIn (100K+ followers), Marketing Against the Grain Podcast
Who They Influence: Enterprise marketers and ops teams
What They're Known For: Inbound strategy, automation, marketing org design
8. Mark Roberge
Mark Roberge is a Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School and the former CRO of HubSpot. He pioneered the data-driven sales model that many SaaS companies still use today.
Core Platforms: LinkedIn (60K+ followers), The Science of Scaling Podcast
Who They Influence: Sales leaders, RevOps, GTM teams
What They're Known For: Data-driven sales processes and enablement
9. Sangram Vajre
Sangram Vajre is the co-founder of Terminus and founder of GTM Partners. He created the PEAK framework and is widely credited with popularizing account-based marketing as a mainstream B2B strategy.
Core Platforms: LinkedIn (90K+ followers), The FlipMyFunnel Podcast
Who They Influence: Founders and GTM leaders
What They're Known For: Account-based GTM strategy
10. Megan Eisenberg
Megan Eisenberg is a veteran B2B marketing executive who has led demand generation at MongoDB, DocuSign, and Marketo. She is one of the most experienced operators in enterprise SaaS marketing.
Core Platforms: LinkedIn
Who They Influence: Enterprise SaaS marketers
What They're Known For: Scaling global demand engines
B2B Sales and Pipeline Influencers
These are the top b2b sales influencers shaping how modern sellers build pipeline, earn trust, and close enterprise deals.
11. Trish Bertuzzi
Trish Bertuzzi is the founder of The Bridge Group and author of "The Sales Development Playbook," a foundational resource for SDR organizations. She has spent decades advising B2B tech companies on inside sales.
Core Platforms: LinkedIn (30K+ followers), The Bridge Group Blog
Who They Influence: Sales leaders and SDR organizations
What They're Known For: Sales development strategy
12. John Barrows
John Barrows is the founder of JB Sales and one of the most recognized sales trainers in B2B tech. He has trained sales teams at Salesforce, LinkedIn, Google, and hundreds of SaaS companies.
Core Platforms: LinkedIn (80K+ followers), Make It Happen Mondays Podcast
Who They Influence: B2B sales reps and managers
What They're Known For: Prospecting and sales execution
13. Justin Welsh
Justin Welsh is a former B2B SaaS executive and one of the top b2b sales influencers on the list. He has built a one-person media business generating over $5 million in revenue and is one of the most studied examples of personal brand as a B2B growth channel.
Core Platforms: LinkedIn (500K+ followers), The Saturday Solopreneur Newsletter (200K+ subscribers)
Who They Influence: Founders, operators, indie creators
What They're Known For: Personal branding as a B2B growth channel
14. Morgan J Ingram
Morgan J Ingram is a four-time LinkedIn Top Sales Voice and the founder of AMP Creative. He focuses on social selling, video prospecting, and modern outbound tactics for B2B sellers.
Core Platforms: LinkedIn (60K+ followers), YouTube
Who They Influence: Modern sellers and RevOps teams
What They're Known For: Social selling and buyer trust
15. April Dunford
April Dunford is the author of "Obviously Awesome," the most widely used framework for B2B product positioning. She advises SaaS companies on how to position their products to win competitive deals.
Core Platforms: LinkedIn (50K+ followers), Positioning with April Dunford Podcast
Who They Influence: Founders and product marketers
What They're Known For: Product positioning and category narrative
Founder-Led and Community Builders
16. Jason Lemkin
Jason Lemkin is the founder of SaaStr, the largest community for SaaS founders and executives. He has invested in companies including Algolia, Talkdesk, and Pipedrive, and publishes extensively on scaling SaaS revenue.
Core Platforms: LinkedIn (80K+ followers), SaaStr Blog and Podcast
Who They Influence: SaaS founders and executives
What They're Known For: Scaling SaaS revenue and teams
17. Hiten Shah
Hiten Shah is a serial SaaS founder who co-created Crazy Egg, KISSmetrics, and FYI. He is known for sharing honest, operator-level insights on product strategy and growth with a large and loyal audience.
Core Platforms: LinkedIn (30K+ followers), The SaaS Weekly Newsletter
Who They Influence: Product and growth leaders
What They're Known For: Product-led growth and analytics
18. Lenny Rachitsky
Lenny Rachitsky is the author of Lenny's Newsletter, one of the most widely read product and growth publications in B2B tech. He is a former product lead at Airbnb.
Core Platforms: LinkedIn (80K+ followers), Lenny's Newsletter (700K+ subscribers), Lenny's Podcast
Who They Influence: Product managers and growth teams
What They're Known For: Product-led growth and community building
19. Rand Fishkin
Rand Fishkin is the co-founder of SparkToro and the former CEO of Moz. He has spent his career studying how audiences form, where attention lives, and how brands can earn trust without relying on advertising.
Core Platforms: LinkedIn (60K+ followers), SparkToro Blog, Rand's Friday Newsletter
Who They Influence: Marketers and founders
What They're Known For: Audience research and trust-based marketing
20. Ross Simmonds
Ross Simmonds is the founder of Foundation Marketing and one of the most respected voices on B2B content distribution. His mantra, "Create once, distribute forever," has become a standard framework for content teams.
Core Platforms: LinkedIn (50K+ followers), The Content Distribution Podcast
Who They Influence: Content and brand leaders
What They're Known For: Content distribution and amplification
Emerging and Strategic Voices
21. Maddy Osman
Maddy Osman is a B2B content strategist, author of "Writing for Humans and Robots," and founder of The Blogsmith. She works at the intersection of SEO and brand voice for B2B tech companies.
Core Platforms: LinkedIn (15K+ followers), The Blogsmith Blog
Who They Influence: B2B content and SEO teams
What They're Known For: SEO and brand alignment
22. Arvid Kahl
Arvid Kahl is a bootstrapped SaaS founder and author of "Zero to Sold" and "The Embedded Entrepreneur." He publishes practical, no-BS content on building sustainable SaaS businesses without venture funding.
Core Platforms: LinkedIn (25K+ followers), The Bootstrapped Founder Newsletter (50K+ subscribers), Podcast
Who They Influence: Indie founders and lean teams
What They're Known For: Sustainable SaaS growth
23. Peep Laja
Peep Laja is the founder of CXL and Wynter, two companies focused on conversion optimization and message testing. He is one of the sharpest thinkers on how messaging drives or kills pipeline.
Core Platforms: LinkedIn (40K+ followers), How to Win Podcast
Who They Influence: Growth and CRO teams
What They're Known For: Conversion-focused messaging
24. Becc Holland
Becc Holland is the founder and CEO of Flip the Script and a former sales leader at G2 and Chorus. She specializes in video prospecting and narrative-driven approaches to B2B selling and brand trust.
Core Platforms: LinkedIn (40K+ followers), YouTube
Who They Influence: Modern B2B marketers
What They're Known For: Video storytelling and brand trust
25. Tom Orbach
Tom Orbach is a B2B growth marketer and former Head of Marketing at monday.com. He is known for sharing counterintuitive GTM experiments and low-cost demand tactics that challenge conventional wisdom.
Core Platforms: LinkedIn (30K+ followers), Marketing Ideas Newsletter
Who They Influence: Early-stage SaaS marketers
What They're Known For: GTM experimentation and demand testing
Who to Follow vs. Who to Partner With
Not everyone on this list should be treated the same way. Some creators are best consumed. Others are worth activating as brand partners.
Influencers Best for Learning and Insight
The passive value of following the right voices is real. Creators like Emily Kramer, April Dunford, Peep Laja, and Andy Crestodina consistently publish frameworks and research that reshape how practitioners think about their work. Following them over time builds pattern recognition that most training programs cannot replicate. Lenny Rachitsky and Rand Fishkin are similarly valuable for product and audience strategy. If your team reads their work consistently, you will develop better instincts for what works in B2B.
Influencers Best for Brand Partnerships
Strong partner traits include audience fit, narrative skill, and a track record of producing content that earns trust rather than just attention. Dave Gerhardt is a natural fit for brands targeting SaaS marketers. Chris Walker works well for demand gen and RevOps-focused campaigns. Justin Welsh and Morgan J Ingram have demonstrated the ability to make brand content feel authentic rather than sponsored. For SaaS launches and category-building programs, Jason Lemkin and Sangram Vajre carry credibility with founder and executive audiences that few other voices can match.
The key question is not who has the biggest following. It is whose audience, voice, and content style align with your buyer's journey and brand narrative.
How Cherry Lane Helps Brands Activate B2B Influencers (Not Just Follow Them)
Knowing who the top influencers in b2b marketing are is useful. Knowing how to work with them is where results actually happen.
Most brands stop at the list. They follow a few creators, share their posts, and call it an influencer strategy. That is not a strategy. It is an observation.
At Cherry Lane Media, we build the execution layer. We are a full-service, B2B-first influencer marketing partner that helps brands identify the right creators, develop content that earns trust, and measure impact in terms that matter to revenue teams. That means awareness, trust, and pipeline. Not impressions.
Our approach is platform-agnostic. LinkedIn is often the starting point, but the most effective B2B influencer programs extend across newsletters, podcasts, and communities where buyers actually spend time. We match brands with creators based on audience fit and narrative alignment, not follower counts.
The hard part of influencer marketing is not finding the names. It is strategy, creator fit, content development, and measurement tied to real GTM outcomes. That is what we do.
