TL;DR:
Traditional digital ads are losing trust, while people increasingly rely on recommendations from LinkedIn influencers. They are trusted professionals who drive real engagement in niche communities.
Partnering with or simply engaging with these top influencers can:
- Boost your brand credibility
- Help you spot market trends early
- Expand your prospecting network
- Offer inspiration for building your own personal brand
There are 5 key types of influencers to consider:
- Macro: massive reach, great for visibility
- Micro/Nano: smaller audiences but higher trust and engagement
- Subject matter experts: highly respected in specific fields
- Community leaders: drive niche conversations and groups
Have you noticed that digital advertisements don’t bring you the same results as before? If so, you’re not alone. Brands around the globe admit that customers are less likely to believe ads they see on the Internet. They are also skeptical of celebrities’ endorsements of brands.
However, if their friend or colleague suggested the brand – that’s another story! What’s more, some people on social media possess a reach as broad as celebrities and trust as strong as a good friend. Meet LinkedIn influencers.
Key points:
Who are LinkedIn influencers?
LinkedIn influencers are often recognized as top experts across various niches – from sales strategies to technological innovations. They have built a large following on the platform by sharing their experiences, insights, and thought leadership. Influencers set trends and shape public opinions.
Being an expert doesn’t automatically make someone an influencer. Influencers have perfected the art of engaging their audience through unique and valuable content that sparks conversations and inspires action. They attract followers as much with their personality as with their ideas.
How can LinkedIn influencers impact your business’s growth?
According to Nielsen, digital advertisement channels like banner ads or social media ads increasingly lose consumers’ trust. People are more likely to accept a recommendation from an acquaintance or an influencer they follow.
This means you shouldn’t overlook LinkedIn‘s top voices when crafting your marketing strategy. Partnering with them to review and recommend your product can be a very cost-efficient marketing move. But wait, there are more benefits to engaging with influencers than just using them as your brand’s champions!
1. Access to industry insights and trends
Follow LinkedIn top voices to discover the latest market trends and innovations early. You’ll be able to stay ahead of competitors by integrating these trends into your business strategy. Such flexibility and adaptability are essential in today’s highly competitive market.
2. Enhanced credibility
You don’t have to work with influencers per se to strengthen your credibility. Providing a valuable addition to the conversations under their posts can quickly boost your visibility on social media. Engage with top industry content regularly to get noticed by prospective clients or partners.
3. Networking opportunities
Analyze the audiences of influencers who specialize in your niche. See who follows them and engages with their content. It’s a great way to expand your prospect list quickly. Better yet, following the same social celebrities gives you a strong pretext for connecting with such leads.
4. Ideas for growing your influence
Instead of just working with social media influencers, you or your colleague can become one. Watch top thought leaders in your niche closely to learn how they grew their following. Creating a strong personal brand and then advocating for your product works wonders.
🔎 Learn more about selling with your personal brand from this video guide:
Different types of LinkedIn influencers
It’s crucial to know which group shapes opinions among your prospective clients and your competitors. In general, social media influencers can be categorized into the following five types:
- Macro influencers are well-known industry figures with massive followings (hundreds of thousands or even over a million users). They have built their personal brands over years of consistent, high-impact content and smart partnership strategies.
They can broadcast your message to many potential customers or partners. Associating with them will also add credibility to your brand. Even if you’re not working with them directly, following their content to understand what is happening in the industry is a good idea.
- Micro influencers typically have from a few thousand to around a hundred thousand followers. They are the center of highly engaged and targeted communities.
While top industry voices boast broader audiences, micro influencers’ strength lies in their followers’ loyalty and engagement. Their endorsements and insights are regarded as highly credible and genuine. They are also more inclined to work with medium and small businesses and have more affordable collaboration prices.
- Nano influencers have the smallest reach. Their follower count barely reaches a few thousand. Their social media audience might be small, but their engagement is exceptionally high. Specific niches are where they shine.
Nano influencers’ audience feels like a tight-knit community where everyone knows each other by name. In such a space, recommendations seem like personal referrals. If you’re targeting specific markets, locations, or niche segments, nano influencers’ opinions of you can make or break your social selling success.
I believe nano- and micro-influencers (under 30k followers) work best. People trust them more because they feel like one of us, not a polished ad face, but someone who gets your problems. They were in your shoes just yesterday, so their advice feels real.
Marketing Specialist at Snov.io
- Subject matter experts are specialists in highly specific domains. Those can be anything, from crypto investments and digital marketing to pottery. Top experts’ reputation is built on deep knowledge of their field, proven by accomplishments and projects. Their followers are usually proficient in the subject area themselves.
Subject matter experts’ advice and insights are respected and trusted. It’s not easy to convince them to endorse your product or brand, but if you partner with them, your reputation (and sales) will skyrocket.
- Community leaders, group moderators, and event organizers build and curate active LinkedIn groups or communities. Their personal profiles may not have many followers, but they shine in stirring the community in a particular direction.
These people can keep discussions on industry-specific topics alive and active, drawing attention to the original content author. They are invaluable in supporting your personal or brand’s image as an industry leader.
List of top LinkedIn influencers by industry
Finding the right influencers to follow and work with can transform your social selling and business development approach. To make things easier for you, we shortlisted influencers whose thought leadership is reshaping businesses in 2025.
Top LinkedIn influencers in Sales & Business Growth
Macro influencer: John Barrows
LinkedIn follower count: 400K+
Expertise: sales methodology, leadership training, and business growth strategies.
Follow John to sharpen your sales approach and get inspired by real-life success stories. He posts practical sales and business growth tips, hot takes on industry trends, and personal opinions on certain sales tactics and strategies. He also has a lot of promotional content, vouching for particular sales enablement software.
Micro influencer: Ivan Grinevich
LinkedIn follower count: 17K+
Expertise: Marketing automation, business development, digital innovations for sales and marketers.
Ivan offers tried-and-true tips on improving your sales team’s productivity. He overviews modern marketing strategies and innovative technical solutions that make sales reps’ and business owners’ lives easier. Follow Ivan or partner with him if you want to boost your sales with simplified email prospecting and automated LinkedIn outreach.
Nano influencer: Richard Obisanya
LinkedIn follower count: 10K
Expertise: Sales strategies for the tech market.
Richard focuses on the particular niche and provides highly relevant advice based on experience. He also established a close-knit community with over a thousand members focused on elevating their sales skills. Engage with Richard if you want to become a social selling pro in the tech industry.
Top LinkedIn influencers in B2B marketing
Macro influencer: Ann Handley
LinkedIn follower count: 480K+
Expertise: Storytelling, digital marketing, and brand engagement.
Ann teaches marketers to turn simple ideas into powerful narratives. She inspires innovative marketing strategies that resonate with people on a personal level. Follow her to elevate your storytelling and discover new ways to appeal to your target audience without using pushy marketing methods.
Micro influencer: Ross Simmonds
LinkedIn follower count: 48K+
Expertise: Digital marketing strategy, content distribution, and growth hacking for B2B brands.
Ross writes about a targeted approach to B2B marketing, especially in SaaS. He gives hands-on advice that helps businesses achieve measurable results with a focused audience. Engage with his content to find other users who are passionate about B2B marketing in the SaaS niche.
Nano influencer: Anastasiia Bobeshko
LinkedIn follower count: 10K
Expertise: Сontent marketing, startup growth, and branding in crypto and finance niches.
Anastasiia’s content feels empowering and personal, which allows her to connect with highly targeted audiences. She provides valuable tips that small businesses and startups can immediately apply. Partner with Anastasiia to explore the opportunities of merging traditional marketing techniques with the latest technological developments.
Top LinkedIn influencers in Tech & SaaS
Macro influencer: Guy Kawasaki
LinkedIn follower count: 2M+
Expertise: Brand evangelism, technology trends, and startup mentorship.
Guy’s engaging writing style and decades of experience in tech make his insights invaluable. He explains complex tech trends in simple terms and offers actionable advice. It goes without saying that if your niche is SaaS, you simply must follow Guy.
Micro influencer: Claire Diaz-Ortiz
LinkedIn follower count: 500K
Expertise: Emerging tech, digital transformation, and innovative business strategies.
Claire is hailed as one of the most creative people in the tech industry. She provides nuanced insights for both mature and beginner innovators and business owners. Among Claire’s followers, you will meet professionals who are not afraid to experiment and learn something new every day. Engage with her content to stay ahead of the curve in the tech industry.
Nano influencer: Roman Kyslyi
LinkedIn Followers: 4K
Expertise: Data science, NLP, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.
Roman talks about the latest AI and data science trends, not only on LinkedIn but also in numerous podcasts. While Roman’s following is much smaller compared to other experts mentioned above, his audience is highly loyal and engaged. If you’re involved with big data, SaaS, or AI, connecting with Roman can give you access to top professionals and enthusiasts in these fields.
How to engage with LinkedIn influencers effectively using automation
Being a social media influencer is usually a full-time job. You know what else can feel like one? Interacting with them and sifting through their followers to build your prospect lists and establish yourself as a thought leader.
We recommend combining strategic manual activity with automation. This way, you’ll be able to streamline routine marketing tasks and focus more on adding value to the conversations. See the table below to determine which social media activity can be automated and what needs your special attention.
| Carefully choose thought leaders with active and trusting audiences in a field and niche relevant to your business.
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Identify and connect with potential leads from influencers’ subscription bases using automated LinkedIn prospecting. Create separate prospect lists based on your prospects. |
| Choose influencers that you want to partner with and engage with their content. Remember that not everyone you approach will be a good fit, so focus on the few most promising candidates. | |
| Leave thoughtful comments on thought leaders’ posts. Ask questions, share your perspective, and even argue to build credibility and draw their followers’ attention. | Launch a warm-up for your LinkedIn account to keep your outreach safe and effective. Implement personalization features, such as variables and Dynamic content, to make your messages sound more authentic.
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| Create high-quality content relevant to your niche and grow your audience. | Schedule your social media activity using specialized software to maximize your posts’ reach and visibility. |
Your next steps
Now that you know all the basics, it’s time to put your knowledge to good use. Start by observing your target audience on social media. Who do they follow? Whose content do they usually comment on and repost? Find thought leaders who resonate with your potential clients and start engaging with them. Don’t forget to use specialized software to enhance your efforts and save time.
Want to become a social selling genius faster? Join Snov.io Academy and go through our crash course on B2B lead generation on LinkedIn. It provides information that is essential for succeeding on social media.
