THE 25 MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE IN SOCIAL MEDIA IN 2018 What are social media influencers and why should we as marketers care? The social media marketing influencer phenomenon has been around almost since the advent of social media. Since the days of Myspace and early Facebook, the most popular personalities; celebrities, industry thought leaders, political figures, and bloggers have had fan followers that hang on their every word, comment on their photos, and share their posts. Within the last few years, small marketers have learned from larger marketing agencies like P&G, Ogilvey and Mathers, and began to capitalize and leverage these influencers. Historically, an organic and paid brand development strategy could take years to attract a large social media following. However; that paradigm has shifted to a more expedient growth model. By partnering with the right influencers; ones that not only have a huge audience outreach, but have shared consumer demographics,...