The 2016 #Online18

Congratulations to the 2016 #Online18!

Each year I do this list, I find it more and more difficult to identify the top influencers. Each year, Klout and other online scoring tools factor less and less in the final ranking. Still useful, these online tools can’t measure the impact a person has and often mistakes activity for useful engagement. My ranking depends more on engagement than activity and takes into account the impact the person’s online activity has in the “real world,” as well as the influence that can’t be measured, such as in private platforms.

This year, I enlisted the help of a few people on this list to help me identify new names as well as to help rank the names. I combined the rankings I received to help drive the order of this list, but there are still some great online influencers not represented here. This list will be made better by your online contributions. If I missed you or an industry influencer, tweet @daledenham or leave a note in the comments below.

The most online influential people in the promotional products industry are:

1. Mark Graham
2. Kirby Hasseman
3. Danny Rosin
4. Paul Bellantone
5. Bill Petrie
6. Dana Zezzo
7. Charity Gibson
8. Patrick Black
9. Jon Norris
10. Jeff Solomon
11. Bruce Perryman
12. Danette Gossett
13. Michele Bell
14. Jason Lucash
15. Aubrey Collins
16. Mike Schenker
17. Jay Busselle
18. Cliff Quicksell

A little bit about why each #Online18 influencer is on the list.

1. Mark Graham
Mark drove an enormous amount of online conversation that directly benefitted the industry. Mark was mentioned several times online and offline by Seth Godin which along with countless other contributions across numerous platforms, he has been extremely important to driving meaningful conversation both online and offline.

Klout score: 42
Where to follow: Commonsku.com; twitter @heymarkgraham

2. Kirby Hasseman
Kirby has become a content marketing machine while maintaining excellent engagement. His content is extremely good and the engagement remains authentic. Engaged across many networks, Kirby is driving awareness of his brand and the industry. "Delivering Marketing Joy," "Promo Kitchen's Salt & Pepper," articles galore—you name it, and Kirby is probably doing it.

Klout score: 70
Where to follow: Facebook; twitter @kirbyhasseman

3. Danny Rosin
Danny continues to dominate online conversations and is extremely influential privately. His engagement is significant and his influence spreads well beyond the promotional products industry. My personal favorite part of Danny’s online presence is how he can blend every aspect of his life into his social activities. Work, family, giving, causes, sports—you name it—and Danny talks about it in an engaging and useful way. I want to be like Danny when I grow up.

Klout score: 63
Where to follow: twitter @dannyrosin

4. Paul Bellantone
Paul is a great example of a CEO who leverages online tools and brings significant clout because of his success as CEO of Promotional Products Association International. Paul drives meaningful conversations that are important to the industry while also being very engaged (and accessible) at a personal level.

Klout score: 47
Where to follow: Facebook (where he is most engaged); Twitter @Bellantone

5. Bill Petrie
Bills does a nice job leveraging the strengths of each network well while generating significant and interesting content. In addition to his content on his own pages, Bill is active in Promo Kitchen's Salt & Pepper, among many other areas.

Klout score: 65
Where to follow: Facebook

6. Dana Zezzo
Dana introduced many people in the industry to the social media world and continues to be extremely active on social media. Dana leverages his relationships to drive more business for his companies while also entertaining and educating. You often feel like you are traveling with Dana while he keeps his brands top of mind.

Klout score: 57
Where to follow: Facebook

7. Charity Gibson
Charity is personally engaged on social media and is the driver behind many social media voices. Her Klout score would be significantly higher if it could account for the engagement she drives on social media for several brands.

Klout score: 34
Where to follow: Facebook or any of the PromoKitchen pages

8. Patrick Black
Patrick is a strong contributor to the online conversation on all channels. What separates Patrick from others is that Patrick is one of the industry’s most successful distributor bloggers. His content is useful, engaging, consistent, and drives SEO for his business.

Klout score: 58
Where to follow: http://perfectimprints.com/blog/ 

9. Jon Norris
Jon’s engagement is completely authentic, and he hates “robo posters” for their lack of authenticity. Jon is also a primary player in the quest to improve online communication between suppliers and distributors as part of the Promo Standards group.

Klout score: 52
Where to follow: Twitter @Jnnorris

10. Jeff Solomon
Jeff always has been one to try something new and take risks online. He continues to have a strong following online for his FreePromotips.com and he remains very engaged.

Klout score: 53
Where to follow: Twitter @JeffSolomonMAS

11. Bruce Perryman
Bruce, who is actively engaged on multiple platforms, tags myself and others often asking for our opinions/thoughts. This is an excellent way to engage people and to drive conversation well outside of the normal email method, which limits the conversation to only a few people.

Klout score: 55
Where to follow: Twitter @EUINC

12. Danette Gossett
Danette has excellent content and continues to represent her company and our industry well. Danette writes excellent original posts and shares fantastic content she finds around the web.

Klout score: 44
Where to follow: Twitter @MarketngTidbits

13. Michele Bell
Michele is highly influential in the “real world” as well as the online world. Michele still refuses to use Facebook but is active and engaged on Twitter. Michele shares insightful content that others might shy away from and rarely posts anything that isn’t worth your time.

Klout score: 35
Where to follow: Twitter @ASI_MBell

14. Jason Lucash
Jason has brought great awareness to our industry with his success on "Shark Tank." He has continued to be authentic and provides very entertaining content.

Klout score: 44
Where to follow: Twitter @jasonlucash

15. Aubrey Collins
When you are engaged with Aubrey online, she is engaged with you and she is consistently active. Aubrey is happy to repost great content to ensure her followers get a chance to see some of the best available content without having them sort through it all on their own.

Klout score: 41
Where to follow: Twitter @AubreyRCollins

16. Mike Schenker
Mike is largely behind the success and conversation being driven on Facebook in the Promotional Products Professional group. Mike, along with Lisa Ratteree Bibb, has done an excellent job of keeping the environment useful without heavy-handed tactics. Managing an online group of disparate viewpoints is extremely tough, and Mike is a primary reason this group has thrived.

Klout score: 27
Where to follow: https://www.facebook.com/groups/39089116834/ 

17. Jay Busselle
Jay may be the primary voice for art and design-related content in our industry. In an industry all about logos, that is a pretty important voice, and he does an excellent job with his content. Follow Jay and you’ll find some great content to share with your customers and you’ll learn a few things yourself.

Klout score: 54
Where to follow: @JayBusselle

18. Cliff Quicksell
Cliff has been known as a motivational speaker on many topics in our industry. He has brought more of his passion online this year, and is driving more and more meaningful conversation, particularly on Facebook.

Klout score: 40
Where to follow: Facebook

Congratulations to the 2016 #Online18!

To view previous lists, visit 2014 #Online18 and 2015 #Online18.

Who did I miss? Tweet @daledenham or include in the comments below.