While the truth is, not every business can invest in influencer marketing, there are some big lessons to be learned from the way influencers are able to grow their audience with video. Marketers everywhere can learn from this creative approach to content creation — share lots of high-quality videos over time, and slowly become a trusted resource, tastemaker, and leader in your industry.

“Born” into the social media world just a couple of years ago, CGI characters are taking over Instagram. They are picking up followers quicker than movie stars, singers, TV celebrities, athletes, and other high-profile and popular flesh-and-blood influencers.

Advice on social media is everywhere. The right advice on the right tools from the right PEOPLE … is rare. What if you could peek inside the minds of marketing’s most influential leaders to find out (1) their all-time favorite social-media tool, (2) why they love it, and (3) what it looks like in action? That’s what I did. And 50 of today’s top marketers weighed in. Find out what tools they chose — and let me know in the comments if they missed your own favorite … 1. Ann Handley 2. Joe Pulizzi 3. Joanna Wiebe 4. Neil Patel 5. Mari Smith 6. Rand Fishkin 7. Brian D. Evans 8. Jeff Bullas 9. Candice Galek 10. Jason Miller 11. Brian Clark 12. Larry Kim 13. Sam Hurley 14. Cammi Pham 15. Steve Rayson 16. Ross Simmonds 17. Pam Moore 18. Jay Baer 19. Griffin Thall 20. Michael Brenner 21. Andy Crestodina 22. Rachel Pedersen 23. Shane Barker 24. Murray Newlands 25. Josh Steimle 26. Sujan Patel 27. Johnathan Dane 28. John Rampton 29. Neal Schaffer 30. Ed Leake 31. Gerry Moran 32. Brian Dean 33. Glen Gilmore 34. Matthew Toren 35. Amy Porterfield 36. Kristi Hines 37. Shayla Price 38. Everette Taylor 39. Daniel Knowlton 40. Scott Stratten 41. Kevan Lee 42. Diana Adams 43. William Harris 44. Benji Hyam 45. Jon Morrow 46. Monina Wagner 47. Chirag Kulkarni 48. Nadya Khoja 49. Heidi Cohen 50. Tommy Walker