The marketing automation machine. A complicated beast for most marketers. But, there are an exceptional few that know how to use the machine to catapult their marketing to the front of the marathon race we’re all running. While the rest of us are looking towards these individuals, the thought leaders are miles ahead already.

Take a look our 5 favourite B2B marketing automation thought leaders for inspiration in your own marketing.

Dr. Dave Chaffey – CEO at SmartInsights.com

Dr. Dave Chaffey has 20 years of experience in helping marketers get the most out of the internet. Founder of SmartInsights.com, Dave has been sharing his expertise in online marketing since 1997. He has helped more than 130,000 marketers in 80 countries optimise their digital marketing activities.

On the front lines of digital marketing, Dave tells us which marketing automation techniques are emerging.

Ardath Albee – CEO & B2B Marketing Strategist for Marketing Interactions, Inc.

One of the 50 most influential people in sales lead management for four years running and cited as a Top 25 B2B Marketing Influencer! Ardath Albee is an expert in the B2B marketing continuum. Sharing her knowledge, Albee educates companies on how to turn prospects into buyers and keep customers. Her techniques work hand in hand with marketing automation technology to provide business with the best B2B results.

As the marketing automation company designed for lead generation, we’re big fans of hers.

Kath Pay – Founder & Snr Consultant at Holistic Email Marketing

As one of the UK’s leading email marketers, Kath Pay has 16 years experience in holistic email marketing practices. They align perfectly with marketing automation practices. With 10 years on the UK DMA Email Marketing Council too, Kath is a renowned international speaker. She was also one of the World’s Top 50 Email Marketing Influencers in 2014.

Kath is a great mind to pick when moving from email marketing to a full marketing automation platform.

Chad White – Author of ‘Email Marketing Rules’ & Research Director at Litmus

As Research Director at Litmus, Chad has access to more than 225 email service providers and agency partners actions. He can see how email marketing is changed by marketing automation and which practices are best for the B2B marketers. As the author of Email Marketing Rules and with research and commentary in more than 100 publications, Chad is one of the leading expertise in email marketing.

We work quite closely with Litmus to make sure our email marketing is in line with the latest best practices, so we’re big fans of Chad! Could you tell?

Ann Handley – Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs

As we all know, content marketing is a huge part of the marketing automation machine. No one knows how to utilise content quite like Ann Handley. Cited in Forbes as one of the most influential women in social media and one of the Top 20 women bloggers, Handley has content marketing down to an art. You can gain insights into her content marketing expertise from her two books: Everybody Writes and Content Rules.

Our content strategist Ali loves these books, so they come highly recommended!