Here is our third and final post in our series of three on learning from the speakers for Social Media Marketing World 2025 (a conference for digital marketers, content creators, social media managers and influencers.) You can also learn a lot from the Social Media Examiner blog and its podcasts.
In this post, we will learn from the #SMMW25 speakers and panelists talking about AI and Marketing.
You can still learn from the SMMW experts, however. Almost every one of them has a YouTube channel you can learn from, and many of them still write blogs. As you can imagine, many of the speakers offer trainings and paid courses, but there’s still enough recent content you can learn from for free.,
Let’s delve into the wealth of information on offer from this year’s speakers. I’ll organize them first by Track, then alphabetically for convenience. See our Part 2 and Part 3 posts for the AI and Marketing Track speakers and the Marketing Strategy and Paid Social Marketing Strategy tracks speakers.
Marketing Strategy and Paid Social Marketing Speakers for SMMW25
Allie Bjerk – Self-Liquidating Offers
LinkedIn: Allie Bjerk Instagram: @alliebjerk Podcast: The Start Tiny Show Website: AllieBjerk.com YouTube: @alliebjerk
Allie’s podcast and YouTube videos haven’t been updated, but you can learn a lot from her evergreen past episodes and still relevant videos. Check out her video on Tiny Offers. Some of you might benefit from her podcast episode on Boosting Visibility for Online Coaches.
Alicia Conlin-Hurd – Funnel Marketing
Instagram: @alicia_conlin_hurd LinkedIn: Alicia Conlin-Hurd Website: PersuasionExperience.com YouTube: @AlishaConlinHurd
Right now she specializes in fantastic landing pages that convert. You can watch an hour long interview with her from a web design podcast on making landing pages that convert. Here’s a half hour podcast of her talking about building a better sales funnel. I enjoyed her video called “The World’s Shortest Landing Page Course.” You might enjoy her video “How Long Should Your Landing Page Be in 2025?”
Pat Flynn – Personal Branding
Instagram: @patflynn LinkedIn: Pat Flynn Website: SmartPassiveIncome.com YouTube: @smartpassiveincome
Visit his Smart Passive Income blog for posts on affiliate marketing, community building, email marketing, podcasting and YouTube. Recent helpful videos on YouTube include “My honest advice for anyone who wants passive income,” “How to Start a Podcast in 2025 – Beginner Podcasting Tutorial,” and his short on “The best way to film videos.”
Emily Hirsh – Facebook and Instagram Ads
Instagram: @emilyhirsh LinkedIn: Emily Hirsh Podcast: The Embodied Marketing Podcast Website: EmbodiedMarketing.com YouTube: @emilyhirsh9045
Learn from her recent podcast episodes “A Critical Shift I’m Noticing In All Marketing Strategies Today” and “How To Choose Organic Content Topics That Converts & Doesn’t Burn You Out.” Check out her recent Instagram post on “The truth about marketing that nobody talks about.”
Ben Jones – YouTube Ads
Instagram: @ben.jonesofficial LinkedIn: Ben Jones Website: TitanMarketer.com YouTube: @BenJonesTM
Watch a recent episode of the Social Media Marketing Talk Show featuring Ben talking about YouTube Ads updates.
Brenna McGowan – Anticipation Marketing
Instagram: @brennamcgowanco LinkedIn: Brenna McGowan Website: BehindTheLaunch.com and BrennaMcGowan.Co YouTube: @brennamcgowanco
Watch her recent short called “Why Launches are Dipping in 2025 and What to Do About It.” Learn from her YouTube video on “The Big Difference Between Pre Launch and Regular Marketing Content.”
Chris Mercer – Advanced Analytics
LinkedIn: Chris Mercer Website: MeasurementMarketing.Io YouTube: @MeasureU
You can watch his recent videos on “Measurement Tech for 2025” and “Save Time & Money Testing Meta Ads Using AI.”
Melina Palmer – Behavioral Science
Instagram: @thebrainybiz LinkedIn: Melina Palmer Podcast: The Brainy Business Website: TheBrainyBusiness.com
You can watch her Ted Talk, “There’s Nothing Magical About Monday” on YouTube. You might enjoy her podcast episodes on “The Power of Unity in Persuasion” and “The Art of Brainy Goals.”
J.J. Peterson – Storytelling
Instagram: @drjjpeterson and @storybrand LinkedIn: Dr J.J. Peterson Podcast: Marketing Made Simple Website: Storybrand.com YouTube: @storybrand
You might like to watch this recent episode of “The Simplifiers” podcast featuring Dr. J.J. Peterson talking about creating a simple, effective sales funnel. He’s also featured in an episode of The Marketing Happy Hour podcast you should check out, “How Storytelling will Transform Your Brand Marketing Strategy.” I enjoyed this video on nostalgia: “Is This Crazy Marketing Strategy Actually Effective?”
Molly Pittman – Facebook Ads
Instagram: @mollypittmandigital LinkedIn: Molly Pittman Website: MollyPittman.com and SmartMarketer.com YouTube: @thesmartmarketer
Learn from the Smart Marketer blog, and listen to episodes of the Smart Marketer podcast. A recent episode you might benefit from is “More Revenue, Better Customers: The Marketing Levers That Work.”
Mark Schaefer – Marketing Strategy
Instagram: @markschaefer LinkedIn: Mark Schaefer Podcast: The Marketing Companion Website: BusinessesGrow.com YouTube: @MarkSchaefer
I really enjoyed his recent blog post suggesting we “Never make an ad.” You might also enjoy reading “From Work to What? Surviving the AI Utopia Narrative” and “Goodbye Google? Dissecting the role of AI and SEO.”
Jay Schwedelson – Email Marketing
Instagram: @jayschwedelson LinkedIn: Jay Schwedelson Podcast: Do This, Not That! Website: JaySchwedelson.com and GuruMediaHub.com and SubjectLine.com YouTube: @gurumediahub
Read his recent post on “10 things I’ve learned about content.” Recent podcast episodes you might enjoy learning from include “Secret to 40% Email Open Rate Increase” and “What are Click Triggers? Easy 20% Increase in Clicks.”
Brooke Sellas – Social Engagement
Instagram: @brookesellas LinkedIn: Brooke B. Sellas Podcast: Social Media CX Podcast Website: BeSquared.Media YouTube: @HelloBSquared
Listen to her helpful recent podcast episodes on “How to Nail Personalization & Authentic Engagement on Social Media” and “Why Losing Followers on Social Media is a Win.”
Marcus Sheridan – Content Marketing
Instagram: @marcussheridanspeaks LinkedIn: Marcus Sheridan Website: MarcusSheridan.com YouTube: @MarcusSheridan
Nick Theriot – Video Ads
Instagram: @nicktheriot_ LinkedIn: Nick Theriot Website: TheriotSolutions.com YouTube: @nicktheriot
If you need help with Facebook Ads, watch Nick’s recent videos including “Top 3 Most Effective Ways To Test Facebook Ads In 2025,” “How To Lower Facebook Ads Cost Per Purchase in 2025″ and “Facebook Video Ads That SCALE (Master Guide 2025).”
AJ Wilcox – LinkedIn Ads
LinkedIn: AJ Wilcox Podcast: The LinkedIn Ads Show Website: B2Linked.com and AJWilcox.com
Learn from recent podcast episodes on LinkedIn ads.
Steve Wright – Advanced Smartphone Video Creation
Instagram: @learnonlinevideo LinkedIn: Steve Wright Website: LearnOnlineVideo.co.uk YouTube: @learnonlinevideo
Recent videos I’ve enjoyed from him include “How to Film Hollywood-Style Videos on Your iPhone with a Gimbal” and “1 Hour of Smartphone Filmmaking Tips for Beginners.”
Tara Zirker – Facebook and Instagram Ads
Facebook: Tara Zirker Instagram: Tara Zirker LinkedIn: Tara Zirker Website: SuccessfulAdsClub.com
You can watch Tara Zirker being interviewed on YouTube in an episode called “Running ads with a small budget.”
See part 1 and part 2 of this series of posts for more speaker links and resources!
-Creator Inspiration