The 2017 â€˜AIMCLEAR Wants To Clone You’ Pink Sheep Awards! Who’s Baaaad!?

Posted In News & Events

By Trisha Taurinskas

AIMCLEAR is often asked to disclose the marketers we follow. It’s true, we keep our thumb on the pulse of industry talent. The most common question permutation is, “If we could clone any marketer to work for OUR team, “WHO WOULD WE CLONE?” Just imagine the 23andMe confusion!

As such, each year we present the AIMCLEAR® Wants To Clone You Pink Sheep Awards to fabulous marketers. A marketer can be nominated any number of times and only win once. Previous Pink Sheep winners include: Joanna Lord, Michelle Robbins, Akvile DeFazio, Andrew Goodman and many others.Â Winning an AIMCLEAR Pink Sheep signifies reaching the pinnacle of marketing prowessâ€¦ in our opinion. Pink Sheep Awards highlight players proffering intuitive marketing knowledge, innovative capabilities and genuine desire to be a part of the historically relevant conversation surrounding marketing. We ask WHO are movers, shakers, makers and cool human beings who deserve to be recognized? Who’s Baaaaaad?!

In true AIMCLEAR clone-wishing-fashion, we’ve narrowed this year’s nominees down to TEN industry experts we’d totally delight in cloning, moving to Minnesota (St Paul or Duluth, we have options) and putting their minds to use for the sake of our array of clients.

Disclaimer: The judging is purely subjective, based on an undefined human algorithm. AIMCLEAR team members nominate. AIMCLEAR leadership chooses winners. You can trust AIMCLEAR judges. No fake news here.

Imagine if the following minds were multiplied for marketing mayhem and digital direction? It’d be enough to take over the world. Or maybe these marketing hotshots are already headed for global domination? We kinda think so.

So, drum roll pleaseâ€¦ Here are the 10 recipients of this year’s AIMCLEAR Wants To Clone You Awards:

Frances Donegan-Ryan (@FrancesDR), Bing Ads Global Community Engagement at Microsoft

Frances Donegan-Ryan is the bee’s knees. A conference fixture, Frances evangelizes Bing, hosts monthly Bing Chats with industry pros AND runs Janes of Digital. Plus, she’s straight hilarious on Twitter. We’d totally clone this search marketing maestro if we could 🙂

Ross Simmonds (@TheCoolestCool), Digital Marketing Strategist at Foundation Marketing

Ross Simmonds is a social channel BADASS. Heck, his SnapChat guide is what taught Diddy to Snap (no joke). Does it get much cooler than that? Nope. A digital marketing strategist with Foundation Marketing, Ross has made a name for himself as a content marketing genius and enthusiastic, engaging speaker. Not to mention an entrepreneur â€” he’s co-founder of Crate AND Hustle & Grind. Look out for this guy â€” Â he’s blowing UP.

Melissa Fach (@SEOAware), Pubcon Community Manager, SEMrush Blog Editor

Melissa Fach is integral in the industry â€” hands down. The owner/president of SEO Aware holds the Pubcon CM title, edits SEMRush and is known throughout the biz as a solid, reputable, mind-blowing marketer. Melissa may be pint-sized, but her skills deliver powerful marketing blows. PLUS, she just won the 2017 US Search Personality of the Year award. Clone-worthy? You betcha!

Christi Olson (@ChristiJOlson), Head of Evangelism for Search at Microsoft

We knew we liked Christi Olson, but we were blown away when she keynoted Zenith Digital Marketing Conference. She blew our minds with AI wisdom, uproarious wit and downright discerning marketing trailblazin’. Not only is Christi head of evangelism for Microsoft, she also sits on the board of directors for SEMPO, is wicked smart at all things Search and SEOâ€¦ and is a stand up human. We’d LOVE to clone Christi 🙂

Michael King (@iPullRank), Managing Director at iPullRank

If you’ve seen Michael King speak, you already know why he’s on this list. Hip hop artist, dynamic speaker, entrepreneur, badass marketer, writer, technologistâ€¦ the list goes on. And on. As founder and managing director of iPullRank, Michael consults with major brands and auspicious startups across the globe â€” and we can see why. His insight into deep machine learning and the future of marketing would make anyone in ANY profession understand why marketers are psyched aboutÂ what’s to come. Michael, we’d LOVE to clone ya 🙂

Lauren Vaccarello, VP Marketing at Box

Smart as a whip, Lauren Vaccarello has been rockin’ VP of Marketing at Box for more than two years now! She has incredible command of the latest marketing best practices, while she blasts ahead of the curve. Before joining Box, Lauren was known as VP of Marketing for AdRoll, SVP of Marketing for Sysomos and a number of other rockstar residencies. Lauren has EVERYTHING we look for in a clone-worthy marketer.

Matthew Umbro (@Matt_Umbro), Associate Director of Services at Hanapin Marketing

Matthew Umbro is an industry veteran, marketing confidante and leader among search marketing leaders. Matthew has run #ppcchat FOR YEARS, facilitates tons of PPC gatherings and organizes networking events at conferences all over the nation. We’re so enamored by Matthew for his brilliance AND his passion for fostering a strong and ever-growing PPC community. Matthew, thank you!

Ashley Ward (@ashleymadhatter), Corporate Speaker at SEMrush

Currently the Corporate Speaker for SEMrush, Ashley conducts workshops, speaks at industry conferences AND shares content marketing and social media strategies. With plenty of agency and business experience, she’s gained a strong knowledge of online marketing strategies, business development, social media management and advertising, event coordination, branding, content writing and public speaking. Her background is in journalism and PR, fueling her integrated passion. Ashley is one in a million. We’d love to have a backup Ashley in Minnesota.

Loren Baker (@lorenbaker), Founder of Search Engine Journal 7 Co-Founder of Foundation Digital

Loren is an industry vet, and is a giant in the digital marketing industry (both literally and figuratively). As Founder of Search Engine Journal in 2003, Loren was an early pioneer, utilizing content marketing and blogger outreach to drive inbound links for improving SEO. The vast expanse of his knowledge creates an ideal partner for clients and vendors alike. In addition to his expertise, Loren is an all-around good guy with a big heart, big smile and a love of life. Loren, we wish there were more of ya!

Alan Bleiweiss (@AlanBleiweiss), Consultant, Speaker Training and Author at Alan Bleiweiss Consulting

You’ve heard the name for yearsâ€¦ you’ve seen the audits. Alan knows his SEO and has been a vet in the space for more than 20 years. In addition to the high quality outputs, Alan’s humble nature and professional service make him an ideal partner. Plus, we cannot forget about #EpicDinner, the event he organized annually at various internet marketing conferences. He takes joy in bringing people together over great food and great conversation. We cheer him for all of that!

There you have it, the 2017 AIMCLEAR® Wants To Clone You Pink Sheep Awards. See, aren’t they fabulous? I mean, who wouldn’t want to clone them?! If this your first time meeting their acquaintance, go check out their feeds â€” you won’t regret it! Winners will receive their physical award in the mail. Until next yearâ€¦!