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Editor's note (2026): This post originally launched the TOP100 CMA in 2022, when the list was still called "Crowdvocate TOP25 Influencers & TOP100 Strategists." Since then Crowdvocate rebranded to Base, the list became an annual industry staple, and the most recent cohort is honored on the 2025 TOP100 CMA Finalists page. See archives for the 2024 finalists and 2023 finalists.
"For the first time in the CMA space, we are recognizing the TOP25 Influencers and the TOP100 Strategists that are leading the way, driving visibility and value for our industry and their respective organizations as a whole. With the growth of the digital frontier, there has never been a more pertinent time for the collective efforts of Customer Marketing and Advocacy to be recognized and celebrated." — Ari Hoffman, then Global Director of Customer Advocacy at Crowdvocate.
In 2005, Inbound Marketing was introduced to the world as a new means of generating demand. Marketers everywhere were awakened to the power of content in bringing customers right to your virtual doorstep with a clear intent to buy. Nothing short of revolutionary — and by 2017, marketing teams in every industry had been completely transformed, technologies deployed, and business models established.
Almost two decades down the line, the big data is in, and Inbound is losing its clout. Forrester reported that the end-to-end conversion ratio from organic search to qualified lead now sits at less than 1%. The jaw-dropping counter figure: the average B2B organization now gets 77% of its revenue from existing customers.
That's an affirmation of the aha moment we'd all been anticipating: your customers are your best customers — and they're also your best demand generators. Around here we like to say that partnering with your customers is the key to growth on all fronts. It's called Customer-Led Growth, and it's a giant evolutionary leap forward for the B2B world.
Since 2022, the evidence that CMA is a revenue function — not a nice-to-have — has compounded:
Every one of those numbers puts pressure on the same function: customer marketing and advocacy. The TOP100 exists to recognize the people driving that shift.
Armed with a Customer-Led Growth approach, marketers are embracing the CMA practice — which is quickly gaining traction and earning a well-deserved seat at the table across departmental plans, team compositions, and budgets. With everyone and everything becoming more remote, digital, and savvy, B2B marketers are discarding the traditional funnel and rethinking their strategies. These are hugely exciting times to be shaping a new era of B2B marketing.
The TOP100 is our way of stepping off the sidelines to applaud the peers who inspire us through their work — the people building the public playbook, mentoring the community, and proving through measurable impact that customer-led growth is real.
Want to celebrate a peer, or put your own work forward? Each year's nomination window opens on the official Obsession Summit hub. For the latest cycle, see Celebrating Excellence: 2025 TOP100 CMA nominations. And if you're building the kind of program that wins this list, our Guide to Customer Marketing and The Seven Habits of a Highly Effective Customer Marketer are the best starting points.
The TOP100 launched in 2022 under the name "Crowdvocate TOP25 Influencers & TOP100 Strategists." After Crowdvocate rebranded to Base, the list continued as the annual TOP100 CMA.
Practitioners pushing boundaries with innovative programs across advocacy, references, reviews, and community; driving measurable impact on retention, expansion, and pipeline; and contributing to the public playbook of the CMA discipline through mentorship, speaking, and content.
Nominations open annually on the Obsession Summit hub. Self-nominations and peer nominations are both encouraged. The most recent cycle is documented on the 2025 nominations post.
The 2025, 2024, and 2023 finalists are all browsable on the Base site.
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