As social medias like Facebook, Instagram and YouTube begin to shut down organic reach and charge higher prices for advertising, many gun manufacturers and gun industry or tactical gear companies are turning to the most effective type of marketing available today; Influencer Marketing.
Jump to Lists:
Top 40 Most Influential on Social Media Today
Top 40 Most Influential on Facebook Today
Top 40 Most Influential on Instagram Today
Top 40 Most Influential on Youtube Today
Top 40 Most Influential on Twitter Today
Influencer Marketing is today’s new buzz word for Celebrity Endorsement or Product Placement. Much like in the past, companies paid radio disc jockeys to do LIVE endorsement ads about a product they use or believe in, today companies are paying social media celebrities and large social media channels to do pretty much the same thing.
Gun Industry Influencer Marketing includes reposting (sharing) branded content, using the product in pictures and video (product placement) and creating content around the product (branded content). Rates vary based on popularity, reach and demand but from what we hear, one of the guys listed below gets over 30k per video.
We have put together the following comprehensive list of Gun Industry Influencers. We asked our fans to nominate influencers. We then sorted the influencers by total fan base on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and Twitter. Nominees were solicited on Instagram and Facebook from members of the Danger Close Media Group Network. In choosing the nominees we asked the following questions;
- Did this social media have a front man/women
- Did that front man/woman publicly endorse other brand guns, gun parts or tactical gear on their channel(s)
- Did they have at least a cumulative 25,000 fans, followers and subscribers
This list is NOT based on reach since we do not have access to all the gun industry influencer analytics and reach can vary wildly based on virility of content created. This list and it’s variations are based on total follower, fans, subscribers at the time of the data collection. It should be noted that if an influencer had multiple channels (ie two Instagram pages) those fan bases were added to achieve a total count. For example. Scott Funker owns and runs both Funker Tactical and Funker 530 so the Funker numbers are cumulative. The same goes for an influencer who may have multiple brands on Instagram like Brian Compton aka BC where he runs StrengthPunishes as well as TheBCExperience. In this case both follower counts were added together.
We recognize that when dealing with a list this large, there most definitely will be discrepancies. If you represent one of these influencers and would like to correct data shown below we will entertain those adjustments until the last day of Shot Show 2018 at which time the numbers will become official until 2019. If your adjustment affects the top 10 we will still recognize the influencers below you and nobody will be “pushed out” of the top ranking.
Top 40 Most Influential Gun Industry Influencers on Social Media Today
| Rank | Influencer | Youtube | Total | |||
| 1 | Demolition Ranch | 277,000 | 483,000 | 4,428,828 | 74,500 | 5,263,328 |
| 2 | 2,464,000 | 157,900 | 2,291,812 | 16,357 | 4,930,069 | |
| 3 | 593,000 | 188,000 | 2,939,606 | 57,200 | 3,777,806 | |
| 4 | 1,526,511 | 505,000 | 733,625 | 26,100 | 2,791,236 | |
| 5 | 864,000 | 1,638,068 | 26,100 | 2,528,168 | ||
| 6 | 474,000 | 334,000 | 600,785 | 90,600 | 1,499,385 | |
| 7 | 581,000 | 77,700 | 737,335 | 1,396,035 | ||
| 8 | 893,940 | 413,700 | 55,305 | 3,785 | 1,366,730 | |
| 9 | 882,000 | 216,000 | 210,066 | 7,072 | 1,315,138 | |
| 10 | 374,000 | 183,000 | 649,089 | 27,000 | 1,233,089 | |
| 11 | Tony Sentmanat Real World Tactical | 332,000 | 783,000 | 56,870 | 1,171,870 | |
| 12 | 230,000 | 122,000 | 511,537 | 18,100 | 881,637 | |
| 13 | 593,000 | 128,000 | 12,000 | 88,200 | 821,200 | |
| 14 | 21,000 | 5,487 | 734,235 | 35,800 | 796,522 | |
| 15 | 59,000 | 49,900 | 653,875 | 8,605 | 771,380 | |
| 16 | 273,000 | 320,000 | 3,525 | 171,000 | 767,525 | |
| 18 | 78,000 | 11,900 | 621,698 | 5,604 | 717,202 | |
| 17 | 207,000 | 25,900 | 384,077 | 60,700 | 677,677 | |
| 19 | 212,000 | 378,000 | 40,480 | 2,554 | 633,034 | |
| 20 | 547,000 | 41,000 | 10,811 | 2,091 | 600,902 | |
| 21 | 58,000 | 56,200 | 437,000 | 13,200 | 564,400 | |
| 22 | 459,000 | 73,000 | 24,190 | 971 | 557,161 | |
| 23 | 398,000 | 78,400 | 7,108 | 9,400 | 492,908 | |
| 24 | 151,000 | 33,700 | 286,552 | 2,476 | 473,728 | |
| 25 | 151,000 | 159,000 | 155,983 | 5,158 | 471,141 | |
| 26 | 301,000 | 56,500 | 106,836 | 1,079 | 465,415 | |
| 27 | 78,000 | 217,000 | 118,838 | 1,328 | 415,166 | |
| 28 | 64,000 | 317,000 | 28,599 | 409,599 | ||
| 29 | 49,000 | 333,000 | 828 | 5,159 | 387,987 | |
| 30 | 115,000 | 50,900 | 208,299 | 3,483 | 377,682 | |
| 31 | 141,000 | 167,000 | 39,083 | 2,803 | 349,886 | |
| 32 | 326,000 | 17,500 | 2,032 | 1,160 | 346,692 | |
| 33 | 214,000 | 110,000 | 5,253 | 329,253 | ||
| 34 | 22,000 | 32,300 | 253,776 | 4,063 | 312,139 | |
| 35 | 296,000 | 296,000 | ||||
| 36 | 168,000 | 28,900 | 23,000 | 43,300 | 263,200 | |
| 37 | 124,800 | 128,000 | 3,400 | 4,935 | 261,135 | |
| 38 | 135,000 | 29,900 | 17,885 | 27,800 | 210,585 | |
| 39 | 144,000 | 41,400 | 17,000 | 5,938 | 208,338 | |
| 40 | 203,440 |
Top 40 Most Influential Gun Industry Influencers on Facebook Today
| Rank | Influencer | ||||
| 1 | 2,464,000 | 157,900 | 2,291,812 | 16,357 | 4,930,069 |
| 2 | 1,526,511 | 505,000 | 733,625 | 26,100 | 2,791,236 |
| 3 | 893,940 | 413,700 | 55,305 | 3,785 | 1,366,730 |
| 4 | 882,000 | 216,000 | 210,066 | 7,072 | 1,315,138 |
| 5 | 864,000 | 1,638,068 | 26,100 | 2,528,168 | |
| 6 | 593,000 | 188,000 | 2,939,606 | 57,200 | 3,777,806 |
| 7 | 593,000 | 128,000 | 12,000 | 88,200 | 821,200 |
| 8 | 581,000 | 77,700 | 737,335 | 1,396,035 | |
| 9 | 547,000 | 41,000 | 10,811 | 2,091 | 600,902 |
| 10 | 474,000 | 334,000 | 600,785 | 90,600 | 1,499,385 |
| 11 | 459,000 | 73,000 | 24,190 | 971 | 557,161 |
| 12 | 398,000 | 78,400 | 7,108 | 9,400 | 492,908 |
| 13 | 374,000 | 183,000 | 649,089 | 27,000 | 1,233,089 |
| 14 | 332,000 | 783,000 | 56,870 | 1,171,870 | |
| 15 | 326,000 | 17,500 | 2,032 | 1,160 | 346,692 |
| 16 | 301,000 | 56,500 | 106,836 | 1,079 | 465,415 |
| 17 | 277,000 | 483,000 | 4,428,828 | 74,500 | 5,263,328 |
| 18 | 273,000 | 320,000 | 3,525 | 171,000 | 767,525 |
| 19 | 230,000 | 122,000 | 511,537 | 18,100 | 881,637 |
| 20 | 214,000 | 110,000 | 5,253 | 329,253 | |
| 21 | 212,000 | 378,000 | 40,480 | 2,554 | 633,034 |
| 22 | 207,000 | 25,900 | 384,077 | 60,700 | 677,677 |
| 23 | 168,000 | 28,900 | 23,000 | 43,300 | 263,200 |
| 24 | 151,000 | 33,700 | 286,552 | 2,476 | 473,728 |
| 25 | 151,000 | 159,000 | 155,983 | 5,158 | 471,141 |
| 26 | 144,000 | 41,400 | 17,000 | 5,938 | 208,338 |
| 27 | 141,000 | 167,000 | 39,083 | 2,803 | 349,886 |
| 28 | 135,000 | 29,900 | 17,885 | 27,800 | 210,585 |
| 29 | 124,800 | 128,000 | 3,400 | 4,935 | 261,135 |
| 30 | 115,000 | 50,900 | 208,299 | 3,483 | 377,682 |
| 31 | 87,000 | 934 | 59,702 | 147,636 | |
| 32 | Gun Jesus – Forgotten Weapons | 717,202 | |||
| 33 | 78,000 | 217,000 | 118,838 | 1,328 | 415,166 |
| 34 | 69,000 | 67,500 | 1,300 | 133 | 137,933 |
| 35 | 64,000 | 317,000 | 28,599 | 409,599 | |
| 36 | 63,000 | 68,000 | 560 | 131,560 | |
| 37 | 59,000 | 49,900 | 653,875 | 8,605 | 771,380 |
| 38 | 58,000 | 56,200 | 437,000 | 13,200 | 564,400 |
| 39 | 49,000 | 333,000 | 828 | 5,159 | 387,987 |
| 40 | 40,000 | 90,200 | 37,000 | 1,657 | 168,857 |
Top 40 Most Influential Gun Industry Influencers on Instagram Today
| Rank | Influencer | Youtube | Total | |||
| 1 | Tony Sentmanat Real World Tactical | 332,000 | 783,000 | 56,870 | 1,171,870 | |
| 2 | 1,526,511 | 505,000 | 733,625 | 26,100 | 2,791,236 | |
| 3 | 277,000 | 483,000 | 4,428,828 | 74,500 | 5,263,328 | |
| 4 | 893,940 | 413,700 | 55,305 | 3,785 | 1,366,730 | |
| 5 | 212,000 | 378,000 | 40,480 | 2,554 | 633,034 | |
| 6 | 474,000 | 334,000 | 600,785 | 90,600 | 1,499,385 | |
| 7 | 49,000 | 333,000 | 828 | 5,159 | 387,987 | |
| 8 | 273,000 | 320,000 | 3,525 | 171,000 | 767,525 | |
| 9 | 64,000 | 317,000 | 28,599 | 409,599 | ||
| 10 | 296,000 | 296,000 | ||||
| 11 | Lucas Botkin Trexarms | 78,000 | 217,000 | 118,838 | 1,328 | 415,166 |
| 12 | 882,000 | 216,000 | 210,066 | 7,072 | 1,315,138 | |
| 13 | 593,000 | 188,000 | 2,939,606 | 57,200 | 3,777,806 | |
| 14 | 374,000 | 183,000 | 649,089 | 27,000 | 1,233,089 | |
| 15 | 141,000 | 167,000 | 39,083 | 2,803 | 349,886 | |
| 16 | 161,000 | 161,000 | ||||
| 18 | 151,000 | 159,000 | 155,983 | 5,158 | 471,141 | |
| 17 | 11,709 | 158,800 | 13,609 | 2,148 | 186,266 | |
| 19 | 2,464,000 | 157,900 | 2,291,812 | 16,357 | 4,930,069 | |
| 20 | 155,000 | 71 | 155,071 | |||
| 21 | 593,000 | 128,000 | 12,000 | 88,200 | 821,200 | |
| 22 | 124,800 | 128,000 | 3,400 | 4,935 | 261,135 | |
| 23 | 127,000 | 989 | 127,989 | |||
| 24 | 230,000 | 122,000 | 511,537 | 18,100 | 881,637 | |
| 25 | 28,000 | 122,000 | 150,000 | |||
| 26 | 120,000 | 120,000 | ||||
| 27 | 4,800 | 117,000 | 121,800 | |||
| 28 | 116,000 | 116,000 | ||||
| 29 | 23,000 | 111,000 | 28,069 | 1,302 | 163,371 | |
| 30 | 214,000 | 110,000 | 5,253 | 329,253 | ||
| 31 | 1,100 | 107,000 | 1,200 | 109,300 | ||
| 32 | 105,200 | 105,200 | ||||
| 33 | 91,000 | 91,000 | ||||
| 34 | 40,000 | 90,200 | 37,000 | 1,657 | 168,857 | |
| 35 | 594 | 84,000 | 20 | 84,614 | ||
| 36 | 398,000 | 78,400 | 7,108 | 9,400 | 492,908 | |
| 37 | 581,000 | 77,700 | 737,335 | 1,396,035 | ||
| 38 | 459,000 | 73,000 | 24,190 | 971 | 557,161 | |
| 39 | 63,000 | 68,000 | 560 | 131,560 | ||
| 40 | 69,000 | 67,500 | 1,300 | 133 | 137,933 | |
| 41 | 66,100 | 66,100 |
Top 40 Most Influential Gun Industry Influencers on Youtube Today
| Rank | Influencer | Youtube | Total | |||
| 1 | Demolition Ranch | 277,000 | 483,000 | 4,428,828 | 74,500 | 5,263,328 |
| 2 | 593,000 | 188,000 | 2,939,606 | 57,200 | 3,777,806 | |
| 3 | 2,464,000 | 157,900 | 2,291,812 | 16,357 | 4,930,069 | |
| 4 | 864,000 | 1,638,068 | 26,100 | 2,528,168 | ||
| 5 | 581,000 | 77,700 | 737,335 | 1,396,035 | ||
| 6 | 21,000 | 5,487 | 734,235 | 35,800 | 796,522 | |
| 7 | 1,526,511 | 505,000 | 733,625 | 26,100 | 2,791,236 | |
| 8 | 59,000 | 49,900 | 653,875 | 8,605 | 771,380 | |
| 9 | 374,000 | 183,000 | 649,089 | 27,000 | 1,233,089 | |
| 10 | 78,000 | 11,900 | 621,698 | 5,604 | 717,202 | |
| 11 | Colion Noir | 474,000 | 334,000 | 600,785 | 90,600 | 1,499,385 |
| 12 | 230,000 | 122,000 | 511,537 | 18,100 | 881,637 | |
| 13 | 58,000 | 56,200 | 437,000 | 13,200 | 564,400 | |
| 14 | 207,000 | 25,900 | 384,077 | 60,700 | 677,677 | |
| 15 | 151,000 | 33,700 | 286,552 | 2,476 | 473,728 | |
| 16 | 22,000 | 32,300 | 253,776 | 4,063 | 312,139 | |
| 18 | 882,000 | 216,000 | 210,066 | 7,072 | 1,315,138 | |
| 17 | 115,000 | 50,900 | 208,299 | 3,483 | 377,682 | |
| 19 | 151,000 | 159,000 | 155,983 | 5,158 | 471,141 | |
| 20 | 15,000 | 49,400 | 138,415 | 625 | 203,440 | |
| 21 | 1,200 | 5,525 | 126,373 | 2,994 | 136,092 | |
| 22 | 78,000 | 217,000 | 118,838 | 1,328 | 415,166 | |
| 23 | 301,000 | 56,500 | 106,836 | 1,079 | 465,415 | |
| 24 | 27,000 | 94,671 | 203 | 121,874 | ||
| 25 | 87,000 | 934 | 59,702 | 147,636 | ||
| 26 | 332,000 | 783,000 | 56,870 | 1,171,870 | ||
| 27 | 893,940 | 413,700 | 55,305 | 3,785 | 1,366,730 | |
| 28 | 212,000 | 378,000 | 40,480 | 2,554 | 633,034 | |
| 29 | 141,000 | 167,000 | 39,083 | 2,803 | 349,886 | |
| 30 | 40,000 | 90,200 | 37,000 | 1,657 | 168,857 | |
| 31 | 64,000 | 317,000 | 28,599 | 409,599 | ||
| 32 | 23,000 | 111,000 | 28,069 | 1,302 | 163,371 | |
| 33 | 459,000 | 73,000 | 24,190 | 971 | 557,161 | |
| 34 | 168,000 | 28,900 | 23,000 | 43,300 | 263,200 | |
| 35 | 135,000 | 29,900 | 17,885 | 27,800 | 210,585 | |
| 36 | 144,000 | 41,400 | 17,000 | 5,938 | 208,338 | |
| 37 | 11,709 | 158,800 | 13,609 | 2,148 | 186,266 | |
| 38 | 12,576 | 18,100 | 12,288 | 586 | 43,550 | |
| 39 | 593,000 | 128,000 | 12,000 | 88,200 | 821,200 | |
| 40 | 547,000 | 41,000 | 10,811 | 2,091 | 600,902 |
Top 40 Most Influential Gun Industry Influencers on Twitter Today
| Rank | Influencer | Youtube | Total | |||
| 1 | Tim Kennedy Sheepdog Response | 273,000 | 320,000 | 3,525 | 171,000 | 767,525 |
| 2 | 474,000 | 334,000 | 600,785 | 90,600 | 1,499,385 | |
| 3 | 593,000 | 128,000 | 12,000 | 88,200 | 821,200 | |
| 4 | 277,000 | 483,000 | 4,428,828 | 74,500 | 5,263,328 | |
| 5 | 207,000 | 25,900 | 384,077 | 60,700 | 677,677 | |
| 6 | 593,000 | 188,000 | 2,939,606 | 57,200 | 3,777,806 | |
| 7 | 168,000 | 28,900 | 23,000 | 43,300 | 263,200 | |
| 8 | 21,000 | 5,487 | 734,235 | 35,800 | 796,522 | |
| 9 | 135,000 | 29,900 | 17,885 | 27,800 | 210,585 | |
| 10 | 374,000 | 183,000 | 649,089 | 27,000 | 1,233,089 | |
| 11 | 1,526,511 | 505,000 | 733,625 | 26,100 | 2,791,236 | |
| 12 | 864,000 | 1,638,068 | 26,100 | 2,528,168 | ||
| 13 | 230,000 | 122,000 | 511,537 | 18,100 | 881,637 | |
| 14 | 2,464,000 | 157,900 | 2,291,812 | 16,357 | 4,930,069 | |
| 15 | 58,000 | 56,200 | 437,000 | 13,200 | 564,400 | |
| 16 | 398,000 | 78,400 | 7,108 | 9,400 | 492,908 | |
| 18 | 44,300 | 7,400 | 9,218 | 60,918 | ||
| 17 | 59,000 | 49,900 | 653,875 | 8,605 | 771,380 | |
| 19 | 882,000 | 216,000 | 210,066 | 7,072 | 1,315,138 | |
| 20 | 144,000 | 41,400 | 17,000 | 5,938 | 208,338 | |
| 21 | 78,000 | 11,900 | 621,698 | 5,604 | 717,202 | |
| 22 | 214,000 | 110,000 | 5,253 | 329,253 | ||
| 23 | 49,000 | 333,000 | 828 | 5,159 | 387,987 | |
| 24 | 151,000 | 159,000 | 155,983 | 5,158 | 471,141 | |
| 25 | 124,800 | 128,000 | 3,400 | 4,935 | 261,135 | |
| 26 | 22,000 | 32,300 | 253,776 | 4,063 | 312,139 | |
| 27 | 893,940 | 413,700 | 55,305 | 3,785 | 1,366,730 | |
| 28 | 7,700 | 55,800 | 10,014 | 3,499 | 77,013 | |
| 29 | 115,000 | 50,900 | 208,299 | 3,483 | 377,682 | |
| 30 | 5,700 | 22,000 | 9,300 | 3,367 | 40,367 | |
| 31 | 1,200 | 5,525 | 126,373 | 2,994 | 136,092 | |
| 32 | 2,500 | 22,500 | 87 | 2,909 | 27,996 | |
| 33 | 141,000 | 167,000 | 39,083 | 2,803 | 349,886 | |
| 34 | 212,000 | 378,000 | 40,480 | 2,554 | 633,034 | |
| 35 | 151,000 | 33,700 | 286,552 | 2,476 | 473,728 | |
| 36 | 11,709 | 158,800 | 13,609 | 2,148 | 186,266 | |
| 37 | 547,000 | 41,000 | 10,811 | 2,091 | 600,902 | |
| 38 | 25,900 | 52,100 | 2,083 | 80,083 | ||
| 39 | 40,000 | 90,200 | 37,000 | 1,657 | 168,857 | |
| 40 | 78,000 | 217,000 | 118,838 | 1,328 | 415,166 |