Our 31 Favorite Marketing Quotes of 2016
There are some marketing quotes that pop up in every best-of list, in slides at every marketing conference, and in e-mail signatures of hundreds of marketers. For example, there’s: “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don’t know which half,” from John Wanamaker. Or Bill Gates’ proclamation, “Content is king!” and its endless variations.
There’s nothing wrong with classic marketing quotes, per se. But marketing has changed substantially in the 100 years since John Wanamaker, and even in the 10 since Bill gave content its coronation.
We marketers are out there innovating every day. So we should always be on the lookout for a new piece of wisdom, a new bit of advice or inspiration that can drive us to greater heights.
With that in mind, here’s our collection of new classic marketing quotes. All of them came from brilliant marketers just this year. Use them to inspire you to new heights of excellence in 2017...
"Content is the atomic particle of all marketing." — Tom McConnon, Senior Product and Content Marketing Manager, Domo
"70% of the impact of a campaign is driven by the creative. You can target them, but if you show them the wrong thing, you're wasting an opportunity." — Karin Hennessy, Product Manager, DoubleClick
“As an industry, we’ve overbuilt and over-engineered the marketing technology stack. Re-evaluate your ad tech stack and see if it’s as simple as possible.” — Oleg Korenfeld, EVP, Ad Technology and Platforms, Mediavest | Spark
“Mixing data and creative can be like boys and girls at a middle school dance. If you don’t do it well, it’s awkward.” — Ryan Joe, Managing Editor, AdExchanger
“Everyone presumes B2B buyers to be far more rational. It’s actually a lot more emotional.” — Patrick O’Hara, Global Chief Strategy Officer, gyro
"Stop chasing the next big thing and do your job better." — Chris Moody, Content Marketing Leader, GE Digital
"In our obsession to change people's minds, we forget to appeal to people's guts." — Doug Kessler, Creative Director, Velocity Partners
"Marketers should opt for sustainability over speed."— Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer, MarketingProfs
“Marketing needs to act more like a profit center and less like a cost center.” — Matt Heinz, President, Heinz Marketing
“A lot of people are buying technology in a solution-in-search-of-a-problem kind of scenario.” — Lee Odden, CEO, TopRank Marketing
“Good marketers follow best practices. Great marketers craft their own.” — Jay Acunzo, Vice President of Platform, NextView Ventures
"Our success should be judged on whether or not our customers are happy." — Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman, Alphabet Inc.
"The goal isn't to be good at content. The goal is to be good at business using content." — Shafqat Islam, CEO, NewsCred
"Creating isn't about me. If people don't want it, it won't matter how good it is. You can't sell it." — Will Smith, Actor, Musician, Producer, Philanthropist
“The play button is the most compelling call to action on the web.” — Jesse Ariss, Product Marketing Manager, Vidyard
“Marketers care about engagement. CEOs and owners care about revenue. What are you measuring?” — Chris Brogan, CEO, Owner Media Group
“Sometimes, great content is something that sales feels confident walking in the door with. That’s great content, too. It’s not just about servicing the end customer.” — Lauren Goldstein, Partner, Revelry Agency
“Everything that you love to do and you’re good at, never give up; everything else, punt.” — Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO, VaynerMedia
“We are past the hype on mobile. What comes after hype? It’s standard at this point.” — Michael Treon, Head of Business Operations, Roy-Pitz Brewing Co.
“We don’t do social campaigns. We make every campaign social.” — Alex Rynne, Content Marketing Manager, LinkedIn
“We’re entering a new era in technology where consumers are choosing experience over products.” — Bryan Krzanich, CEO, Intel
“Mediocre content will hurt your brand more than doing nothing at all.” — Joe Pulizzi, Founder, Content Marketing Institute
“Content optimized for search includes keywords. Content optimized for social includes people.” — Andy Crestodina, Co-Founder, Orbit Media
“Organic is good; paid is better.” — Jason Miller, Global Content Marketing Leader, LinkedIn
“Successful marketing today isn’t about tricking your audience into doing what you want; it’s about developing a real relationship with them through your brand and your content.” — Jayson DeMers, Founder & CEO, AudienceBloom
“If you want engagement, be engaging. Be conversational. Ask questions. Leave room for your audience to add their voice.” — Darren Rowse, Founder & Keynote Speaker, ProBlogger Training Events
“Computers can’t do it all. There’s no substitute for creative, clever, compassionate human marketers.” — Holly Wright, Director of Digital Marketing, Appfire
“Start with the customer experience and work your way backward to the technology.” — Robert Rose, Chief Strategy Advisor, Content Marketing Institute
“Podcasting is the one form of content marketing that you can’t skim.” — Michael Stelzner, CEO & Founder, Social Media Examiner
“Before you create content, ask ‘who will amplify this, and why?’ Be specific.” — Rand Fishkin, Wizard of Moz
“Marketers need to cheat. We need to learn to fail in ways that are efficient, effective and safe.” — Allen Gannett, CEO, TrackMaven
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