Sometimes even the best of us hit that creative brick wall. It seems like no matter what you do – take a walk, grab a cup of coffee, or hit the gym – you can't get back on track.
This is when you need a little dose of inspiration.
Inspirational quotes can be incredibly motivational for a number of reasons, so we compiled the best marketing quotes to spark your energy.
Why Great Marketing Quotes Are Important
Great marketing quotes can be used to inspire your team to do great things. Whether it's a content marketing quote, social media marketing quote, or digital marketing quote, you and your team can learn from the experts and help guide you toward success.
They have to power to help you make poignant statements during meetings, inspire your team members to work hard, and they can be applied to many different workplace situations beyond the marketing department.
We all need inspiration from time to time, and who better to get inspiration from than some of the best leaders throughout various industries.
The Best Marketing Quotes to Spark Inspiration for Your Team
Here are 100 of the best marketing quotes to get your team inspired.
The Most Famous Marketing Quotes
1. “Creativity is intelligence having fun.” – Albert Einstein
Everyone falls into the trap of feeling overly stressed and pressed for time. Deadlines come up fast, and there are typically dozens of projects in progress at the same time.
But when we hit this point, where stress scatters our brains, it's time to take a step back and remember that what we do should be fun. While marketing is serious, the process should be fun and exciting. The more fun you have, you more creative you will be.
2. “The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well that the product or service fits him and sells itself.” – Peter Drucker
Inbound marketing gives us unprecedented information about who buyers are and what they need. Use it to create targeted content that makes your product or service indispensable.
Like Drucker says, by the time your prospect is in the decision stage of the buyer's journey, if your inbound marketing and inbound sales techniques were properly executed, your product or service should already be a must have for your potential buyer.
3. "On Average, eight out of 10 people will read your headline copy, but only two out of 10 will read the rest." – Brian Clark
4. “More contact means more sharing of information, gossiping, exchanging, engaging – in short, more word of mouth.” – Gary Vaynerchuk
The legendary hustler Gary Vee is a leading voice in the social media marketing space. He's been a visionary in social media because he understands human nature.
And part of human nature is our tendency to share and openly praise things that bring us joy and help us solve problems. Social media content paves the road for this big opportunity to generate and drive word of mouth.
5. “Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.” – Coco Chanel
No marketing quotes list would be complete without Coco Chanel. She dominated the fashion world, and even after her passing decades ago, her brand name is still ubiquitous.
Focusing on simplicity is what drives the Chanel name, but it also benefits many other brands like Apple. When you make it easy for customers to have a delightful experience with your brand, they will remember that.
6. “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” – Peter Drucker
What Drucker is saying is be a leader and create the change you want to see. If you have the right goals in place, you can create a roadmap to success and make aspirations a reality.
7. “Marketing is no longer about the stuff you make, but about the stories you tell.” – Seth Godin
Storytelling finds its way into nearly every aspect of your marketing strategy. From blogging and social media to email campaigns and everything in between, you're creating what could be a compelling story.
When you build great stories based around your company and your products and services, you're humanizing your organization. And modern buyers are attracted to this human element.
8. “People spend money when and where they feel good.” – Walt Disney
9. “The best marketing doesn't feel like marketing.” — Tom Fishburne
10. “Content is king." — Bill Gates
11. “Marketing is really just about sharing your passion.” — Michael Hyatt
Share what you love to do. The chances are those you share it with will love it too, as long as you share it with enthusiasm.
12. “Brand is just a perception, and perception will match reality over time.” — Elon Musk
13. “Just because you are the loudest, doesn't make you right." — Brian Halligan
The Best Content Marketing Quotes
14. "Content marketing is really like a first date. If all you do is talk about yourself, there won't be a second date." – David Beebe
15. “Build something 100 people love, not something one million people kind of like.” – Brian Chesky
16. “Content builds relationships. Relationships are built on trust. Trust builds revenue.” – Andrew Davis
In the digital world, where your ideal customer is empowered with information, relationships make or break your success. This is why the "help first" mentality generates real results for businesses.
Davis's quote can be interpreted as a few math equations you need to keep in mind:
- Helpful Content + Timing = Trust
- Trust + Consistent Support = Great Relationships
- Great Relationships + Ongoing Delight = Sustainable Revenue
It all starts with your content marketing strategy.
17. “When taking a content-first approach, our job as marketers is not to create more content. It’s to create the minimum amount of content with the maximum amount of results.” – Robert Rose
18. “Building a profitable personal brand online is not a sprint, and something that happens over night. Don’t aim for perfection early on. Instead allow your brand to evolve naturally over time and focus on providing massive value and over deliver to your target audience. Then you will get more clear over your message and brand as well. Always remember that!” – Navid Moazzez
19. “What makes content engaging is relevancy. You need to connect the contact information with the content information.” – Gail Goodman
Inbound marketing is where context and content come together to build powerful relationships between brands and audiences.
Personalized marketing has played an important role the last few years, but tools like smart content are taking the idea of customized marketing to the next level. As personalization becomes more common, your ideal buyers will come to expect it.
As Goodman says, you need to combine your research with your content creation. While you're waiting and planning, your competitors are already doing this.
20. “Great content is the best sales tool in the world.” – Marcus Sheridan
21. “Doing well with blogging is not about writing one key post; it is about performing day after day and helping a few people at a time.” – Aaron Wall
Remember, inbound is a marathon not a sprint. You can't win trust and build a positive rapport with your readers all in one day.
Building meaningful relationships takes a lot of time. And that requires consistent effort on your part. So if you're looking for a shortcut to success, you simply won't find one.
The only way to win is to focus on delivering quality content every day.
22. “You can’t expect to just write and have visitors come to you. That’s too passive.” – Anita Campbell
23. “Before you create any more ‘great content,’ figure out how you are going to market it first.” – Joe Pulizzi
24. “Content builds relationships. Relationships are built on trust. Trust drives revenue.” – Andrew Davis
25. “Marketing is telling the world you’re a rock star. Content marketing is showing the world you are one.” – Robert Rose
26. “Content is king, but engagement is queen, and the lady rules the house!” – Mari Smith
Producing great content isn't enough. You must engage with your audience to get the most value out of your content. This helps to boost conversions and creates brand loyalty.
27. “Content is the atomic particle of all digital marketing.” – Rebecca Lieb
28. “Good content isn’t about good storytelling. It’s about telling a true story well.” – Ann Handley
A good story that's not executed correctly loses its meaning and intention. Telling a story well can make even a dull story seem fantastic.
Tell your brand story in an effective way and position it so that people want to listen and engage with your brand.
29. “Less is more. Keeping it simple takes time and effort.” – Jeff Bullas
30. “Thinking that every idea and piece of content you create must be the first of its kind is a trap.”– Sujan Patel
The Best Funny Marketing Quotes
31. "Marketing without data is like driving with your eyes closed." – Dan Zarella
32. “The consumer is not a moron; she is your wife.” – David Ogilvy
Ogilvy's main point here is multifaceted. He starts off by critiquing the common mistake marketers make of rolling their eyes at buyers or taking the customer relationship for granted.
Remember, your buyer wants an experience that makes them feel valued, understood, respected, and perhaps even loved. So just as you do with your wife, show respect, adoration, and support at every customer interaction.
33. "Never write an advertisement which you wouldn't want your family to read. You wouldn't tell lies to your own wife. Don't tell them to mine." – David Ogilvy
34. “You can't sell anything if you can't tell anything!” – Beth Comstock
Comstock is talking about one of the most vital aspects of your business – your messaging. This is how you position your brand within your market and how you present your products and services to your buyers.
In order to truly sell, you need to hone in on your messaging. But don't stay overly focused on just your products or services. Remember, your company, your target audience, and you all have something in common.
You are all human. So when you develop your messaging, humanize your brand, tell a compelling story, and emphasize the human element.
35. “Good marketing makes the company look smart. Great marketing makes the customer feel smart.” – Joe Chernov
Chernov's quote perfectly emphasized Ogilvy's takeaway listed above. The customer experience always comes first.
And you can help your customer feel smart by providing them with educational resources, helping them fully understand their problems, and showing them how your products or services are the best solution for them.
Remember, customers go through an emotional journey. With the help of awesome marketing and sales teams, your company can influence customers to feel awesome about buying from you.
36. “If great content is the hero, then banners are the villain.” – Michael Brenner
37. “Never let ads write checks your website can’t cash.” – Avinash Kaushik
38. “Clients don’t care about the labor pains; they want to see the baby.” – Tim Williams
Essentially, don't focus on problems, focus on solutions.
39. “If dogs don’t like your dog food, the packaging doesn’t matter.” – Stephen Denny
40. “Creativity is like washing a pig. It’s messy. It has no rules. No clear beginning, middle, or end. It’s kind of a pain in the ass, and when you’re done, you’re not sure if the pig is really clean or even why you were washing a pig in the first place.” – Luke Sullivan
41. “If you can’t explain it to a six year old, you don’t understand it well enough yourself.” – Albert Einstein
Make your marketing messaging simple. You want people to be able to understand your message so they resonate with it. This way, they can be a part of your brand story.
42. “I’ve learned that any fool can write a bad ad, but that it takes a real genius to keep his hands off a good one.” – Leo Burnett
The Best Social Media Marketing Quotes
43. “No matter what, the very first piece of social media real estate I'd start with is a blog.” – Chris Brogan
Through longer form content and thought leadership pieces, you can introduce yourself and your business and truly showcase your expertise. As you develop your awesome blog, expect to generate more relevant traffic and good fit leads.
Brogan's advice continues to ring true today, even as more businesses and individuals enter the blogging world. In fact, HubSpot’s 2018 State of Inbound Report found that blog content creation is the second highest priority for organizations.
44. “Sell-sell-sell sales methods simply do not work on social media.” – Kim Garst
45. “When people feel insecure about something, they look around for validation. Show them that other people trust you.” – Francisco Rosales
46. “People shop and learn in a whole new way compared to just a few years ago, so marketers need to adapt or risk extinction.” – Brian Halligan
HubSpot CEO and cofounder Brian Halligan has issued warnings of a bleak future for companies who want to stick to traditional marketing in a digital world.
In fact, in the forward he wrote for the book Inbound Organization: How to Build and Strengthen Your Company's Future Using Inbound Principles, he says, "Treat everybody like they’re human or become obsolete.”
Not only is it important to stay current and keep learning; you also need to evolve your entire business, not just marketing. The future of business belongs to those who integrate inbound into every aspect of their company.
You can evolve by following the five tenets of an inbound organization.
47. “Content is fire. Social media is gasoline.” – Jay Baer
48. “Decide the effect you want to produce in your reader.” — Robert Collier
The great thing about content marketing is that you get to decide the effect it as. This is especially true with written copy.
49. “Social media creates communities, not markets.” – Don Schultz
50. “Getting the like is easy. It’s a light action. Anything else requires trust.” – Jon Loomer
Getting likes on your social media post isn't the most important aspect of social media marketing. Helping them to gain trust so they become a customer is. The best way to do this is through engagement.
51. “Just as you don’t need to be on every single TV channel, I don’t believe a brand needs to be on every single social media in one big way.” – Shiv Singh
52. “Social media is about the people, not about your business. Provide for the people, and the people will provide for you.” – Matt Goulart
53. “Understand why and how your audience uses technology and then start trying to align your communications efforts.” – Brian Reich and Dan Solomon
Technology and communications go hand in hand. And when you know how your audience communicates, you can connect with them in the way they prefer.
This is a big part of building your buyer personas. When you fully know your prospects and understand how to reach them, you're ready to align your message, delivery, and information.
54. “Instead of one-way interruption, web marketing is about delivering useful content at just the precise moment that a buyer needs it.” – David Meerman Scott
This takeaway can't be emphasized enough – relevant, helpful content wins big.
By understanding where a prospect is in their buying cycle, you can pinpoint precisely when and how to meet their needs. This is a big step forward since the old days of traditional marketing.
Now, thanks to big data and technology, you can better understand your audience and, more importantly, find ways to help them from the get go.
55. “People share, read, and generally engage more with any type of content when it’s surfaced through friends and people they know and trust – Malorie Lucich
56. “Going viral is not an outcome; it”s a happening. Sometimes it happens; sometimes it doesn’t. Just remember, fans are vanity and sales are sanity.” – Lori Taylor
57. "A brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is — it is what consumers tell each other it is.” – Scott Cook
Word of mouth marketing takes place on social media, and you can be a part of the conversation by engaging with your prospects and customers. You can also conduct social listening and adapt your approach according to what your customers say.
More Great Marketing Quotes
58. “You can never go wrong by investing in communities and the human beings within them.” – Pam Moore
59. “An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail.” – Edwin Land
Failure is the best teacher when pushing the boundaries of marketing or any other creative endeavor. If your fear of falling short stops you from trying new things, you need to rethink how your internal voice influences your actions.
60. “Whether it's B2B or B2C, I believe passionately that good marketing essentials are the same. We are all emotional beings looking for relevance, context, and connection.” – Beth Comstock
Well written content touches the reader emotionally and intellectually. But more importantly, your marketing message finds your audience at the right time and in the right place.
Whether that's blog articles, emails, or social media messages, your audience is human and wants to feel understood by you.
61. “Don't be afraid to get creative and experiment with your marketing.” – Mike Volpe
Experimentation is what drives innovation in the world of marketing. Without those fearless, innovative thinkers, marketing would not have evolved into this new, human and honest world.
62. “Make your customer the hero of your stories.” – Ann Hadley
via GIPHYHadley's quote is a great reminder of the essence of inbound marketing: Put your customer and their needs first, and be helpful.
By focusing on their unique challenges and goals, you're able to deliver relevant, helpful content when they need it most.
63. “Nothing comes from nothing. You must continuously feed the inner beast that sparks and inspires.” – George Lois
64. “If you wait until there's another case study in your industry, you will be too late.” – Seth Godin
In digital marketing, the playing field changes in the blink of an eye. New competitors can pop up out of nowhere.
The time to act is now. As soon as information becomes available, you should be ready to jump. Otherwise, while you're waiting and probably overthinking your planning phase, your competitors are already delighting customers in your market.
65. “Increasingly, the mass marketing is turning into a mass of niches.” – Chris Anderson
This quote perfectly summarizes the importance of buyer persona research. Using data from your current and past customers and additional market research, you can build a semi-fictional representation of your niche.
This helps you personalize your approach to marketing to truly connect and build relationships.
66. “If you are an artist, learn science. If you are a scientist, cultivate art.” – Karin Timpone
You need to find a balance to how you approach your marketing efforts. If you're stuck in a scientific mindset, you might not be delivering content that is engaging and human. If you're only thinking like an artist, you might not be reaching the right people or fail to measure and adjust your strategy.
Simply put, great marketing is equal parts art and science. Cultivate a knowledge base of both.
67. "'Build it and they will come' only works in the movies. Social media is a 'build it, nurture it, engage them, and they may come and stay.'" – Seth Godin
There's a reason Godin shows up in this list several times, and this quote hits the nail on the head. As one of the best marketing minds out there, he's excellent at challenging the "common knowledge" so many people peddle.
In the context of this quote, he's driving an important point home – nothing in marketing is a set-it-and-forget-it process.
In terms of social media marketing, building and maintaining a community is a marathon, not a sprint. Your followers will stay only if you're fostering a social environment based on trust, respect, and value. So deliver value, then continue delighting and helping your community every day.
68. “The internet has turned what used to be a controlled, one-way message into a real-time dialogue with millions.” – Danielle Sacks
Engagement is vital in today's social digital age. You are no longer sending out mailers or cold calling; you're delivering value and delighting customers. Then, your happy customers are telling others.
This is why word of mouth is a key aspect of your marketing strategy. The more people you educate and help, the bigger your reach.
69. “In today's information age of marketing and web 2.0, a company's website is the key to their business.” – Marcus Sheridan
via GIPHYMost global users turn to search engines when they're researching purchase decisions. This is where your website can make or break your relationship with your target audience.
A poorly designed site with bad user experience (UX) and subpar content will push them away. But when your site looks great and your content delivers the information they need at the time they need it most, you're well equipped to earn lots of traffic and leads.
70. “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” – Henry Ford
Without embracing failure in your work and life, you will stay in your comfort zone and never innovate or make a big difference. As Ford puts it, failure is not a setback; it's your chance to rethink your approach and try something new again.
Just be sure to learn from your mistakes. Actively reflect on how things didn't come out the way you wanted them to, then adjust your process and do it again.
71. “If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.” – Zig Ziglar
via GIPHYZiglar's quote is a powerful reminder of the importance of goal setting and documenting your processes. And the proof is in the numbers – 81 percent of content marketers say the biggest benefits of using a documented content marketing strategy are the following:
- It aligns the team around a common mission and goals.
- It makes it easier to determine which types of content need to be created.
So without a plan and detailed steps within a process, you and your team are likely wasting time and not rowing in the same direction.
72. “Your brand is so much more than what you sell.” – John Iwata
It's easy to think of branding as just your logo or to just write it off as something unsubstantial. But in reality, everything you do is a reflection of your brand. That includes content, social media, and engagement.
This is why you need to be thoughtful and mindful of how your company interacts with your audience. Every customer touchpoint needs to be authentic and helpful.
73. “There is nothing more valuable than a spotless reputation.” – William Shakespeare
Reputation plays a big part in your word of mouth marketing strategies. And the Bard of Avon highlights how valuable a positive reputation truly is.
Building a great reputation requires consistency. Make sure everyone in your company is on the same page with how they will represent the character of your brand.
74. “Google is the new corporate homepage.” – Jeremiah Owyang
75. “The attention economy is not growing, which means we have to grab the attention that someone else has today.” – Brent Leary
In a crowded, fast paced digital world, people are constantly consuming content and distributing it. There are so many channels and types of media that it's hard to stand out.
via GIPHYThis is why in a competitive market, differentiation is the key. Before you can truly stand out with your messaging and marketing efforts, you need to first identify the specifics of what makes your brand different.
How do you compare to your competitors? What do you offer that they can't?
When you know these answers, you're ready to spread the word.
76. “Increasingly, search is our mechanism for how we understand ourselves, our world, and our place within it.” – John Battle
The best content in the world is useless if it can't be found. In fact, if you're creating awesome blog articles, ebooks, and podcasts and nobody is listening, you're losing a lot of money.
Can you afford to waste such valuable resources, like time and energy?
This is why SEO matters more now than ever before, so build a strategy and stick to it.
77. “Make it simple. Make it memorable. Make it inviting to look at.” – Leo Burnett
78. “Search, a marketing method that didn't exist a decade ago, provides the most efficient and inexpensive way for businesses to find leads.” – John Battle
Search works both ways. Your audience will find you, but you can also use search to learn more about your prospects to better target your message and approach.
Study what your readers are searching for, and monitor how they interact with your content. This can help you steer the content marketing ship so you deliver the most helpful, relevant content possible.
And with the right conversion path in place, you're ready to start bringing in valuable leads.
79. “Business has only two functions – marketing and innovation.” – Milan Kundera
80. “In a way, the web is like your Hollywood agent; It speaks for you whenever you're not around to comment.” – Chris Brogan and Julien Smith
Your online presence can sell for you, build trust, and engage your readers 24/7/365. But it could also harm you, push readers away, and tank your marketing results.
One of the best things you can do to check in on your online presence is conduct a thorough audit of your content assets and your whole website. These audits will present opportunities of where you can improve your online presence.
81. “Marketing’s job is never done. It’s about perpetual motion. We must continue to innovate every day.” – Beth Comstock
82. “How can you squander even one more day not taking advantage of the greatest shifts of our generation? How dare you settle for less when the world has made it so easy for you to be remarkable!” – Seth Godin
Another Godin classic, this quote presents a little tough love. He's right about the state of the modern marketer – you have all the tools and resources you need to deliver awesome work consistently.
The only way you can fall short of your goals is by holding yourself back. And holding yourself back is what likely brought you to this list.
83. “If people believe they share values with a company, they will stay loyal to the brand.” – Howard Schultz
84. “Give them quality. That’s the best kind of advertising.” – Milton Hershey
85. “An idea can turn to magic or dust, depending on the talent that rubs against it.” – Bill Bernbach
Talent is needed to execute great ideas properly. Hire the right marketing talent, then watch your ideas turn to magic.
86. “Companies that speak in the language of the pitch are no longer speaking to anyone.” – The Cluetrain Manifesto
87. “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou
89. “Marketing is not anyone’s job… It’s everyone’s job!” – Jack Welch
Marketing is something that all employees have a hand in. They may not strategize, but their attitude, the way they deal with clients, and your company culture is all a part of marketing.
90. “You can’t just place a few “Buy” buttons on your website and expect your visitors to buy.” – Neil Patel
91. “Too often, feeling intimidated becomes our excuse not to be awesome.” – Scott Stratten
92. “Our digital future is about enabling better productivity and decision making to enjoy a better quality of life.” – Yacine Baroudi
93. "We need to stop interrupting what people are interested in and be what people are interested in.” – Craig Davis
Interruptions are unwelcome occurrences for your target audience. You must become what your audience is interested in to attract them.
94. “Every email is a customer survey of your target market, by testing they vote on what resonates best with them.” – Kath Pay
95. “Mediocre marketers think in terms of campaigns. Great marketers think in terms of growth frameworks.” – Neil Patel
96. “I want to do business with a company that treats emailing me as a privilege, not a transaction.” – Andrea Mignolo
97. “Good marketers see consumers as complete human beings with all the dimensions real people have.” – Jonah Sachs
Consumers are complete human beings. Create marketing messages for complete human beings by making buyer personas that help you craft the perfect message for your audience or a segment of your audience.
98. “Today it's important to be present, be relevant, and add value." – Nick Besbeas
99. “We’re all learning here; the best listeners will end up the smartest.” – Josh Bernoff
100. “Be where the world is going.” – Beth Comstock
So enough of the inspiration. You're ready to wow your audience and generate real business results through your marketing.
It's time to get started.
Erika Giles
Erika is a Marketing Copywriter at Bluleadz. She is a huge fan of houseplants and podcasts about conspiracy theories. She spends most of her free time reading, writing, and enjoying the outdoors.