152 Marketing Quotes To Inspire Your Next Great Campaign

February 6, 2022 (Updated: May 4, 2023)

Are you stuck finding motivation for your next marketing campaign? Are you looking for words of wisdom to help you navigate new and exciting areas of the industry? Looking for an inspiring quote for your next social media graphic? Reading quotes from some of marketing and advertising’s top names, and others outside the field with wisdom to share, may help you get started. We’ve sectioned these quotes into 14 different categories to help you find just the right quote for your situation:

11 Advertising Quotes
9 Branding Quotes
25 Content Marketing Quotes
7 Creativity Quotes
9 Customer Relationship Quotes
9 Digital Marketing Quotes
12 Engagement Quotes
8 Innovation Quotes
14 Inspiration Quotes
8 Marketing Job Quotes
12 Social Media Quotes
11 Storytelling Quotes
12 Strategy Quotes
5 Writing Quotes

11 Advertising Quotes

Some words of wisdom about the advertising industry include:

“Advertising brings in customers, but word-of-mouth brings in the best customers.” – Jonah Berger, Associate Professor of Marketing, Wharton Marketing at the University of Pennsylvania
“Nobody counts the number of ads you run; they just remember the impression you make.” – Bill Bernbach, Founder, Doyle Dane Bernbach
“Stopping advertising to save money is like stopping your watch to save time.” – Henry Ford, Founder, Ford Motor Company
“Nobody reads ads. People read what interests them, and sometimes it’s an ad.” – Howard Luck Gossage, Co-Founder, Wiener & Gossage
“Give them quality. That’s the best kind of advertising.” – Milton Hershey, Confectioner, The Hershey Company
“Never let ads write checks your website can’t cash.” – Avinash Kaushik, Author and Public Speaker
“Try to say everything in an ad and you end up saying nothing.” – Jeff Mamula, Former Director of Business Development, Farris Marketing
“Advertising is only evil when it advertises evil things.” – David Ogilvy, Founder, Ogilvy
“The only people who care about advertising are the people who work in advertising.” – George Parker, Advertising Consultant and Author
“The data shows that people’s expectations around media and advertising do indeed change based on the technology they grow up with.” – Shane Snow, Co-Founder and Former Chief Content Officer, Contently
“Banners have 99 problems and a click ain’t one.” – Scott Sorokin, Managing Director, EY

9 Branding Quotes

Experts have the following to say about branding:

“Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” – Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO, Amazon
“A brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is; it’s what consumers tell each other it is.” – Scott Cook, Co-Founder, Intuit
“Branded content is created for a company. A content brand is created for a valuable company.” – Andrew Davis, Author of Brandscaping: Unleashing the Power of Partnerships
“We elect and buy from people we like. Likability is number one. We also need to believe they are honest, and have our best interests at heart.” – George Farris, CEO and Creative Director, Farris Marketing
“Making promises and keeping them is a great way to build a brand.” – Seth Godin, Author and Blogger
“Products are made in the factory, but brands are created in the mind.” – Walter Landor, Founder, Landor
“When people feel insecure about something, they look around for validation. Show them that other people trust you.” – Francisco Rosales, Co-Founder, WPCafeina
“Your brand is a story unfolding across all customer touchpoints.” – Jonah Sachs, Author of Winning the Story Wars
“People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” – Simon Sinek, Author of Start With Why

25 Content Marketing Quotes

Consider this information about content marketing:

“Content is fire; social media is gasoline.” – Jay Baer, Founder, Convince & Convert
“Content marketing is like a first date. If you only talk about yourself, there won’t be a second one.” – David Beebe, Founder and CEO, Storified Hospitality Group
“No content should be a dead end. Plan for where to put it next.” – David Beebe
“Behind every piece of bad content is an executive who asked for it.” – Michael Brenner, CEO, Marketing Insider Group
“Content marketing represents the gap between what brands produce and what consumers actually want.” – Michael Brenner
“There are three objectives for content marketing: reach, engagement, conversion. Define key metrics for each.” – Michael Brenner
“Content marketing is a commitment, not a campaign.” – Jon Buscall, Owner, Jontus Media
“What is quality content? Ultimately, the consumer decides.” – Joe Chernov, Chief Marketing Officer, Pendo
“Content builds relationships. Relationships are built on trust. Trust drives revenue.” – Andrew Davis
“Good content should be at the heart of your strategy, but it is equally important to keep the display context of the content in mind as well.” – Tim Frick, Founder, Mightybytes
“Content is king.” – Bill Gates, Co-Founder, Microsoft
“Does your content lead readers on a journey, or does it merely stuff them as leads into a pipeline?” – Ann Handley, Head of Content, MarketingProfs
“Good content isn’t about good storytelling. It’s about telling a true story well.” – Ann Handley
“Content is anything that adds value to the reader’s life.” – Avinash Kaushik
“Traditional marketing talks at people. Content marketing talks with them.” – Doug Kessler, Co-Founder, Velocity
“The key ingredient to a better content experience is relevance.” – Jason Miller, Marketing Director, CreativeX
“Stop publishing things just because you always have.” – Lymari Morales, Associate Dean for Communications and Marketing, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
“Content is the reason search began in the first place.” – Lee Odden, CEO, TopRank Marketing B2B
“Content should ask people to do something and reward them for it.” – Lee Odden
“The next evolution of content marketing is not more content; it’s better distribution.” – Christopher Penn, Co-Founder, TrustInsights
“Before you create any more ‘great content,’ figure out how you are going to market it first.” – Joe Pulizzi and Newt Barrett, Authors of Get Content Get Customers
“Marketing is telling the world you’re a rock star. Content marketing is showing the world you are one.” – Robert Rose, Chief Strategist, Content Marketing Institute
“If your content isn’t driving conversation, you’re doing it wrong.” – Daniel Roth, Editor-in-Chief and Vice President, LinkedIn
“The ultimate content strategy is listening.” – Marcus Sheridan, Author of They Ask, You Answer
“The only way to win at content marketing is for the reader to say ‘this was written specifically for me.'” – Jamie Turner, Author and Professor

7 Creativity Quotes

Image via Unsplash by @timmossholder

Use these quotes to help spark your creativity:

“Curiosity about life, in all its aspects, I think, is still the secret of great creative people.” – Leo Burnett, Founder, Leo Burnett Worldwide
“Creativity is intelligence having fun.” – Albert Einstein, Physicist
“To think creatively we must be able to look afresh at what we normally take for granted.” – George Kneller, Author of The Art and Science of Creativity
“An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail.” – Edwin Land, Co-Founder, Polaroid
“Nothing begets creativity like constraints.” Christopher Mims, Author of Arriving Today
“If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.” – General George S. Patton, United States Army General
“Creativity without strategy is called art. Creativity with strategy is called advertising.” – Jef I. Richards, Professor of Advertising and Public Relations, Michigan State University

9 Customer Relationship Quotes

Experts have had the following to say about customer relationships in marketing:

“Strong customer relationships drive sales, sustainability, and growth.” – Tom Cates, Founder, Encompass-CX
“Build something 100 people love, not something one million people kind of like.” – Brian Chesky, Co-Founder and CEO, Airbnb
“People spend money when and where they feel good.” – Walt Disney, Former President, The Walt Disney Company
“Conversation with customers will increase sales, even if the product or service is never mentioned.” – George Farris
“Don’t find customers for your product. Find products for your customers.” – Seth Godin
“Make the customer the hero of your story.” – Ann Handley
“You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.” – Steve Jobs, Co-Founder, Apple
“You can’t convince anyone of anything. You can only give them the right information so that they can convince themselves.” – Eben Pagan, Founder, Go Meta Media
“When you start with what’s at stake for the buyer, you earn the right to their attention.” – Jake Sorofman, Chief Marketing Officer, Visier

9 Digital Marketing Quotes

Some words of wisdom about digital marketing include:

“Today it’s not about ‘get the traffic,’ it’s about ‘get the targeted and relevant traffic.'” – Adam Audette, Senior Vice President, BLEND360
“Inbound marketing and account-based marketing are like a taco and a burrito. They have the same ingredients, they’re just shaped differently.” – Joe Chernov
“SEO is like a resume; you polish it so you have your best foot forward.” – Matt Cutts, Former Head of Webspam, Google
“It’s much easier to double your business by doubling your conversion rate than doubling your traffic.” Bryan Eisenberg, Author of Be Like Amazon
“In 2004, good SEO made you remarkable on the web. In 2014, good SEO is a result of being remarkable on the web.” – Rand Fishkin, Founder, Moz and SparkToro
“SEO is a marketing function for sure, but it needs to be baked into a product, not slapped on like icing after the cake is baked.” – Duane Forrester, Vice President, Yext
“Google only loves you when everyone else loves you first.” – Wendy Piersall, Founder, Woo! Jr. Activities
“Instead of one-way interruption, web marketing is about delivering useful content at precisely the right moment when a buyer needs it.” – David Meerman Scott, Author of Fanocracy
“Your website is your greatest asset. More people view your webpages than anything else.” – Amanda Sibley, Marketing Director, HubSpot for Startups

12 Engagement Quotes

Experts have said the following about engagement:

“You cannot get anybody to do something if they’re not paying attention to you.” – Brian Carter, Author of The Like Economy
“These days, people want to learn before they buy, be educated instead of pitched.” – Brian Clark, Founder, Further.net
“Spending energy to understand the audience and carefully crafting a message that resonates with them means making a commitment of time and discipline to the process.” – Nancy Duarte, CEO, Duarte
“Don’t build links. Build relationships.” – Rand Fishkin
“Behind every tweet, share, and purchase, there is a person. Care more about the person and less about the share.” – Shafqat Islam, Founder and CEO, Welcome Software
“You cannot buy engagement. You have to build engagement.” – Tara-Nicholle Kirke, Founder and CEO, SoulTour
“You can never go wrong by investing in communities and the human beings within them.” – Pam Moore, CEO, Marketing Nutz
“Good marketers see consumers as complete human beings with all the dimensions real people have.” – Jonah Sachs
“There is a difference between listening and waiting for your turn to speak.” – Simon Sinek
“Content is king but engagement is queen, and the lady rules the house!” – Mari Smith, Keynote Speaker and Facebook Trainer
“More contact means more sharing of information, gossiping, exchanging, engaging—in short, more word of mouth.” – Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO, Vayner Media
“Think like a wise man but communicate in the language of people.” – William Butler Yeats, Poet

8 Innovation Quotes

Image via Unsplash by @donramxn

Consider this information about innovation:

“Be where the world is going.” – Beth Comstock, Author of Imagine It Forward
“It’s quite fun to do the impossible.” – Walt Disney
“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” – Peter Drucker, Management Consultant and Author
“Nothing is impossible; the word itself says ‘I’m possible!'” – Audrey Hepburn, Actress
“Take two ideas and put them together to make one new idea. After all, what is a Snuggie but a mutation of a blanket and a robe?” – Jim Kukral, Founder, Life Apocalypse
“New ideas are sometimes found in the most granular details of a problem where few others bother to look.” – Nate Silver, Founder and Editor-in-Chief, FiveThirtyEight
“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” – Socrates, Philosopher
“Instead of using technology to automate processes, think about using technology to enhance human interaction.” – Tony Zambito, Founder, Buyer Persona

14 Inspiration Quotes

Use these quotes to help spark your inspiration:

“Don’t settle. Don’t finish crappy books. If you don’t like the menu, leave the restaurant. If you’re not on the right path, get off it.” – Chris Brogan, Strategic Advisor
“I’d rather apologize than to be so timid as to never try to do anything smart or brave.” – Lee Clow, Advertising Expert and Author
“Don’t let people tell you your ideas won’t work. If you’re passionate about an idea that’s stuck in your head, find a way to build it so you can prove yourself that it doesn’t work.” – Dennis Crowley, Co-Founder, Foursquare
“Think big and don’t listen to people who tell you it can’t be done. Life’s too short to think small.” – Tim Ferriss, Author
“Inspiration is difficult to measure, but the results driven by that inspiration are powerful.” – Scott Harrison, Founder and CEO, charity: water
“Bring the best of your authentic self to every opportunity.” – John Jantsch, Author of Duct Tape Marketing
“If you’re a good marketing person, you have to be a little crazy.” – Jim Metcalf, Chairman, Cornerstone Building Brands
“The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who’s going to stop me.” Ayn Rand, Author
“Do one thing every day that scares you.” – Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady of the United States
“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States
“There are no magic wands, no hidden tricks, and no secret handshakes that can bring you immediate success but with time, energy, and determination you can get there.” – Darren Rowse, Founder, ProBlogger
“Be interesting. Tell the truth. And if you can’t tell the truth, change what you’re doing so you can. In other words, live the truth.” – Jonah Sachs
“Do or do not; there is no try.” – Yoda, Jedi Master
“If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.” – Zig Ziglar, Motivational Speaker

8 Marketing Job Quotes

Experts have had the following to say about marketing jobs:

“Marketing’s job is never done. It’s about perpetual motion. We must continue to innovate every day.” – Beth Comstock
“Our job as marketers are to understand how the customer wants to buy and help them do so.” – Bryan Eisenberg
“The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing.” – Tom Fishburne, Founder and CEO, Marketoonist
“Creating marketing that works should not be rocket science.” – Allen Gannett, Author of The Creative Curve
“Our job is to connect to people, to interact with them in a way that leaves them better than we found them, more able to get where they’d like to go.” – Seth Godin
“Marketing is really just about sharing your passion.” – Michael Hyatt, Author of Win at Work and Succeed at Life
“Marketing takes a day to learn. Unfortunately, it takes a lifetime to master.” – Philip Kolter, Professor of International Marketing, Northwestern University’s J.L. Kellogg School of Management
“Marketing is too important to be left to the marketing department.” – David Packard, Co-Founder, HP

12 Social Media Quotes

Consider this information about social media:

“Social media allows big companies to act small again.” – Jay Baer
“Remarkable social media content and great sales copy are pretty much the same—plain spoken words designated to focus on the needs of the reader, listener, or viewer.” – Brian Clark
“If you get bored with social media, it’s because you are trying to get more value than you create.” – Fast Company
“Social media is about the people. Not about your business. Provide for the people and the people will provide for you.” – Matt Goulart, Manager of Data Integration, The Walt Disney Company
“Getting the Like is easy. It’s a light action. Anything else requires trust.” – Jon Loomer, Owner, Jon Loomer Digital
“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, Head of Tech and Innovation Communications, Pinterest
“It’s a dialogue, not a monologue, and some people don’t understand that. Social media is more like a telephone than a television.” – Amy Jo Martin, Founder and CEO, Renegade Accelerator
“Social media creates communities, not markets.” – Don Schultz, Former Professor Emeritus of Integrated Marketing Communication, Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications
“Social media are tools. Real time is a mindset.” – David Meerman Scott
“Social media is about sociology and psychology more than technology.” – Brian Solis, Global Innovation Evangelist, Salesforce
“The next time you hear a social media myth, question it. Ask for the proof, and ask out loud.” – Dan Zarrella, Director of Marketing, Spiegelworld
“The best way to engage honestly with the marketplace via Twitter is to never use the words ‘engage,’ ‘honestly,’ or ‘marketplace.'” – Jeffrey Zeldman, Founder and Publisher, A List Apart

11 Storytelling Quotes

Image via Unsplash by @socialcut

Use these quotes to learn more about storytelling:

“If your stories are all about your products and services, that’s not storytelling. It’s a brochure. Give yourself permission to make the story bigger.” – Jay Baer
“When people put their kids to sleep, nobody tells bedtime facts.” – Jonah Berger
“Find authentic stories, not just because people can sniff out authenticity, but because they’re simply better.” – Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Author and Editor
“Marketing is no longer about the stuff you make, but about the stories you tell.” – Seth Godin
“Connect with your audience through stories people love.” – Shafqat Islam
“The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller. The storyteller sets the vision, values, and agenda of an entire generation that is to come.” – Steve Jobs
“At its very core, marketing is storytelling. The best advertising campaigns take us on an emotional journey—appealing to our wants, needs, and desires—while at the same time telling us about a product or service.” – Melinda Partin, Senior Director of Marketing & Digital Strategy, UW Medicine
“The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think but to give you questions to think upon.” – Brandon Sanderson, Author
“We talk a lot about content, but we often forget that story is the root of what makes content memorable. You have to think about stories pervading everything you do.” – Shane Snow
“The most pivotal moments in people’s lives revolve around emotions. Emotions make stories powerful.” – Brandon Stanton, Creator, Humans of New York
“Take the human perspective and make it understandable and digestible.” – Angie Teates, Chief Strategy Officer, Targeted Victory

12 Strategy Quotes

Experts have said the following about strategy:

“I don’t care much for best practice. I care about conversions. That’s why I test.” – Michael Aagaard, Former Senior Conversion Optimizer, Unbounce
“Competition commodities competency.” – Jay Baer
“The tactics drive the strategy.” – Marc Benioff, CEO, Salesforce
“Less is more. Keeping it simple takes time and effort.” – Jeff Bullas, CEO, Jeffbullas.com Pty Ltd.
“Good marketing makes the company look smart. Great marketing makes the customer feel smart.” – Joe Chernov
“Sometimes you have to experiment with a lot of ideas to see which one sticks. If you’re unsure, let the market decide.” – Dorie Clark, Author of The Long Game
“You are everywhere, but you don’t have to be. Strategy is a decision to take a path, to say no.” – Kristina Halvorson, Founder, BrainTraffic
“Smart brands don’t just ride trend shifts. They start them.” – Ann Handley
“Just because you can measure everything doesn’t mean that you should.” – W. Edwards Deming, Electrical Engineer and Statistician
“Great execution is the ultimate differentiator.” – Margaret Molloy, Chief Marketing Officer, Siegel + Gale
“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, Founder, REV Media Marketing
“Market like the year you are in.” – Gary Vaynerchuk

5 Writing Quotes

Consider this information about writing:

“On average, 8 out of 10 people will read your headline copy, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest.” – Brian Clark
“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing about.” – Benjamin Franklin, Politician and Scientist
“As a rule, if you want to be a great writer you have to be a great reader.” – Mark Gilroy, Author
“If you steal from one another, it’s plagiarism; if you steal from many it’s called research.” – Wilson Mizner, Writer and Entrepreneur
“Do not address your readers as though they were gathered together in a stadium. When people read your copy, they are alone. Pretend you are writing to each of them a letter on behalf of your client.” – David Ogilvy

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Christy Walters

CopyPress writer