Originally published February 26, 2021 , updated on September 3, 2024

To succeed in digital marketing today, you have to stand out from the crowd. If you’re interested in striving to be the very best in your field, standing out and taking risks? If so, then today’s blog is for you. We’ve compiled a list of some of the top digital marketing experts for you to follow, learn from and occasionally even emulate, along with a few of our favourite quotes. 

RAND FISHKIN

Founder and former CEO of MOZ

Founder of MOZ, a household name in SEO, Rand Fishkin is a world leader in the field of search engine optimization tools, resources and community. Follow Rand on Twitter to keep up with his SEO and social media tips, along with his “Whiteboard Friday” videos.

Our Favourite Quotes

“Don’t conflate revenue with success, especially not long term. Many of the best things we’ve done have cost or lost money in the short run, but built a better brand over the years because of it.”

“Tell a story. Make it true. Make it compelling. And make it relevant.”

“Best way to sell something: don’t sell anything. Earn the awareness, respect, and trust of those who might buy.”

NEIL PATEL

Founder of Crazy Egg, Quick Sprout, and KISSMetrics 

If you don’t know Neil Patel, you obviously haven’t been in digital marketing very long. He’s one of the world’s most respected marketers, and writes on social media, content marketing and SEO at his website, neilpatel.com.

With more than a million followers on social media, Neil Patel is a NY Times bestselling author, has been named a top 100 entrepreneur under 30 by former President Barack Obama and his skill endorsements on LinkedIn are maxed out at “99+.”

It’s difficult to overstate just how influential Neil Patel really is in the digital marketing sphere. 

Our Favourite Quotes

“If you frequent a local coffee shop for example, they know you personally.  They might even have your coffee order just the way you like it ready as you step up to the counter.  Why is that not happening on the web?  Why can’t we help businesses re-create that warm and fuzzy feeling online.”

“[The biggest mistake I ever made?] I lost over a million dollars into a hosting company. It was my worst investment to date. The idea we had was great, but the people who ran it weren’t rockstars. The big lesson I learned… ideas are a dime a dozen, it is all about the people.”

“Learn from your mistakes. The number one reason I see entrepreneurs failing isn’t because they make mistakes, but they keep on making the same ones over and over again. Learn from them and avoid making the same ones over again.”

SHAMA HYDER

Founder and CEO of Marketing Zen

 An entrepreneur, best-selling author, and online and television personality, Shama Hyder has been called the “Zen Master of Marketing” by Entrepreneur Magazine and the “Millennial Master of the Universe” by FastCompany.com. One of the Top 30 under 30 entrepreneurs in the field of marketing according to Forbes, Businessweek, and Inc, she has also been named one of LinkedIn’s Top 10 Voices in Marketing for four years in a row.

Our Favourite Quotes

“I think regardless of the type of field you want to be in, what’s really important is figuring out how you’re going to add value to that given field.”

“Great marketing happens on both levels (digital and physical) and the more on leaks into the other, the stronger (and more effective) the marketing becomes.”

“You have to work three times as hard to get half the results you did three years ago when it comes to marketing. That’s just the way it is today.”

GARY VAYNERCHUCK

New York Times bestselling author, speaker, internet personality, and co-founder of Resy and Empathy Wines

No list of digital marketing experts would be complete without Gary Vaynerchuck, who hardly needs introducing. Follow his Twitter feed to keep up with him.

Our Favourite Quotes

“Life shrinks and expands on the proportion of your willingness to take risks and try new things.”

“Live your passion. What does that mean, anyway? It means that when you get up for work every morning, every single morning, you are pumped because you get to talk about or work with or do the thing that interests you the most in the world. You don’t live for vacations because you don’t need a break from what you’re doing—working, playing, and relaxing are one and the same. You don’t even pay attention to how many hours you’re working because to you, it’s not really work. You’re making money, but you’d do whatever it is you’re doing for free.”

“Being unafraid of making mistakes makes everything easy for me. Not worrying about what people think frees you to do things, and doing things allows you to win or learn from your loss—which means you win either way. Hear me now: you are better off being wrong ten times and being right three than you are if you try only three times and always get it right.”

TIM FERRISS

Entrepreneur, investor, author, and podcaster

Probably best known for the Four-Minute Work Week, Tim Ferriss is a prolific entrepreneur and one of the digital marketing experts we look up to the most. Author of multiple best-selling books, with a blog and podcast that reach millions of listeners, he has been named one of Fast Company’s most innovative businesspeople and is one of Fortune’s “40 under 40”.

Our Favourite Quotes

“Being able to quit things that don’t work is integral to being a winner”

 “A person’s success in life can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have.” 

“Never automate something that can be eliminated, and never delegate something that can be automated or streamlined. Otherwise, you waste someone else’s time instead of your own, which now wastes your hard-earned cash.”

ANN HANDLEY

Author and Contributor to Entrepreneur Magazine, LinkedIn, Influencer Program and Huffington Post

Author, trainer, consultant and the head of Content at MarketingProfs, Ann Handley is an expert on marketing writing. She insists you can’t be a good marketer if you can’t write (and we tend to agree). Follow her at annhandley.com where she blogs about how important good writing is for improving your marketing performance. She co-authored the best-selling book Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos and Webinars That Engage and Ignite

Our Favourite Quotes

“The truth is this: writing well is part habit, part knowledge of some fundamental rules, and part giving a damn.”

“Done right, the content you create will position your company not as just a seller of stuff, but as a reliable source of information.”

“So instead of viewing your story or content as a static and pristine object owned by your site, think of it as a social object that can be taken, retold, and shared by others.”

SETH GODIN

Entrepreneur and author of nineteen international bestsellers

An expert on the subject of unconventional entrepreneurship, and undoubtedly one of the best known digital marketing experts, Seth Godin has been educating the world for more than three decades, and 18 of his books are best-sellers, must-reads for anyone interested in becoming a business owner. On his blog, he posts his insights on all things marketing. He also has a podcast,  and on his podcast Akimbo, offers courses on Udemy, and books regular speaking engagements. One of his most famous speeches, his TED talk “How to Get Your Ideas to Spread,” has over 1.5 million views.

Our Favourite Quotes

“Remarkable marketing is the art of building things worth noticing right into your product or service. Not slapping on marketing as a last-minute add-on, but understanding that if your offering itself isn’t remarkable, it’s invisible.”

 “And yet the real success goes to those who obsess. A woodpecker can tap twenty times on a thousand trees and get nowhere, but stay busy. Or he can tap twenty-thousand times on one tree and get dinner.”

“As new forms of media develop and clutter becomes ever more intense, it’s the asset of permission that will generate profits for marketers.”

GUY KAWASAKI

Marketing specialist, author, and Silicon Valley venture capitalist

Another one of our favourite digital marketing experts, Guy is a veteran of social media and noted brand evangelist. He writes and Tweets on a wide range of online marketing topics, which are widely followed. Follow Guy on Twitter.

A self-described “chief evangelist,” Kawasaki is famous for his marketing work at Apple in the ’80’s, and today works at online graphic design company Canva in much the same role. He’s also, according to his website, a brand ambassador for Mercedes Benz and an Executive Fellow of UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. He holds degrees from Stanford and UCLA.

Our Favourite Quotes

“Do not write to impress others. Authors who write to impress people have difficulty remaining true to themselves. A better path is to write what pleases you and pray that there are others like you. Your first and most important reader is you. If you write a book that pleases you, at least you know one person will like it.”

“Defy the crowd. The crowd isn’t always wise. It can also lead you down a path of silliness, sub-optimal choices, and downright destruction. Enchantment is as necessary for people to diverge from a crowd as it is to get people to join one.”

“The biggest daily challenge of social media is finding enough content to share. We call this “feeding the Content Monster.” There are two ways to do this: content creation and content curation.”

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