As a digital marketer, you want to excel in your field.
Knowing the best ways to adapt to new technologies, understanding upcoming changes to best practices, and being the best leader you can be in digital marketing are all important goals that we set.
While we might know the goals that we want to set for ourselves and our teams, we don’t always know the best ways to achieve them.
After all, there is a plethora of information available on the internet and even having your favorite websites and publications can sometimes leave you with more information than you know what to do with.
That’s where marketing gurus come in. A marketing guru can help give you and your team guidance and direction as you continue to grow and expand into 2023.
In this article, we’ll look at what marketing gurus are, why their advice is important to take in, and tell you about 21 of the best marketing gurus to follow.
First of All, What are Marketing Gurus?
A guru is a person who serves as an inspirational resource for followers.
Even more than that, a guru has achieved a high level of success in their field of expertise to earn respect and authority in their industries.
That means that a guru is a proven expert that has put in plenty of time and effort to earn the level of experience that makes them a source of inspiration and a leader.
Marketing gurus are exceptional creators and leaders in marketing fields.
Digital marketers who have achieved success and gained a following based on their platform, advice, or leadership creation skills become the gurus that guide others to follow in their footsteps.
A marketing guru typically has a strong social presence or website and blog that allows them to share their insights and information with their network of followers.
The Importance of Listening to Marketing Gurus
Marketing gurus aren’t the only thing you need to pay attention to.
You still need to put in the time and effort to learn things on your own and understand different terms, best practices, and advancements in digital marketing.
However, a great marketing guru will help guide you towards success and help you thrive.
As proven experts in their field, marketing gurus are able to give a sense of authority to their words, meaning that their advice and guidance hold a little more weight than those who haven’t proven themselves.
Marketing gurus guide us by helping us learn and develop our own skills.
By listening to a marketing guru, you gain valuable advice, information, and experience in digital marketing.
They can help you find out new information, understand techniques or trends, and guide you in your own leadership skills.
Finding the right guru for your style of leadership and areas of need is a key step to making sure that you get the most out of following a marketing guru.
The Top 21 Marketing Gurus to Follow
Every marketing guru provides a different perspective and area of expertise that can help to inspire and guide you.
Finding the right gurus means exploring your options and narrowing down your list to the best picks possible.
Here are the 21 top marketing gurus to explore and follow.
1. Vitor Peçanha
Vitor Peçanha is a leader and strong digital marketing guru from Brazil.
As a founder of Rock Content, Vitor has a strong appreciation for the importance of content marketing and the value of building a valuable marketing experience to grow a business.
Vitor is also a global speaker who brings the message of content marketing to audiences around the world.
2. Marcus Sheridan
Marcus Sheridan is one of the biggest names in digital marketing and one of the biggest success stories for the value of blogging and content marketing.
After his pool company started struggling during the 2008 recession, Marcus began blogging daily to answer questions and provide value to clients.
He now runs a content marketing and sales empire known as the Sales Lion.
3. Rand Fishkin
Rand Fishkin was the CEO of Moz, one of the biggest and best websites for digital marketing metrics and SEO.
Specializing in SEO strategy and execution plans, Rand has worked to create a groundbreaking algorithm that has helped numerous businesses take control of their SEO and reporting.
His popular blog discusses SEO trends and provides detailed SEO information.
4. Jennifer Polk
A large part of digital marketing today is managing a multi-channel approach that has many different touchpoints across technologies, platforms, and software.
Jennifer Polk is a marketing guru who helps chief marketing officers understand a full approach to their digital marketing programs.
She excels in brand awareness, increasing customer engagement, and understanding eCommerce approaches.
5. Scott Stratten
Scott Stratten got his start in the music industry as a marketer, but has since become one of the leading authorities in video marketing and marketing disruption topics.
He is also a best-selling author, sought-after speaker, and consultant for major corporations.
Scott is a great marketing guru for those who want to leverage changes in marketing and help their brand stand out.
6. Jay Baer
Jay Baer is a big name in the digital marketing specificity of word-of-mouth and viral marketing.
As a best-selling author and founder of many multi-million companies, Jay understands how to turn customers into more customers and expand brands.
He also has a number of podcasts and his own digital marketing agency to help turn your customers into brand advocates.
7. Jeff Sheehan
Jeff Sheehan is a digital marketing guru who specializes in social marketing on LinkedIn and Twitter.
He also knows how to take advantage and plan for viral marketing across social media and creates specialized techniques that major brands use to create marketing buzz.
He runs a company that creates marketing strategies to help brands stand out and go viral.
8. Donna Moritz
Donna Moritz has created an empire around social presence, content creation, and brand awareness.
She also works to use digital marketing strategies and visual content in her planning as a brand ambassador for major companies.
She runs a popular blog for people who want to learn marketing tricks and tips and has been published on major digital sites like Marketo and HubSpot.
9. Pam Moore
Pam Moore is another social media influencer who has used her platform to promote social media marketing and conversion optimization strategies.
With over a million followers, Pam is a beacon for those who want to boost and develop their brand and optimize their social media approaches.
She is also a teacher for those who want to improve their branding and reach across their social platforms.
10. Larry Kim
Larry Kim has been recognized as one of the best influencers for Facebook and Google Ads.
He provides incredible insights into SEO, online advertising, and digital marketing techniques.
Larry works as a digital marketing coach and an online expert for many large brands, as well as being a top contributor to many online marketing publications.
11. Ryan Deiss
Ryan Deiss is a leader in digital marketing education and training.
He is the founder of DigitalMarketer.com, a company that provides training, tools, and strategies for digital marketers from every industry.
He also helps boost revenue and works as a consultant for major online brands to earn his reputation as a strong digital marketing influencer.
12. Eric Ries
Eric Ries has used digital marketing techniques to expand his career and became a leader for his own ideas on rebranding.
As a best-selling author and popular blogger, Eric is able to provide understanding into strategies for utilizing ideas and content to grow a brand.
13. Gary Vaynerchuk
Gary Vaynerchuk is another example of a marketing guru who had humble roots but was able to turn around their experience with the help of digital marketing and inbound techniques.
By utilizing digital marketing and social media marketing, Gary was able to help his family store.
He has since become an advocate for digital marketing and uses his story to promote online marketing strategies.
14. Guy Kawasaki
Guy Kawasaki is a long-time digital marketing guru.
As a Silicon Valley executive and a former Apple employee, Guy has earned his stripes in the industry.
If you are an executive looking for leadership advice or a marketer who wants to build their online influence, there’s no better marketing guru to follow.
15. Tim Ferriss
Tim Ferriss is credited as being one of the most innovative business people and has ended up on Fortune’s coveted 40 under 40 list.
A best-selling author, podcaster, and teacher, Tim works to explain different ways to have a happy life and a healthy working lifestyle.
His teaching uses important digital marketing techniques to support individuals who want to expand their definition of work.
16. Kim Garst
Kim Garst is a groundbreaking social media marketing influencer who has landed on the Forbes list of the top 10 people who influence social media marketing.
She is also an author, consultant, and keynote speaker. Kim is a great resource for any digital marketer looking for a guru who can help them leverage social media.
17. Neil Patel
It’s hard to search for information about any digital marketing topic and not to find an article by Neil Patel.
As one of the central names in SEO marketing, Neil is the top resource for those who want to learn more about SEO, metrics, and analytics.
Neil has also worked for many top digital marketing and metric brands, and his blogs get millions of views every year.
18. Noah Kagan
Noah Kagan started his digital marketing career as a product manager at Facebook and the Director of Marketing at Mint.com.
He became a popular blogger and influencer for those looking for information on inbound marketing, startup marketing, founding a business, and how to understand different metrics.
He is a great resource for anyone interested in startup marketing.
19. Mark Schaefer
Mark Schaefer is an executive director and marketing consultant who has a wide variety of advice for social media marketing, content creation, and customer engagement.
He is also a popular speaker and educator for large companies. With the help of his company, Schaefer Marketing Solutions Consultancy, Mark works with large brands to help them with social strategies.
20. Mitch Joel
While some digital marketing gurus are focused on providing their own point of view on different topics, Mitch Joel is an aggregator of different options to help explore different points of view and give a variety of stances on different issues.
He helps his followers discover more followers and expand their own network.
21. Seth Godin
Seth Godin is a best-selling author of over 18 books and an active daily blogger with a popular newsletter with millions of readers that discusses different areas of digital marketing.
As one of the most widely known marketing gurus, Seth’s articles get thousands of retweets and are often featured in major publications like Forbes, The New York Times, and more.
Wrap Up
Marketing gurus give key advice that helps us expand and grow our teams, our knowledge base, and our own understanding of digital marketing best practices.
By having a few gurus that we use for inspiration, we can curate our information intake and get guidance from a trusted source.
Marketing gurus help us by giving direction and advice that goes beyond what we can take in by ourselves.
Marketing gurus are also great examples of leadership content producers.
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