In the world of modern business, marketing and advertising are two distinct avenues that have barely changed since they were first invented.
In fact, since the early days of their inception at the beginning of the 20th century, the most important advertising techniques and principles have basically remained the same. The marketing and advertising techniques used by Henry Ford and Albert Einstein closely resemble those used by today’s moguls, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg.
Below, you’ll find a comprehensive list of some of the most powerful quotes from some of the most innovative minds to help inspire you to revolutionize your advertising and business mindset.
1. “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” – Mark Twain
When it comes to marketing and promoting a company, using the right words at the right time often means the difference between a successful campaign and a complete flop.
In fact, something as simple as a blog’s tone of voice can really influence those who will read it.
With that in mind, anytime you’re creating written content, blogs, or website copy for your business, make sure that you always take your specific target audience’s interests and behaviors into consideration.
This information can be used to help you find the right style, tone of voice, and language that will resonate with your audience, thereby increasing your chances of a positive reception!
2. “Creativity is intelligence having fun.” – Albert Einstein
For most people, algebra and trigonometry are boring topics. However, if you’re able to take these topics and present them to your target audience in a relevant, interesting and educational manner, you’ll find your audience engaged regardless of the content.
This quote from Albert Einstein emphasizes the importance of creativity and how that creativity can actually lead to intelligence if harnessed correctly. The trick, according to Einstein, is to infuse fun into your intelligence; to experiment with new and innovative ideas.
When we learn to let go and let our imagination and intelligence run wild, there’s no telling what type of creative ideas we’ll come up with for our businesses!
3. “Making promises and keeping them is a great way to build a brand.” – Seth Godin
Branding for your business can take a lot of planning. Creating and establishing a brand at a level that will resonate with your consumers can take time. In order to build a brand and establish it as a leader in its industry, you must set definite goals for both your business and also for the prospective customers.
By continuously working towards these goals, your brand will not only prove itself to your audience, but it will also help create trust – which is an essential component for any successful marketing or advertising campaign.
4. “Stopping advertising to save money is like stopping your watch to save time.” – Henry Ford
In order to advertise successfully, you’re going to need to spend money. Depending on your industry, you might even need to spend a lot of money.
In 2019, global digital ad spend rose by approximately 17.6%, bringing the global market up to a staggering $333.25 billion.
As such, it’s crucial to understand exactly how much your advertising campaign will cost in order to properly compete with your competitors before you begin. This will take in depth planning and foresight to properly execute your ad strategy.
The good news is that a properly planned, implemented, and executed advertising campaign can often double your money! According to ValveAndMeter, for every dollar spent on a Google Adwords campaign, most businesses can generate an average revenue of $2, or an ROI of 100%.
5. “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” – Leonardo Da Vinci
Leonardo Da Vinci single handedly helped shape our current world thanks to his countless inventions and ideas, including the parachute, the diving suit, and armored vehicles. While these inventions may seem complicated, they are simple solutions to complicated problems – and not the other way around!
Similarly with advertising – anytime you’re planning an advertising strategy, try to keep your other marketing efforts as simple as possible. In the pursuit of simplicity, make sure to periodically step back and make sure you’re not over-complicating your ideas.
Especially when it comes to marketing and advertising a brand, no matter how complex its products or services may be, it’s crucial to keep your strategy as simple as possible.
6. “Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.” – Oscar Wilde
You’ll often hear marketers talk about the importance of analyzing competitors to help determine what strategies work and which don’t.
Although competitive analysis is an important business strategy, it’s even more important for brands to first determine their own USP, or Unique Selling Points. Once a brand has figured that you, make sure to prioritize your USP and not simply copy competitor strategies. Each brand should be completely unique in itself.
It’s important to focus on what makes your business stand out and then use this uniqueness to your advantage when creating ad strategies. You’ll stand out from your competition, instead of blending in.
7. “A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well.” – Jeff Bezos
This advice from Jeff Bezos, the owner and founder of Amazon, will continue to ring true in the world of business for many years.
In today’s digital era, where online reviews can make or break a company’s reputation, it is important to remember your brand will constantly need to build up authority. This authority will ultimately help your brand maintain a positive reputation.
With Amazon, Jeff Bezos challenged himself to allow consumers from all over the world to purchase any product virtually, from the comforts of their own home. Bezo’s marketing strategy was planned so meticulously, that today almost everyone has made at least one purchase from Amazon.
8. “Only a fool learns from his own mistakes. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others” – Otto von Bismarck
While many of us learn our lessons the hard way, this quote is a reminder that we don’t always have to make things that hard.
Today, there is so much information available online that you never need to feel that you have to figure it out by yourself.
Especially in the world of marketing and advertising, there are countless online communities that are constantly teaching and helping others learn more marketing tips – straight from leaders in the field!
Anyone who is new to advertising should begin this journey by finding a mentor or some successful leaders in your industry, whom you can learn from.
These industry leaders, who have already gone through the trials and tribulations of advertising, can teach you the ins and outs and help you avoid making the same mistakes.
9. “Think like a wise man but communicate in the language of the people” – William Butler Yeats
Everyone wants to create wise, clever advertisements. But, that doesn’t mean you should overcomplicate your approach in order to get in a witty line.
This quote reminds us that no advertisement will resonate with your audience unless it is communicated in plain, clear, and concise language.
Most people are already hesitant to look at or click on ads in the first place; a complicated advertisement will only exacerbate this hesitation.
Alternatively, when you create simple, readable and understandable ads, you’ll see that the simplicity will actually help you capture the consumer’s attention.
10. “People spend money when and where they feel good” – Walt Disney
Walt Disney is a name that’s known by virtually every young child in the world – so you know he was extremely talented at advertising!
If you’ve ever watched a Disney movie, you can see that Disney took this advice and applied it to all of his videos: each Disney movie presents a crisis, but always ends on a positive note, leaving the audience happy with the story, characters and even about themselves!
As a brand in modern society, it’s important to make your customers feel good. This positive feeling will increase your brand’s chance of a successful advertising campaign.
Although the main goal in advertising is a positive ROI, it’s still important to try and make your audience feel good when they come across your advertising campaign. Make them laugh or share good values – and you’ll be rewarded with more business!
11. “Build something 100 people love, not something 1 million people kind of like.” – Brian Chesky, co-founder of Airbnb
With the popularity of social media and influencer marketing, it’s easy to think that you need millions of followers to be successful in business.
However, Brian Chesky, the co-founder of Airbnb, reminds us that it’s better to at least create an idea that only a few people really like rather than creating something that millions of people only kind of like.
By focusing exclusively on your intended audience and your unique selling points, you’ll be able to find the people that truly love what you do – instead of only “kind of” liking it. For tips on building a killer social media profile in 2021, check out this article.
12. “Give them quality. That is the best kind of advertising.” – Milton Hershey, entrepreneur
Hershey’s chocolate is one of the most popular chocolate brands in North America – and all around the world.
But what distinguishes Hershey’s from other similar chocolatiers? What really helped distinguish the brand from its competitors? Hershey differentiated his chocolate brand from his competitors by continuing to refine and perfect his chocolate product until he found the absolute highest quality recipe he could come up with.
In Hershey’s opinion, this quality itself was what helped set his brand apart.
When you have a high-quality product, people are more likely to spread the word about it quickly, doing all of the advertising for you!
13. “Social media creates communities, not markets.” – Don Schultz, marketing pioneer
For anyone looking to advertise on social media, always keep this quote in mind – it is extremely important!
It is crucial that advertisers remember that social media is about community involvement, it isn’t primarily a marketplace meant for advertising and selling products or services.
Of course, that’s not to say that you can’t advertise and promote yourself on social media. In fact, because of how many people use social media, advertising on these platforms can definitely be one of the profitable ways to advertise.
But, it is first and foremost important to remember social media is intended as a community building platform, rather than a way for businesses to find consumers for their products.
The key to remember is that only once a brand has established a community can marketing campaigns become more natural to the audience.
14. “Content is king.” – Bill Gates
It’s been said that knowledge is the most powerful weapon.
This means that knowledge is one of the most useful tools you can use to leverage your brand’s advertising and marketing strategies.
Although many brands think that advertising is simply a chance to sell themselves and their products, this simply isn’t the case. If your brand creates information marketing and advertising campaigns, the information can actually engage the audience and make them more likely to purchase your product.
15. “Good content isn’t about good storytelling. It’s about telling a true story well.” – Ann Handley, head of content at MarketingProfs
Anybody can spin a fanciful story, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to help your brand connect with its audience.
Although brand storytelling is one of the most effective copywriting techniques, it’s more than just writing a story. Successful copywriting will tell your brand’s story in a truthful manner that your audience will also engage with.
16. “Advertising works most effectively when it’s in line with what people are already trying to do. And people are trying to communicate in a certain way on Facebook – they share information with their friends, they learn about what their friends are doing – so there’s really a whole new opportunity for a new type of advertising model within that.” – Mark Zuckerberg, creator of Facebook
Mark Zuckerberg, the owner and founder of Facebook, reminds us that the Facebook platform is actually relatively new to the world of advertising.
But, that doesn’t mean that advertising on Facebook isn’t a good idea…..
Much to the contrary, in 2016 alone, the platform’s advertising revenue maxed out at a staggering $6.239 billion in only the second quarter (Q2). This number has only increased since then!
Additionally, advertising on Facebook is simple, cost-effective, and can hyper-target an audience. This is why Facebook ads boast an average click-through rate of about 1%.
If you’re not already advertising on Facebook, what are you waiting for?
17. “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, poet
Maya Angelou has moved thousands of people in her lifetime by evoking powerful emotions in her poetic works.
Poetry aside, her statement rings true in today’s modern advertising environment.
Next time you’re planning an advertising campaign, make sure not to spend too much time focusing on how the ad looks – rather, focus on the emotions the ad will convey to your audience. These targeted and careful throughout emotions can help make your ads more relevant and relatable to your viewers.
18. “Less is more. Keeping it simple takes time and effort.” –Jeff Bullas, digital marketing influencer
It’s easy to overcomplicate things, especially when planning a large marketing or advertising campaign.
However, as one of the industry’s leading influencers reminds us, less is often more. Even in advertising and marketing! So, make sure to simplify your campaigns. It works! Just ask Jeff Bezos.
19. “Brand is just a perception, and perception will match reality over time.” –Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla.
Successfully branding and advertising a business doesn’t happen overnight.
Branding is the end goal, while advertising is the tool that brands use to establish themselves and authority in their industry. This authority will ultimately help brands attain their goals.
It is crucial to establish your brand and set specific guidelines in line with your brand before planning and implementing any type of advertising strategies.
Once your brand has been created, you can then use advertising and marketing strategies more effectively to help you boost your brand and it’s image.
20. “If people believe they share values with a company, they will stay loyal to the brand.” –Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks
Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, reminds us about the importance of tapping into human values in advertising.
Starbucks often does this by offering ethically-sourced coffee and products, which makes consumers feel good about spending their money at Starbucks.
When a brand shares the same values as its audience, it’s easier for people to relate to the brand and increases the likelihood of people buying from that brand over other competitors.
21. “Too many companies want their brands to reflect some idealized, perfected image of themselves. As a consequence, their brands acquire no texture, no character and no public trust.” –Richard Branson, founder of The Virgin Group
Perfection is only an illusion, even in the business world.
That’s why it is vital to make sure that your advertising efforts don’t portray overly perfected or unrealistic expectations about your brand.
Consumers will either see directly through these false expectations, or when they find out that advertising campaigns were simply falsified, you can be certain that next time they’ll use another, more honest brand to source their products.
22. “Google only loves you when everyone else loves you first.” –Wendy Piersall, writer & blogger
When it comes to advertising and promoting any brand online, it is important to rank well on Google.
Marketers often spend much of their time optimizing their websites to rank well on Google, but they forget that they need their websites to also appeal to real, live humans!
In the past, it was easy to trick search engines by simply stuffing keywords into your posts or pages. However, those days have passed, and today Google is now able to understand context of the keywords better.
If you’re building a website or creating content that isn’t well-written or informative, Google will see directly through your efforts and your website’s rankings will suffer.
Creating quality content that people spend time reading and looking at, will signal to Google that you offer high quality content and your rankings will benefit.
23. “The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing.” –Tom Fishburne, “marketoonist”
When you know that a person is trying to sell you a product, how often do you actually pay attention to what they’re saying?
Typically, you’ll smile and nod along, but you won’t have any interest in buying.
But, this all changes when marketers emote feelings and emotions in their ads; consumers are more likely to effortlessly relate to these types of ads, in turn increasing the likelihood of a positive reception. Relatable and emotional ads make people more likely to click on your ads without feeling as if they’re being hounded for their money.
24. “If it doesn’t sell, it isn’t creative” – David Ogilvy
If you want success in advertising, make sure that your ads are as creative as possible. You want to stand out from your competition, not blend in!
You need to make sure that your ad content is fun, engaging, yet informational as well.
In order to make your ads stand out, it’s crucial to go the extra mile and ensure that your ads are creative and unique.
When people see innovative, creative ads, they’re more likely to engage with that brand vs. a brand that creates generic or overused ad content.
25. “Sell the problem you solve. Not the product you make.” –Unknown
While this last quote comes from an anonymous source, is nonetheless just as important as any others on the list.
Most consumers are already fed up with advertising well even before you launch your campaign. An estimated 70% of consumers find ads annoying and would rather not see them at all.
Therefore, when planning your next advertising campaign, you need to avoid making it all about your brand.
Instead, your ad content should be tailored to your target audience and always geared towards your specific audience. To make your ads effective, emphasize how your brand’s products can solve your audience’s problems.
By doing this, you’ll be showing them how your product can change their lives; how your solution can make it much more convenient.
This ideology will transform your ads into information that your customers are actually looking for.
Modern Advertising In The Digital World
Modern digital advertising can be a complicated and overwhelming place. However, with the quotes compiled here, you can learn from the best how to navigate all the advertising noise. And who better to take advertising advice from than those whose names are known exactly for their marketing prowess.
