Who Are The Top 10 Digital Marketers?

When I think of the term “Digital Markers”, to me it is a culmination of both exceptional / renowned marketers as well as stand-out digital marketing agencies.  Here’s my take on who the Top 10 Digital Marketers are.  I’m sure there are dozens of others that could make the list, but these are pretty important ones that have helped shaped the digital marketing space as we know it today.

 

#1 – Dan Kennedy / Magnetic Marketing

Although Dan Kennedy is an entire generation or two older than the other digital marketers listed here, his influence as a direct response direct mail marketer can not be understated within the greater internet marketing community.  Indeed, if you ever thought you knew anything about marketing, I’d challenge you to go watch some of Dan Kennedy’s seminars, even of those seminars use a projector and have no direct connection to the internet when they were originally filmed.

 

#2 – Josh James / Omniture / DOMO

Josh James took his company Omniture public on the Nasdaq in 2006 and then sold it to Adobe for $1.8B.  While most marketers focus on small business marketing and solutions, Josh went the other direction and dominated the Fortune 500 market for SEM and big data marketing analytics early in his career.  From there, he launched DOMO, which is kind of like a Zapier style integration tool for big and medium sized businesses.  DOMO currently has a value of around $300M.

 

#3 – Neil Patel / NP Digital

Whereas Ryan Deiss is going to be more along the lines of an information marketer, Neil Patel and his company NP Digital is a hybrid that has crossed over from the information marketing side of things to becoming a large international agency that still produces great content worth reading.  There are a lot of business owners that read content produced by marketers that don’t actually have the infrastructure to really help their businesses grow.  Neil Patel is different as although he has 9M+ blog visitors per month, 1M+ YouTube subscribers, and over 1M podcast downloads each month (2,000+ episodes created to date), they have 750+ employees across 17 offices throughout the world.

 

#4 – Ryan Deiss / DigitalMarketer

Ryan Deiss is the founder of Digital Marketer and the M3 Mastermind.  Over 125,000 students across 174 countries have participated in their program.  If you’re a beginner to digital marketing, this is a great place to start, as they have an awesome podcast called “The DigitalMarketer Podcast“, which gets over 10,000 downloads each week.  Digital Marketer also has periodic trainings, workshops, expos, and events worth noting.  Whether you’re looking for help with Digital Advertising, Content Marketing, SEO, Ecommerce Marketing, CRO, or Marketing Automation, there’s sure to be information here that you haven’t heard before.

 

#5 – Digital Marketing Institute

Digital Marketing Institute (DMI) has over 300,000 members and 65,000+ certified professionals, and they have been in business for over 12 years.  They provide self-pacing courses and have partnered with universities such as PennState and the University of California as well as major companies like IBM and SAP.  Some of their popular courses range from $1,400 to $3,700, and the average graduate gets a $12,000 salary increase after completing a DMI course.  Additionally, 79% of DMI students get a promotion after 6 months of completing a DMI course.  They currently have over 20 courses.

 

#6 – Perry Marshall

When it comes to direct response marketers in the vein of Google Ads and Meta Ads, Perry Marshall is kind of like the “Dan Kennedy” of the space.  As far as information marketers go, he’s one of the more grounded personalities in the space and genuinely cares about the quality of his work.  He has some free tools and if you haven’t read his book “Ultimate Guide To Google Ads”, it’s definitely worth reading.

 

#7 – Frank Kern

It’s hard to talk about the top digital marketers without mentioning the name Frank Kern.  Frank is one of the most unique, talented, yet polarizing personalities within the digital marketing space.  He is the creator of the Behavioral Dynamic Response and is one of the most influential information marketers and masters of marketing automation of all time. 

 

#8 – Jacob Baadsgaard / Disruptive Advertising

Over the past decade, Jake Baadsgaard and the Disruptive Advertising team have established themselves as one of if not the premier PPC agency.  The ferocity with which they have entered the marketplace and grown is quite astounding and they continue to raise the bar on what a digital marketing agency can be.

 

#9 – Jason Jones / Salty Droid

Another personality worth mentioning in the sphere of digital marketers is going to be Jason Jones aka Salty Droid.  Although he doesn’t blog much anymore, he is well known for calling out digital marketers that he calls “The Syndicate” including Frank Kern, Perry Belcher, Ryan Deiss, James Arthur Ray, Russel Brunson and many others.  In deed, for me personally one of the reason that I stopped doing email marketing and marketing automation and transitioned toward establishing an agency back in around 2005 was because of how chaotic and unhealthy the information marketing space had become.  I think Jason Jones added a good amount of skepticism and perspective to the marketing space and overall helped raise the bar for what marketers and agency can and should be.

 

#10 – Grant James / Lead PPC

Okay, so there are dozens of not hundreds of other digital marketers and agencies that I could throw up on this list as #10.  But, I just wanted to highlight some of the work that our team here at Lead PPC is doing specifically within the franchising space.  Franchises are unique because they touch nearly every industry out there.  It’s a very under-serviced market, and we’re proud to be the #1 provider of PPC services for franchisors and the top agency out there for franchise development lead generation.  We keep pretty quiet in many ways and focus primarily on getting results for our clients as opposed to being loud and teaching marketing in general, but our underlying influence in one of the most important industries in North America continues to quietly be felt.

 

What Can You Learn From The Top Digital Marketers?

When it comes to digital marketers, pioneers and trendsetters are continually pushing boundaries, exploring new horizons, and setting the tone for success in a competitive landscape. If you’re looking to improve your digital marketing strategy, there’s no better place to start than by studying the best in the business. So, what can we learn from the top digital marketers?

First, the importance of understanding your audience cannot be overstated. Top marketers like Neil Patel and Ann Handley have repeatedly emphasized the need to know your audience inside and out. From demographics to psychographics, understanding who your audience is, what they care about, and how they prefer to engage with content is paramount.

Secondly, innovation is the name of the game. The digital marketing landscape is continually evolving, and staying ahead of the curve requires constant innovation. Gary Vaynerchuk, a leading digital marketer and entrepreneur, is known for his innovative approach to social media, content creation, and audience engagement.

Third, measurement is crucial. Top digital marketers, such as Rand Fishkin, understand the importance of data and metrics in shaping strategy. Whether it’s the use of Google Analytics, KPI tracking, or A/B testing, data-driven decisions can make the difference between a good campaign and a great one.

Finally, storytelling matters. The best digital marketers like Seth Godin emphasize the power of storytelling in digital marketing. Creating engaging, compelling narratives around your brand can be an effective way to connect with your audience and drive engagement.

In essence, top digital marketers offer several lessons: understand your audience, innovate, measure results, and tell compelling stories. By incorporating these strategies into your own marketing efforts, you can elevate your brand, engage your audience, and achieve measurable results.

While the journey to becoming a top digital marketer is not an easy one, it’s a path filled with valuable lessons for those willing to learn.

 

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