Influencers in the Global Salesforce Marketing Cloud Community

Over the past few years, the Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC) community has thrived thanks to numerous passionate experts who share their knowledge through Q&A forums, blogs, user group meetups, and more. Influence in this global community is multifaceted. Some leaders shine by answering hundreds of technical questions, others by producing educational content or organizing peer learning sessions. Below we compare several prominent SFMC community influencers (Tim Ziter, Lukas Lunow, Nobuyuki Watanabe, Mateusz Dąbrowski, Jonas Lamberty, and Greg Gifford) and add a few equally renowned names. For each person, you’ll find what they excel at, why you should follow them, and where you can benefit from their knowledge.

Tim Ziter is known for hands-on enablement of Marketing Cloud users. As a Salesforce Marketing Champion and leader of the Boston SFMC user group, Tim focuses on practical education. He co-founded “Hands-On SFMC,” a community initiative that provides marketers with free access to a full-featured SFMC demo org and live weekly training sessions. This means he literally puts Marketing Cloud into learners’ hands. Tim’s background as a Senior Marketing Cloud Consultant (at Cervello, a Kearney company) informs the rich how-to content he helps produce. On the Hands-On SFMC blog, Tim and his collaborators publish step-by-step guides (e.g. “How to write tracking data from Marketing Cloud to Salesforce”) and bootcamp tutorials on everything from Contact deletion to API integrations. He is adept at breaking down complex setup tasks into approachable exercises.

Tim should be on your radar if you learn best by doing. He excels at fostering community learning by curating real-world practice. By following Tim, you gain access to his weekly “hands-on” workshops and detailed blog posts that can guide you through Marketing Cloud setup, integration, and troubleshooting scenarios. For example, Tim’s team will even grant you access to their SFMC training environment so you can experiment with features like Journey Builder, MC Personalization, and API integrations in a safe sandbox. He also stays active in Trailblazer Community forums, often answering questions and pointing newcomers to helpful resources (he’s been spotted directing users to relevant StackExchange threads for deeper help). In short, Tim’s influence is all about making Marketing Cloud accessible – he provides the tools, environment, and guidance for marketers to build skills through experience. If you want to gain confidence with SFMC’s practical side, Tim’s sessions and posts are an invaluable resource.

Lukas Lunow is one of the most prolific technical contributors in the SFMC ecosystem, known especially for his expertise on Q&A forums. On Salesforce StackExchange (SFSE), Lukas has amassed over 22,500 reputation points, making him one of the all-time top Marketing Cloud answerers. In the last ~3 years he has posted 830+ answers on SFSE – a staggering volume – addressing topics ranging from AMPscript and SSJS to Journey Builder logic. His contributions earned him the rare SFSE gold badge in the marketing-cloud tag (meaning his answers in that tag have a combined score well over 1000). What sets Lukas apart is his deep architectural knowledge of Marketing Cloud. He actually worked at Salesforce for 6+ years as a Marketing Cloud Program Architect, helping enterprise customers design their implementations. He’s now an independent Salesforce Marketing Consultant. This career path: from ExactTarget (SFMC) early days through consultancy and into industry leadership, means Lukas brings a 360° perspective. He can dive into code one minute and talk strategy the next. In 2024 Salesforce recognized him as a Marketing Champion for his ongoing community leadership.

If you’re looking for rigorous, no-nonsense technical guidance, Lukas is a go-to expert. He has a reputation for candid, thorough answers (his SFSE profile humorously warns that his opinions “might not be popular” as he prioritizes correctness over niceties!). Following Lukas benefits you in a few ways. First, you can learn from his Q&A contributions – many consider his SFSE answers required reading to solve complex SFMC problems. He’s tackled everything from optimizing SQL query automations to explaining tricky send classification behaviors. Second, Lukas shares longer-form insights on his blog here, where he writes about Marketing Cloud architecture and digital marketing best practices. He also became a Trailblazer Community Forum Ambassador, meaning you’ll find him moderating and answering questions in Salesforce’s official Marketing Cloud forums. In fact, when he noticed a decline in high-quality SFMC questions on one platform, he proactively increased his presence on the Trailblazer Community to keep the knowledge flowing. In summary, Lukas excels at marrying technical depth with big-picture thinking. By following him, you’ll gain a mentor who can help you not just fix a pesky scripting error, but also architect better solutions and ask smarter questions about Marketing Cloud.

Nobuyuki Watanabe has made a name for himself by producing a continuous stream of Marketing Cloud content and by being an active helper in the community. Based in Japan, Nobuyuki is a Salesforce Marketing Cloud Consultant who earned the Marketing Champion title and Trailblazer Community Forum Ambassador status for his contributions. He is best known for his “SFMC Tips” series on Medium, where he has published dozens of bite-sized articles sharing Marketing Cloud tips and tricks. In fact, as of mid-2025, he’s on Tip #95 and counting! These tips cover everything from how to use the REST API to search Content Builder assets to leveraging the new “Marketing Cloud on Core” (Growth/Advanced Edition) features. Nobuyuki’s consistency is astounding – he posts new insights almost every week, ensuring that the community stays up-to-date on the latest Marketing Cloud capabilities (e.g. recent tips explain the new Flow Builder in MC’s Growth edition and Einstein features). In addition to writing, Nobuyuki holds an eye-popping 44 Salesforce certifications (spanning Marketing, Sales, and more), underscoring his broad expertise in the Salesforce ecosystem. This combination of breadth (multi-cloud knowledge) and focus (marketing cloud tips) makes his content especially rich – he often ties Marketing Cloud into the bigger Salesforce picture.

Nobuyuki is the perfect person to follow if you want steady, practical learning. By subscribing to his Medium blog (which already has hundreds of followers), you’ll get regular, digestible tips that can immediately level up your Marketing Cloud game. He excels at turning complex tasks into step-by-step tutorials – for example, his articles walk through using Marketing Cloud’s APIs for tasks like querying data or managing consent, complete with code snippets. You’ll benefit from his focus on new features: as Salesforce releases updates, Nobuyuki quickly publishes guides (ensuring you don’t fall behind on platform innovations). Moreover, as a Forum Ambassador, he frequently answers questions in the Trailblazer Community groups, often in his native Japanese as well as English, bridging language gaps for non-English speaking Trailblazers. In summary, following Nobuyuki Watanabe gives you a one-two punch of knowledge: a constant stream of Marketing Cloud tips to learn from, and a responsive expert you can reach out to in community forums. His dedication and productivity set a high bar – he demonstrates how consistent content creation can influence a global audience.

Mateusz Dąbrowski is a Salesforce MVP and Marketing Cloud Architect who has emerged as a leading voice in the SFMC community, especially in the realm of automation and development best practices. He approaches Marketing Cloud with a developer’s mindset – his personal motto is “let code = do(‘our job’);”, reflecting his passion for using code to automate marketing tasks. Mateusz is the author of a popular blog (mateuszdabrowski.pl) aptly titled “Automate Marketing Automation”. On this site he shares an extensive library of docs, code snippets, and tutorials covering AMPscript, Server-Side JavaScript, SQL, and more. For example, he published a well-regarded SQL Basics guide tailored to Marketing Cloud data extensions – a great starting point for anyone new to writing queries in SFMC. He doesn’t shy away from advanced topics either; you’ll find deep dives on things like behavioral triggers, custom cloud pages, and integrating SFMC with other clouds. Mateusz also contributes to open-source style knowledge – his site hosts solutions and even Salesforce IdeaExchange suggestions to improve the platform. Community recognition has followed naturally: he’s been named a Salesforce MVP for his overall contributions, and he was a Marketing Champion (2021) before “graduating” to MVP.

Mateusz excels at teaching you how to fish in the Marketing Cloud sea – he provides not just answers, but frameworks and code that you can reuse. If you aim to become more self-sufficient with SFMC’s scripting and automation, Mateusz’s content is a goldmine. By following his blog, you gain access to well-structured tutorials on topics like writing SQL for segmentation, building complex Journey Builder logic with server-side scripts, or even architecting your account setup for scale. He has committed to writing regularly and sharing valuable Marketing Cloud insights, so there’s a steady flow of new knowledge. What’s more, Mateusz often hosts webinars and appears at community events to demo solutions (for instance, he’s delivered sessions on SFMC data architecture and CloudPages development, as listed on his site). He is very approachable on LinkedIn and the Trailblazer community – always ready to answer a quick question or provide a pointer to one of his articles. In essence, following Mateusz gives you a mentor in mastering Marketing Cloud’s more technical side. He’ll help you not only solve today’s problem (maybe with a snippet of code he’s already written), but also instill best practices that elevate your overall automation strategy.

Jonas Lamberty has built a reputation as a reliable problem-solver in the Salesforce Marketing Cloud community. As the leader of the Marketing Cloud User Group in Munich, Germany, Jonas facilitates knowledge-sharing meetups and workshops for SFMC practitioners. He has a gift for explaining complex issues in simple terms during these sessions – whether it’s walking through the latest release notes or demoing an advanced use case, local marketers turn to Jonas for clarity. Online, Jonas is an active contributor on Salesforce StackExchange, where he has 10,000+ reputation points from helping others. Over the past several years he has contributed 500+ answers on SFSE, predominantly in the Marketing Cloud category. His top tags include Marketing Cloud, AMPscript, SSJS, data extensions, and Journey Builder, reflecting his broad expertise across the platform. One thing Jonas excels at is troubleshooting – for example, he has shared comprehensive step-by-step solutions for issues like why certain subscribers didn’t receive emails, how data binding works in journeys, and so on. (In fact, a flowchart Jonas created to diagnose “missing send” issues has been shared as a go-to reference in the Trailblazer community.) He’s also earned accolades like the SFSE “Unsung Hero” badge for his numerous accepted answers that quietly solved tough questions.

Jonas is the kind of influencer you follow to get trustworthy answers and practical fixes. If you’re stuck on a Marketing Cloud problem, chances are Jonas has answered a similar question – his answers often include code samples, clear explanations, and even references to documentation or screenshots. By browsing his Q&A contributions, you effectively tap into a huge knowledge base of real-world SFMC scenarios he’s resolved. Additionally, joining his Salesforce Marketer Group events (or even viewing recaps online) can be hugely beneficial – Jonas often invites industry experts and Marketing Champions to present at the Munich group, so you’ll gain insights into advanced topics and product roadmaps. He is generous with one-on-one help as well; many community members note that Jonas will follow up on forum questions to ensure the issue gets fully resolved. In summary, following Jonas Lamberty means having a patient tutor and community connector on your side. He may not blog or publish videos, but through Q&A forums and local meetups he consistently delivers value. Your benefit from his knowledge will come when you apply one of his solutions to your own project – suddenly that blocker in your email send or query activity is gone, thanks to Jonas’s advice.

Gregory “Gortonington” Gifford is often mentioned in the SFMC community with a sort of reverence – and for good reason. He is a Salesforce MVP and was one of the first Salesforce Marketing Cloud Champions, recognized for his decade-plus of expertise and community service. Greg’s contributions span every facet of the community. On Salesforce StackExchange, he is literally the top Marketing Cloud contributor of all time under the alias “Gortonington.” – well ahead of Adam Spriggs and Lukas Lunow. This means that among all users globally, Greg has earned the highest reputation answering Marketing Cloud questions – he’s provided hundreds upon hundreds of answers, many of which are accepted as the definitive solution. He’s especially known for advanced topics like SOAP/REST API usage, SQL quirks, and the notorious WSProxy library (Greg is a big WSProxy advocate, sharing many practical examples of its use). Beyond Q&A, Greg has significantly shaped the community infrastructure. He co-founded HowToSFMC.com, a community-driven site focused on Marketing Cloud where experts collaborate to publish articles, share code, and run initiatives like the annual SFMC “Scriptmas” challenges (and let’s not forget their HowToSFMC Slack!). He also maintains a personal blog (gortonington.com) where he publishes in-depth posts – for example, guides on SQL best practices and Marketing Cloud scripting that are frequently cited by others. Furthermore, Greg is a Trailblazer community group leader and often speaks at events – he’s currently Director of SFMC Engineering at Merkle, and you’ll see him presenting at conferences (Connections, Dreamforce, etc.) and virtual workshops to share real-world solutions. As if that weren’t enough, Greg is co-author of the book “Automating Salesforce Marketing Cloud,” one of the first comprehensive technical books on SFMC. In short, Greg excels at everything – technical mastery, content creation, mentorship, and community building.

Following Greg Gifford is like having a personal coach for Marketing Cloud, especially for developers and technical marketers. You should follow Greg if you want to push the boundaries of what’s possible in SFMC. Need to integrate Marketing Cloud with a custom app or solve a complex data segmentation challenge? Greg has probably done it or written about it. By reading his blog and HowToSFMC articles, you’ll learn advanced techniques (for instance, how to build a custom Marketing Cloud application or optimize send pipelines) directly from an authority. By watching his StackExchange answers, you’ll gain insight into best practices – Greg often not only answers “how,” but also “why” a solution is recommended, drawing on his extensive experience. Moreover, Greg’s role as a community organizer means he often amplifies other voices: through HowToSFMC and community group sessions, he highlights tips from various experts, which broadens your learning network. There’s a reason he’s called a Marketing Cloud “expert’s expert.” As Salesforce’s own description notes, Greg has “made a large investment in the community” and strives to create a nurturing, learning-focused environment for all. By following him, you plug into that environment. In essence, Greg’s influence is unparalleled – engaging with his content and advice will undoubtedly elevate your Marketing Cloud mastery, whether you’re a beginner or a fellow seasoned developer.

Zuzanna Jarczynska is a highly respected Salesforce Marketing Cloud Solution Architect (currently at Deloitte Digital) who has become an influential educator in the community. She holds the title of Salesforce MVP and has also been a Marketing Champion, reflecting both her expertise and her eagerness to help others. Zuzanna’s specialty is technical education – she makes the complex world of SFMC development accessible to a wide audience. She created and runs sfmarketing.cloud, one of the community’s most beloved technical blogs. There she publishes tutorials and deep dives on AMPscript, Server-Side JavaScript, SQL, APIs, and all manner of SFMC programming topics. Notably, Zuzanna doesn’t stop at blogging: she has built free tools for the community, including ampscript.io (the first online AMPscript editor & syntax checker) and dataviews.io (an interactive guide to SFMC Data Views). These tools have been game-changers for SFMC developers looking to learn and troubleshoot code in real time. In addition, Zuzanna is a Pluralsight author and instructor – she’s created on-demand courses teaching Marketing Cloud Connect and other topics. She even hosts a podcast, “Inside Marketing Cloud,” where she interviews experts and shares insights on SFMC solutions. Across mediums, Zuzanna excels at translating her deep knowledge into practical guidance for others. It’s also worth noting she’s an extremely active Q&A contributor: she has retained a top answerer position on StackExchange in the Marketing Cloud category (famously, a huge portion of AMPscript-related answers on SFSE were written by her).

If your goal is to become proficient in Marketing Cloud development, Zuzanna is someone you’ll want to follow closely. She has an encyclopedic knowledge of SFMC (especially scripting and APIs) but delivers it with clarity. By following her blog, you get access to code recipes, troubleshooting guides, and architectural tips that can save you countless hours. For instance, her articles on Data Views and Query Activities distill years of experience into step-by-step instructions. Her writing style is very approachable – as Eliot Harper noted in his review of community blogs, “Zuzanna’s descriptive approach makes her posts easy to follow”, even when tackling intimidating topics. Additionally, using her free tools like ampscript.io can accelerate your learning; instead of guessing at AMPscript syntax, you can validate and test snippets instantly thanks to her tool. Zuzanna also shares a lot on LinkedIn and Twitter, often posting quick tips or announcements of new content. Engaging with those posts or her podcast will keep you on the cutting edge of SFMC features. Finally, because she’s an MVP and long-time community member, Zuzanna often collaborates with other experts. Following her thus often leads you to a network of resources – she’ll point you to the right article, repository, or person for whatever SFMC challenge you’re tackling. In summary, Zuzanna Jarczynska’s influence lies in her ability to empower others: she takes her substantial expertise and shares it freely in multiple formats. By learning from her, you’ll quickly expand your own capabilities in Marketing Cloud.

Adam Spriggs is renowned as one of the original Marketing Cloud development gurus, particularly in all things AMPscript. A Salesforce MVP with over a decade of experience, Adam has been a go-to expert for SFMC developers seeking advanced solutions. He earned the nickname “one of the kings of AMPscript” for good reason. Adam co-authored “The AMPscript Guide,” which is literally the book on AMPscript best practices (written in collaboration with Eliot Harper). In the community, Adam’s presence is strongly felt on his blog SprignatureMoves.com, where he has built up an AMPscript goldmine of tips and tutorials. Scrolling through his blog, you’ll find elegant solutions to common (and not-so-common) Marketing Cloud problems. For example, he shares code snippets for tricky tasks like generating dynamic QR codes in emails, debugging complex AMPscript blocks, or handling edge cases in Journey Builder. He doesn’t limit himself to AMPscript either; Adam also writes about SSJS, SFMC’s SQL quirks, and covers “known issues” in the platform to help others avoid pitfalls. On StackExchange, Adam was historically a top contributor, especially in the early SFMC days – many of the foundational Q&A threads on AMPscript have detailed answers from him (Eliot Harper noted that “most AMPscript related answers on StackExchange are attributed to [Adam]”). Additionally, Adam has been involved in community initiatives such as HowToSFMC (he’s a frequent contributor to the collaborative “Scriptmas” challenges and other group knowledge efforts). In short, Adam excels at deep technical problem-solving and sharing those solutions with the community.

If you are a developer or technically inclined marketer working with Marketing Cloud, following Adam Spriggs will pay dividends. He has a knack for providing concise, practical explanations for complex scenarios. By reading SprignatureMoves, you’ll learn to think like an SFMC developer – Adam often points out subtleties in AMPscript or scripting that can save you from hours of frustration (for example, how certain functions behave under the hood, or how to optimize your code for better send speeds). His content often reads like a “tips from a pro” handbook, covering things even Salesforce’s official docs might miss. Moreover, Adam remains active on social media and in community forums; he might share a quick tip on Twitter or chime in on a StackExchange question with an insight that others overlooked. He also continues to update the AMPscript Guide and related resources, so following those will ensure you have the latest and greatest techniques. Finally, Adam’s long-standing involvement means he often collaborates with peers – for instance, he and Eliot Harper have worked together on blogs and webinars, and he’s part of the network of MVPs who collectively push the community’s knowledge forward. Thus, by following Adam, you’re not only getting his expertise, but also a connection to that larger braintrust. In summary, Adam Spriggs is an influencer who raises the technical bar – if you want to master Marketing Cloud’s scripting and development, keeping up with Adam is a must.

Eliot Harper is often introduced as the “King of AMPscript” and an encyclopedic source of Marketing Cloud knowledge. As a Salesforce MVP and a prolific author, Eliot has contributed immensely to thought leadership in the SFMC space. He has a talent for breaking down very advanced topics in a way that both developers and marketing strategists can appreciate. One of Eliot’s flagship contributions is his MC.chat video blog series – through short video episodes, he delivers tutorials and reviews of Marketing Cloud features and best practices. These videos range from reviewing top community blogs (he’s highlighted others on this list, showing his support of community content) to explaining specific tools like Reply Mail Management or Data Encryption. Eliot also has authored and co-authored several books on SFMC. Notably, he co-wrote “The AMPscript Guide” with Adam Spriggs, and more recently he authored “Marketing Cloud Design & Architecture Principles” and the “Salesforce Data Cloud (CDP) Architect’s Handbook” – resources that have become go-to references for Marketing Cloud consultants and architects. In the community, Eliot is known for his innovations and hacks: for example, he has shared techniques on extending SFMC functionality (like using Cloud Pages for custom applications, or creative uses of Content Builder). He even developed a popular Chrome extension called SFMC Quick Deploy back in the day, showcasing his builder mentality. As an acknowledged SFMC expert, Eliot is frequently a speaker at major events (Connections, World Tours, etc.) and webinars, where his presentations are dense with insights. He truly has an “encyclopedic” knowledge – if there’s a question on an obscure SFMC feature, Eliot can likely quote the documentation page and add a real-world caveat from memory.

Eliot Harper provides a wealth of strategic and technical insight that can benefit virtually anyone in the Marketing Cloud ecosystem. By following Eliot’s content, you gain access to a masterclass in SFMC. For instance, his video blogs on MC.chat are perfect for visual learners and cover topics you might not even realize you should learn (imagine getting a succinct lesson on how SFMC’s send throttling works, or a breakdown of AMP for Email – that’s the kind of content Eliot delivers). Reading his books or whitepapers will deepen your understanding of how to design Marketing Cloud solutions at scale – ideal for architects and advanced admins who want to implement things “the right way.” Eliot’s emphasis on architecture and cross-cloud integration is particularly valuable as SFMC becomes more interconnected with Salesforce’s core platform (and the emerging Data Cloud). Additionally, Eliot often shares quick tips on Twitter and LinkedIn, and you’ll find him engaging with community questions (he sometimes drops into StackExchange or the Trailblazer forums to clarify tricky points). Because he’s on the Product Advisory Boards and closely tied in with Salesforce, he often knows what’s coming down the pike – following him can give you a heads-up on new features or best practices as they evolve. In summary, Eliot’s influence is felt in how he elevates the entire community’s understanding of Marketing Cloud. He doesn’t just tell you what to do, but helps you grasp why it’s done that way, equipping you to be not just a user of Marketing Cloud but a true strategist and innovator with the platform.

Conclusion: The Many Faces of Influence in SFMC

As we’ve seen, each of these trailblazers has carved out their own lane in the Salesforce Marketing Cloud conversation. Some, like Lukas Lunow and Greg Gifford, earned their influence by demonstrating technical mastery in public forums (racking up thousands of reputation points through answered questions). Others, like Nobuyuki Watanabe or Zuzanna Jarczynska, built influence through content output – writing blogs, tips, and guides that tens of thousands of marketers consume to learn SFMC. Then we have those like Tim Ziter, who lead by community service and enablement, tirelessly organizing user group sessions and hands-on workshops to uplift everyone around them. It’s clear that “influence” is not one-dimensional: a top Stack Exchange expert doesn’t automatically outrank a content creator with a huge following, and vice-versa. Each contributes in a different but equally valuable way. Viewed together, this group of influencers illustrates that expertise, community service, and content creation are all vital forms of leadership in the global SFMC community. For anyone passionate about Salesforce Marketing Cloud, the lesson is that you don’t have to compare these influences directly or pick one type over another. By following a variety of voices – the Q&A gurus, the bloggers, the event hosts – you’ll enrich your own knowledge from every angle. And perhaps most importantly, you’ll see a common thread: whether it’s through code snippets, articles, or mentorship, all these individuals share a generosity and passion for helping others succeed in Marketing Cloud. That is the true power of their influence, and it’s what continues to drive our community forward.