Online Marketing Rules of Thumb

After chatting with Sarah today while working on some projects, I had a bit of an “AHA” moment. We were discussing email marketing when a few things clicked. Here are various rules of thumb to keep into consideration:

Email Marketing - Will the email be marked as spam or is the user expecting this in their inbox?

This rule has several connotations to it. Before sending out emails ask yourself these questions:
Is it the content they expected? Does it live up to your businesses standards?

SEO - Is this good for the user?

Are you chasing the Googlebot or are you making things better for users, creating good content and linking to more quality information? While doing the first may work on the short run, consider the long run.

Social Media – Does this benefit the community?

This one also has numerous connotations; everything from creating strategy to implementing it should somehow benefit the community, or a niche of it.

Distilling this down, it ends up as one main rule for online marketing:

Does this benefit people?

This is a critical transition from where marketing was to where we are now. We are in an age where clients are interested in more personal relationships and customized services tailored to fit their business needs. We are marketing toward people who want to be helped, whether that means helping them find the right product, pick the right service, or solve an issue. It’s not about plastering yourself everywhere anymore but rather, joining and connecting with the community and supporting your users.

This trend is evidenced by where business owners spend their budgets. According to VerticalResponse, Inc, less than a quarter of SMB’s will avoid search engine marketing, 74% will increase their email marketing spends, and over 70% will not run TV nor radio ads.

Why? Because the radio and TV don’t allow 2-way conversations. The owner of a company can’t send me a TV ad, but he can send me a tweet.

What are your marketing rules of thumb?

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