Are There Any Timeless Marketing Rules?

Last week I gave a presentation to about 40 business people and I mentioned the phrase, Timeless Human Relationship Principles.  So today I’m going to share with you some of those but rephrase them as Timeless Marketing Rules.

They are based on Human Relationship Principles.

1. People like it when you talk to them. Better yet, talk with them, not at them. If your advertising is yelling, shouting, screaming, or simply annoying, stop it and get real with people.
2. People don’t like to be SOLD something.  But they usually will accept and welcome help BUYING something.  Big Difference.
3. If you want people to show up at something but you don’t invite them, they won’t show up. This is one huge principle I preach about advertising.  You have to invite people to become customers.
4. There is truth to the concepts of reach and frequency.  Reach is how many different people will see/hear your message.  Frequency is how often each individual person will see/hear your message.  One day I’ll write about this again, or you can ask me about how to apply reach and frequency to your marketing.
5. However, one tip on frequency right now: One invitation is rarely enough.  That’s why we don’t sell one commercial and expect results. That’s like going on just one date and expecting them to marry you then and there.
6. People want to trust other people.  They want to trust you and your business and the stuff you sell.  Your marketing and business practices need to consistently build trust.
7. You need to communicate with people using the medium they prefer.  Some people like texting, some never leave a voicemail.  Others use twitter, some rarely read their email. These human relationship principles and timeless marketing rules don’t change with technology. That’s why they are timeless.  But you need to be aware of individuals communication preferences.

I’ll dig more in depth into each of these in the days ahead.  Your Comments and Questions are always welcome.