2 min read

Do Online Marketing Principles Change?

Picture of Honcho Honcho : Feb 7, 2011 6:06:18 AM

I wrote this blog post towards the end of January and submitted it to YouMoz, with the hope of getting my work published. With no reply as yet, I’m not holding my breath, but I thought it was quite a good point to make so will share it with you anyway! As it’s about underlying principles, I’m hoping the case should hold up and be a useful read. Let me know in the comments section! I’ve just finished reading another great post from the guys at Search Engine Watch, titled: ‘ Half of What We Know About Search and Social Media is Obsolete’ and it got me thinking. Not having been in the online marketing world for as long as some of my peers, I found this a worrying concept. “The search and social media landscape is changing so fast that half of what we knew a year ago is now obsolete.”

I could be in trouble here I thought! Making very valid points throughout, this post highlighted the fact that the world of online marketing is forever changing and evolving, but we knew that, right? At least that was one of the first things I discovered in this fast paced industry. The article focused on just how much had changed in the past year from looking at the schedule of topics lined up at SES New York 2010 and what is lined up for SES New York 2011 (the article is a great plug for the exhibition). From ‘SEO on a Global Scale’, ‘Managing Your Online Reputation’ to ‘Next Generation YouTube Marketing’ and ‘Smart Mobile Marketing’ it is apparent things are changing. But as marketers, we know this. We are always looking at trends to predict the ‘next big thing’ or be the first one to launch the most successful campaign of the year. Trying to keep up with the innovations within the Social Media industry is tough, but there are plenty of platforms that can help make things easier. One of the latest ‘hot’ services is Path, who are trying to make smaller, more focused communities with a limit of 50 ‘friends’ to a network. This allows for less ‘noise’, but is a great means of communicating and sharing your expertise with other relevant contributors. Real-time search is also keeping things moving, meaning that content needs to be regularly updated, content relevant to increase the chances of it being shared and something SEO experts are having to keep as up-to-date as possible. I know things are changing constantly, from the Google algorithm to the most popular social network. But with all of my work I try to stick to some key principles, no matter if I am doing some SEO work or trying to boost my Social Media skills. Be relevant: Cheese making recipes are useless to people searching for how to make an apple crumble! Identify who your audience is and provide them with the most useful information they could want. Ask them for their opinions so you can tailor your work, ‘hang out’ where they do, interact and participate. Keep-up-to-date: This is now easier to do with the millions of blogs and news sites that exist online, however – you need to try to keep the information you are reading up on RELEVANT! These simple principles work, especially if done together. Put time and effort into everything you do: If everything was quick and easy, the world would be overrun with experts! To create something successful needs a lot of time put in to create strategies, implementation, roll-out and after service. But to continue that success will take a lot of effort and if done well, you will always reap the rewards. I think these principles are relevant to more than just marketing. If you want to be a success at anything then you need to be relevant to attract and keep your audience interested. By keeping up-to-date you will be able to provide this relevant information with facts that reinforce your cause. But as ever, to do all of this it takes time and you always have to put as much effort in to make whatever you are attempting a success. In the meantime, I’ll keep reading and learning and as ever, if you have any thoughts on this, stick them in the comments box below.