Everyone has rules. They are the fundamental principles that guide us. If you watch NCIS you are aware of Gibb’s Rules. Gibbs is the team leader and members of his team frequently refer to his rules by Rule Number. They rarely if ever quote the rule so the viewer is left trying to determine the actual rule content.

Today I am going to share some of my rules for effective marketing. These are not management rules, that’s an entirely different set of rules; these are rules that I have observed and incorporated into my marketing style over the years. Some of these rules will make perfect sense to you, others will require some further explanation that will come at another time.

Without further delay, here are my marketing rules in no particular order of preference:

  1. Ask the right questions to get the right answers.
  2. Know your target inside and out.
  3. Use all your resources wisely.
  4. UVP – don’t even try to do business without it.
  5. Anything worth doing is worth doing with excellence.
  6. Always be personal and make one-on-one connections with your target.
  7. Never stop building your brand.
  8. Find ways to leverage competitive strength to your advantage.
  9. Don’t ever be afraid to rewrite the rules to change the game’s outcome.
  10. Covet actionable information and use it wisely.
  11. Never stop asking, “What’s the strategy?”
  12. Saturate media with breakthrough creative.
  13. Never stop listening to the sales team. Seek them out first.
  14. Always look and act like the leader.
  15. Brand always matters to everyone.
  16. Customer/consumer needs trump all others. To do this your team members must come first.
  17. Listen, think, discuss, decide and do in that order.
  18. Create preference, never settle for satisfaction.
  19. Always do your best, be a leader and have fun.
  20. Always be ready to give an on-the-spot description of what you do and why it matters to anyone who asks.
  21. Never promise a project delivery date until the scope and fee have been agreed upon.

In future blogs I will share stories and illustrations that show how these rules really worked for me and can work for you. In the meantime, why not start writing your own set of rules?