The 10 Commandments Of Digital Marketing

Thou must obey the rules…

1. Thou Shalt Have No Plans Before Strategizing

Without a strategy, you’re just going to end up throwing content at the wall and hoping something sticks. With a clear digital marketing strategy, you can establish your messaging, plan your content, distribute it accordingly, track results in terms of your goals, and evaluate for future reference.

2. Thou Shalt Not Worship Any Tactic Above the Others

Put equal effort into your website content, blog articles, pay-per-click ads, marketing emails, landing pages, social media posts, etc. because no one of these is more important than the others. In fact, all of these parts of your marketing strategy should play together nicely as they lead a potential customer through the decision-making process.

3. Thou Shalt Not Take the Customer’s Privacy in Vain

If a customer has blessed you with their email address, it is a privilege, not a right. Don’t sell their information to third parties or otherwise use it for your own gain. It’s people who do shady stuff like this that gives us good marketers a bad name.

4. Remember the Reporting Day, Keep it, Holy

No marketer at any point in history has had the access to the metrics that we do now. Use the data you have to evaluate your efforts, to make a content plan that includes more of what works and less of what doesn’t, and to help set realistic goals.

5. Honor Thy Buyer Personas

Your business would literally cease to exist without your customers. Create detailed buyer personas and be sure to craft your content so you speak their language, proactively answer their questions, and meet their needs (or they’ll be happy to take their business elsewhere).

6. Thou Shalt Not Kill Your User’s Experience on Mobile

Other than maybe your grandmother, who doesn’t have a smartphone anymore? You put a lot of work into the functionality and user experience of your website, but with just as many people searching on smartphones and tablets, you need to be sure that experience translates to a smaller screen. Think responsively.

7. Thou Shalt Not Commit Traditional Marketing Faux Pas

There’s a reason everybody hates things like cold calls and spammy emails: they’re the actual worst. Stop trying to annoy people into making a purchase like they did in the “good ol’ days” and just give your personas the content they want, how they want it, and let them reach out to you when they’re ready.

8. Thou Shalt Not Steal Rankings

Practice White Hat SEO and work your way to the top ranking by putting thought and care into your content and keywords. Don’t steal the #1 spot with smarmy black hat tactics like keyword stuffing, spam blogging, or invisible text.

9. Thou Shalt Not Publish False Content

While we all know that not everything we read on the internet is necessarily true, never, ever publish straight-up false information. Don’t make promises you can’t make good on, don’t make claims that can’t be supported with facts, and don’t leave out information that your customers need to know. Don’t feed those who already think they can’t trust digital marketing companies.

10. Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Competitor’s Success

Instead of being jealous, take a moment to check that your buyer personas are still accurate, reevaluate your content to make sure your messaging hasn’t strayed off course, make some changes to your strategy based on new information and trends, and work for the same success as your competition!