10 Simple Rules Of Marketing

10 Simplified Rules of Marketing

May 6, 2025
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Executive Summary

If a marketing plan feels overwhelming, it helps to come back to a few simple truths about how customers actually think. This article lays out ten plain rules, starting from the reality that people don’t know or care what you do until they need it, and that if your message is hard to find, understand, or act on, it gets lost. The thread running through all of them is that simplicity beats cleverness and consistency wins. Read it when you want a quick gut check that brings clarity to whatever marketing work is in front of you.

Over the years, I’ve found the simplicity of this list to be beneficial in helping inspire, teach, and consult business owners struggling with the concept of a marketing plan.

I subscribe to the principle behind rule #9 in much of what I do daily and hope the simplicity of these rules helps you find clarity in the marketing work you’ll do.

The Rules

  1. THEY DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU DO: As a business owner, you know more about what you offer and are closer to your business day-to-day than the average prospect and customer. So when putting your messaging and campaigns together, it’s best not to assume your target customers know what you do or how it will help them solve a problem.
  2. THEY DON’T CARE WHAT YOU DO: On average, your prospective customers may be too consumed with their own schedules, tasks, deadlines, and daily life to notice the details of your business on a regular basis. It’s a good idea to remember that the conversations you have 100 times a week may be a first to the next customer.
  3. UNTIL THEY NEED WHAT YOU DO: Life is busy, and we live in an age of micro-moments and instant gratification. When someone needs what you offer, ask yourself – will they think of me first? Will they find your business online when they are looking? Evaluate your readiness and visibility from a customer’s point of view and see if you are ready to provide answers, resources, and value any time of the day from any device the customer wishes to use.
  4. IF IT’S HARD TO FIND, THEY WON’T FIND IT: Remember that your habits, likes, and frustrations as a consumer may be similar to what frustrates your customers. So cover the basics with your website and materials whenever possible. Things that can be easily overlooked are pricing, phone numbers, and addresses. It can be easy for customers to look for alternatives and competitors for what you offer if the formation they are looking for is not visible and accessible.
  5. IF IT’S HARD TO UNDERSTAND, THEY WON’T REMEMBER IT: Your company messaging should be as simple as possible. If the features and benefits you choose to promote are focused on the needs of the specific audience you serve, your results will be better. It’s always best to speak in customer-friendly language and not industry-speak.
  6. IF IT’S HARD TO DO, THEY WON’T DO IT: Remember, consumer attention spans are short. Consider that the goal of your marketing efforts should be to clearly define the benefit and value you provide as quickly as possible. Think about making the process faster and easier for your customer.
  7. WHAT YOU KNOW IS VALUABLE: It’s common not to fancy yourself as a marketer or even think you can ‘do marketing’. However, please know that when it comes to effective marketing, reverse engineering your experience into proactive answers, resources, and materials is an extremely valuable exercise.
  8. YOU GET SECONDS, NOT MINUTES: Remember that people are busy, and there are many distractions constantly begging for their attention. You’ll do best if your messaging quickly gets to the point and makes it easy for customers to understand what to do next and how they will benefit.
  9. SIMPLICITY IS WORTH MORE THAN CREATIVITY: Being creative and inventive with your marketing efforts can be rewarding. But if the customer has to say, “What does that mean,” it’s all for not. To be effective, start with the basics and build from there. Don’t let creativity take you away from the basic goal.
  10. THEY STILL DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU DO: You can do it all right and still have someone say, “I didn’t know you did that.” It happens, so keep at it. Be consistent, focused, and repetitive. And remember – Be consistent, focused, and repetitive.

Common Questions

There are ten rules here. Where do I start?

Start with the basics: make sure people can find you, understand you, and easily take the next step. The first rules are really one idea, that customers don’t know or care what you do until they need it, so your job is to be visible and clear when that moment comes. You don’t have to act on all ten at once. Pick the one gap that’s most obviously costing you and fix that first.

What if I don’t consider myself a marketer?

That’s exactly who these rules are for. It’s common not to think you can “do marketing,” but what you know is valuable. Reverse engineering your day-to-day experience into proactive answers, resources, and materials is one of the most useful exercises there is. You already know more than you think.

Should my marketing be clever and creative to stand out?

Creativity can be rewarding, but simplicity is worth more. If a customer has to stop and ask “what does that mean,” the cleverness worked against you. Start with the basics and build from there, and don’t let creativity pull you away from the basic goal of making your value clear fast.

I feel like I’ve done everything right and people still don’t know what I do. What now?

That’s rule ten, and it happens to everyone. You can do it all right and still hear “I didn’t know you did that.” It’s not a sign you failed, it’s a sign to keep going. Be consistent, focused, and repetitive, and then be consistent, focused, and repetitive again.

Related Resources

10 Critical Marketing Questions To Help Fix What’s Not Working
If you want to put these rules to work, these questions help you spot what to fix first.

Business Leaders – You Know More About Marketing Than You Think
If marketing feels over your head, this is a reminder how much you already understand.

Defining Your Marketing Priorities – Cary’s Clarity Circles
If you’re ready to act, this helps you decide what deserves your attention first.