The Golden Rule of Marketing

Growing up we learned the Golden Rule. “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you”.

It works in life and, believe it or not, it works in marketing.

Do you like email spam? Irrelevant, unwanted offers for things you don’t need piling up in your inbox? Or how do you feel about Robocalls? Do you experience that feeling of excitement when your phone rings and “Scam Likely” flashes on your screen? Do you feel exhilaration when real estate agents continue to call you months after you’ve already sold your home. How about the hard-chargin condo rep who wants to hold you hostage until you buy a vacation property. While you are trying to enjoy your vacation in Cancun.

These things happen to us every day. And if you ask a room full of people how many value any of these experiences, most likely no hands will go up. If you ask the follow-up question, how many people actually make purchases based on this kind of marketing, you won’t see many hands go up in response to that one either.

The “Spam” LinkedIn Connection

Recently, I have seen more and more spam moving to LinkedIn as well. Increasingly I get connection requests from people I never heard of with no explanation of why we should connect. Sometimes I do connect to see what will happen next.

Usually what comes next is a LinkedIn message with an unsolicited offer such as “comprehensive estate and financial planning, asset protection, wealth accumulation, and family security planning”. The odds that I would engage someone to do that based on this kind of marketing are just south of absolute zero. But people continue to pollute the waters of LinkedIn with this kind of debris.

People buy from people they know, like and trust.

Not only is this kind of marketing annoying and a waste of time for the recipient, it also just plain doesn’t work. People buy from people they know, like and trust. The bigger and more important the thing you are buying, the more important this is. Even for smaller things, like a new gadget, we rarely go for the “hard sell” or believe what the ad tells us. No. We Google search, read the reviews on Amazon, CNET, Gizmodo, Engadget or other trusted sources. For most people online advertising has the credibility of a politician running for re-election in a tight race.

The “Know, like and trust” rule is just as true on LinkedIn as it is out in the physical world. Connecting with me one day and asking for a meeting the next day is not the way you build “know, like and trust”. A relationship needs to be nurtured on LinkedIn just as it does in the “real” world. That takes time and requires substance.

And that’s where the idea of “Golden Rule Marketing” comes in. If you yourself would not respond well to a marketing initiative, the person you are reaching out to probably won’t either.

So “market unto others as you would have others market unto you”. That simple rule will get you more leads and make the world a cleaner place.