More than three years ago marketing guru Seth Godin put together a long list of “what every good marketer knows.” As it said it wasn’t a “carefully planned manifesto” but a “riff.” The whole list is here, but I pulled a few of his bullet points I felt were the most important.

• Low price is a great way to sell a commodity. That’s not marketing, though, that’s efficiency.
• Conversations among the members of your marketplace happen whether you like it or not. Good marketing encourages the right sort of conversations.
• Products that are remarkable get talked about.
• If you are marketing from a fairly static annual budget, you’re viewing marketing as an expense. Good marketers realize that it is an investment.
• People don’t buy what they need. They buy what they want.
• You’re not in charge. And your prospects don’t care about you.
• Business to business marketing is just marketing to consumers who happen to have a corporation to pay for what they buy.
• Good marketers tell a story.
• Marketing that works is marketing that people choose to notice.
• Most marketers create good enough and then quit. Greatest beats good enough every time.
• You can game the social media in the short run, but not for long.

[Found via Buhler Works]