15 Evergreen Aspects Of Marketing (And Why They Are Important)

Successful PR, media strategy, creative and advertising executives from Forbes Agency Council share trends and tips.

The world changes and evolves daily. Each industry does the same, dealing with new challenges and finding new ways to innovate products and services. In recent years, the marketing industry has advanced by leaps and bounds. Between new methods of marketing (content, influencer, etc.) and navigating changing customer behavior, the industry is nothing like it was a mere decade ago.

Despite this, there are several aspects of marketing that remain true, no matter how much the industry evolves. Fifteen members of Forbes Agency Council examine what these “evergreen” aspects of marketing are and explain what marketing professionals can learn from these constants.

Members share some of the most important “evergreen” aspects of the marketing field. Photos courtesy of the individual members

1. Content Marketing

The term content marketing is relatively new in the last decade, but the concept of marketing to your audience by educating them with high-quality content has been around way longer and will continue to be a top way to build trust with your customers over time which is ultimately the key to any marketing. – Kelsey Raymond, Influence & Co.

2. Commitment To Making A Difference

The one aspect of marketing that should never change is your message: a commitment to making a difference, and to making our world a better place. In light of what’s happening now, in the midst of a global pandemic, this has never been more poignant. – Drew Gerber, Wasabi Publicity, Inc.

3. Building A Better Product Or Service

Marketing can take a brand and increase its reach and notoriety. Yet, having a quality product is still the key to a successful business. If you don’t have a quality product, then ultimately, no matter how much marketing you spend, the word will get out that your product is crap. You will have to spend more and more to reach new people. It is better to invest in your product. – Peter Boyd, PaperStreet Web Design

Forbes Agency Council is an invitation-only community for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. Do I qualify?

4. Relationship Building

Marketing has always been about building strong, meaningful relationships and meeting your customers on their preferred channels — that will never change. Today’s marketers are challenged to be creative in finding new ways to engage their audiences, elicit emotion and build stronger connections with customers. That means crafting messaging that will resonate and adapting it for emerging channels. – Michaela Dempsey, Scout RFP

5. Honesty About What You Do

Marketing has never been as much about what you say as it is about what you do. Good marketers look beyond what makes a brand different and speak to what makes a brand true. Channels may change, topics may trend, but good marketing is always honest about what the audience will get for their purchase. Good marketing is a solid promise that you deliver on, and that will never change. – Bo Bothe, BrandExtract, LLC

6. Developing For Humans, Not Algorithms

It will never change that marketers help influence other humans on behalf of brands. In the Data Age, marketers forget that we’re developing for humans, not just algorithms. It’s not enough to have a creative idea. The idea must impact humans in your target market effectively. You can speak to the algorithm but is the human you’re reaching being impacted and taking action as you hope? – Nicole Rodrigues, NRPR Group, INC

7. Putting The User First

No matter how fluid marketing is and how different the tactics will become in the coming years, the target (the user) should always be top of mind. Fully understanding the users and their behaviors, and how to effectively connect to them and gain their trust, should be prioritized and at the heart of every marketing strategy. – Larry Gurreri, Sosemo LLC

8. The Know, Like And Trust Factor

When my dad was alive, he would only buy cars from brands he knew, liked and trusted, and he would choose salespeople representing those brands whom he knew, liked and trusted. That hasn’t changed, nor will it ever. Brands and the salespeople representing them must be able to build relationships. This takes time. It’s not a flash in the pan. It requires investing in relationship-building over time. – Nancy Marshall, Marshall Communications

9. Business Impact

Although metrics and goals evolve, business impact should always be the cornerstone of every marketing program. We must continue to demonstrate how a collection of tactics seamlessly come together to drive forward our client’s business. It’s how we transparently demonstrate the effectiveness of marketing investment. And we can help make our client a “star” in the eyes of company stakeholders. – Edward Hoffman, Padilla

10. Word-Of-Mouth

One thing that hasn’t ever changed is the power of word-of-mouth. Having loyal, passionate advocates share what’s so great in person and online is still the most powerful ally a marketer and brand could ever have. – Jackson Murphy, Pound & Grain

11. Storytelling

As marketing trends fade out seemingly overnight, one element that will never become obsolete is storytelling. The story your company conveys through marketing materials enables your audience to understand why your business exists and how your services can benefit them. From this, leaders can learn how to control their own narrative rather than letting outside eyes determine their story for them. – Adam Binder, Creative Click Media

12. Promotional Investment

No matter the product or strategy, brands can’t cut one of the four Ps of marketing and expect success. For instance, having a great product, retail component (physical or digital) and a competitive price isn’t enough — there must be a promotional investment. Today’s landscape is noisy, so you must find a way to stand out and engage with customers. – Anna Crowe, Crowe PR

13. Emotional Intelligence

One factor that never changes with effective marketing, including in today’s crazy times, is emotional intelligence. Those marketers who are genuine in engaging with their audience, empathize with them and dig deep into connecting with them on an emotional level tend to perform well regardless of the specific date or year. – Tom Shapiro, Stratabeat

14. The Need To Stay Relevant

The only thing that’s constant is change, and it’s true to customers’ behavior. People’s preferences are extremely dynamic, and it’s always going to be like that. Every marketer needs to follow these changes and adjust accordingly if they want to stay relevant. – Solomon Thimothy, OneIMS

15. Personalization

Delighted and informed customers are your greatest brand advocates. Using marketing as a tool to nurture them should never change. Keep your customers engaged through consistent check-ins, invitations to events, social media shoutouts and with helpful, personalized content specifically addressed to their needs. – Kathleen Lucente, Red Fan Communications

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