With more than twelve months of experience in marketing, Internet marketing, and working with small businesses, Ive seen my share of unsuccessful and successful marketing campaigns. Regardless of the marketing discipline, Internet advertising, direct mail, etc., basic marketing principle stand the test of time.

Even though Internet marketing has changed a great deal over the last decade, the basic principles remain largely the same. Despite the consistent application of basic marketing principles, many marketers, web site owners, and small businesses do not use the best techniques for generating profitable campaigns. This is largely due to a belief that newer is better. However, this simply is not true. In fact, a focus on what works is always the best. Here are some marketing tips that I’ve found to work again and again.

Understand your audience. By having a really deep understanding of your target audience and what’s important to them you can have a significant influence on their buying behavior. A complete understanding of who you’re selling to is of utmost importance if you want to deliver the right message at the right time. Don’t overlook the power of knowing your audience and what motivates them.

Focus on the offer. A marketing offer is the driving force of marketing promotions that drive results. In fact, testing has proven that the offer is the most significant criterion for conversion. Focus on your offer if you want to be successful.

Split testing. The concept of split testing is quite simple but surprisingly, few ever do it. When you split test a web page or direct marketing piece, you determine which version produces the better result. Each time you test a single element so that you continue to improve results over the long term. This is time and money well invested.

Build a marketing team. No matter how talented you are, building a marketing team is a great way to improve results. As you create new ideas, a marketing team can build on that idea, improve it, and consider multiple options. Your team should be made up of a diverse group of people who can add to each others ideas.

Stay away from discounting. Don’t get caught in the slippery slope of discounting. Once you do, it’s difficult to start charging list price for the same products or services that you offer. As a result, you should definitely consider emphasizing value over price. This allows you to sell for list price while making buyers comfortable with the price they pay for your products.

Have consistent messaging. One of the most effective strategies is communicating to your prospects in a way that is consistent. Whatever you are saying to your clients, be sure that it’s not contradictory. Early in the sales process, establish key message points and repeat them time and again. This improves buyer confidence and allows you to establish a long-term relationship with your buyer.

Create value after the sale. As marketers, its our job to understand our market segment and build long term relationships, not drop people off at the front door of our store and walk away. Focus as much of your energy on building relationships with customers as you do prospects.

Keep testing. Testing is essential for the success of any marketing campaign. If you’re not testing your marketing campaigns, then you’re leaving money on the table. You should test everything from headlines and offers to marketing copy and the timing of campaigns. This can only improve results and generate more sales.

Integrated marketing. Find multiple ways to generate business. To do so, test different forms of media such as radio, tv, or direct mail. There are endless sources of leads and customers and your job is to find as many as you can that can produce a positive return on investment. This reduces your risk and improve your options.

Nothing can replace experience. You can run out and hire all of the marketing experts in the world, but you still have to do the work. Nothing can replace actual experience. Having and using your own experience will make you a stronger marketer and more successful in the long term.

Consider these marketing tips before you start your next campaign. If you want to be truly successful keep things simple and apply what you already know works on a consistent basis. These techniques and tips are applied by successful marketers on a regular. The result is an ever growing success rate of effective marketing.