Just in case the ‘Obama bounce’ fails to cross the Atlantic and relieve some of our economic woes, online marketers need to look to their laurels and focus harder than ever on servicing their existing customers in 2009. Here’s my top 6 resolutions for online marketers this year.

1) Don’t forget Pareto. His advice maybe 100 years old now but his 20/80 rule is one of the ineluctable truths of marketing; 20% of your customers are responsible for 80% of your income so segment and reward them for their loyalty and help them become advocates for your brand.

2) Make your website as friendly and easy to use as possible and make sure it contains lots of information. There’s been lots of development in how to improve online experience in the past 12 months so apply the latest techniques to ensure your website is super sticky.

3) Be clear about what you want your website to do and make the calls to that action clear. Websites are all about funnelling people to a certain outcome.

4) Clarify your email communications strategy. The market is seeing a lot more email being sent out with brands more comfortable with sending out three or four emails a month. However be careful that each message is unique and offers something not available on your website – otherwise customers may start to experience ‘email blindness.’

5) Differentiate or die, as Jack Trout dramatically titled book has it. Make sure you’re offering customers something they can’t readily get elsewhere. There are thousands of companies out there offering products and services online but it’s the ones who personalise their pitch and have great customer service that hold on to customers and even turn them into brand advocates.

6) Cycle more!

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