Have you ever heard of Dieter Rams?

He's this cool German industrial designer who worked for Braun and has won a plethora of awards for his innovative designs.

Back in the early 1980s of his awesome career, he noticed that the design world was suffering from “an impenetrable confusion of forms, colours and noises.”

At this point, Rams asked himself "is my design good design?" and wrote a mission statement on the ten most important principles for what he considered was good design.

1. Good Design Is innovative
2. Good Design Makes a product useful
3. Good Design Is aesthetic
4. Good Design Makes a product understandable
5. Good Design Is unobtrusive
6. Good Design Is honest
7. Good Design Is long-lasting
8. Good Design Is thorough down to the last detail
9. Good Design Is environmentally friendly
10. Good Design Is as little design as possible

Today, many designers use these ten principles as their mantra when designing products. Need a solid example? Have a look at Apple’s products.
Can We Apply These To Online Marketing?

Let’s turn the tables a bit and apply these to online marketing. I personally feel that online marketing is suffering from “an impenetrable confusion of forms, colours and noises.”

Think about all the internet marketing (self-proclaimed) gurus out there slandering their products with fancy pants sales pages and false promises.

I’m getting light headed just thinking about it..

That being said, I give you Jay's Ten Principles of "Good Online Marketing"

1. Good Online Marketing Is innovative

The possibilities for innovation are not, by any means, exhausted. Technological development is always offering new opportunities for innovative online marketing. But innovative online marketing always develops in tandem with innovative technology, and can never be an end in itself.

2. Good Online Marketing Makes a Product Useful

A product is bought to be used. It has to satisfy certain criteria, not only functional, but also psychological and aesthetic. Good online marketing emphasizes the usefulness of a product whilst disregarding anything that could possibly detract from it.

3. Good Online Marketing Is Aesthetic

The aesthetic quality of a online marketing (e.g. Pinterest) is integral to its usefulness because online marketing is viewed every day and have an effect on people and their well-being. Only well-executed marketing can be beautiful.

4. Good Online Marketing Makes a Product Understandable

It clarifies the product’s structure. Better still, it can make the product clearly express its function by making use of the user's intuition. At best, it is self-explanatory.

5. Good Online Marketing Is Unobtrusive

Products fulfilling a purpose are like tools. They are neither decorative objects nor works of art. Their online marketing should therefore be both neutral and restrained, to leave room for the user's self-expression.

6. Good Online Marketing Is honest

It does not make a product more innovative, powerful or valuable than it really is. It does not attempt to manipulate the consumer with promises that cannot be kept.

7. Good Online Marketing Is Long-Lasting

It avoids being fashionable and therefore never appears antiquated. Unlike fashionable online marketing (e.g. today’s twitter marketing), it lasts many years – even in today's throwaway society.

8. Good Online Marketing Is Thorough Down to the Last Detail

Nothing must be arbitrary or left to chance. Care and accuracy in the online marketing funnel show respect towards the consumer.

9. Good Online Marketing Is Environmentally Friendly

Online Marketing makes an important contribution to the preservation of the environment. It conserves resources and minimizes physical and visual pollution throughout the lifecycle of the product and its marketing.

10. Good Online Marketing Is as Little Graphic Design as Possible

Less, but better – because it concentrates on the essential aspects, and the products are not burdened with non-essentials. Back to purity, back to simplicity.

So there you have it, Ten Essential Principles of "Good Online Marketing" based on Dieter Rams Principles on Design. But what is the takeaway?

Be creative, simple and effective with your online marketing. Don’t jump on the IM Guru train as that caboose is ready to be derailed.